West Bank (2002) | Slovakia (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | - | 8 regions (kraje, singular - kraj); Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky, Trenciansky, Trnavsky, Zilinsky |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 44.4% (male 492,446; female 468,321)
15-64 years: 52% (male 575,282; female 550,793) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 33,163; female 43,662) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 17.8% (male 495,316; female 471,823)
15-64 years: 70.5% (male 1,903,335; female 1,924,065) 65 years and over: 11.7% (male 238,912; female 396,582) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products | grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, cattle, poultry; forest products |
Airports | 3 (2001) | 37 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 20
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 9 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 17
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 7 (2002) |
Area | total: 5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km water: 220 sq km note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967 |
total: 48,845 sq km
land: 48,800 sq km water: 45 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Delaware | about twice the size of New Hampshire |
Background | The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, which includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in January 1996, as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provides that Israel will retain responsibility during the transitional period for external security and for internal security and public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank had begun in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but have been derailed by a second intifadah that broke out in September 2000. The resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability within the Palestinian Authority continue to undermine progress toward a permanent agreement. | In 1918 the Slovaks joined the closely related Czechs to form Czechoslovakia. Following the chaos of World War II, Czechoslovakia became a Communist nation within Soviet-ruled Eastern Europe. Soviet influence collapsed in 1989 and Czechoslovakia once more became free. The Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully on 1 January 1993. Slovakia was invited to join NATO and the EU in 2002. |
Birth rate | 34.94 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 10.1 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $930 million
expenditures: $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $15 million note: includes Gaza Strip (2000 est.) |
revenues: $5.2 billion
expenditures: $5.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999) |
Capital | - | Bratislava |
Climate | temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters | temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | - | ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president; amended February 2001 to allow Slovakia to apply for NATO and EU membership |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank |
conventional long form: Slovak Republic
conventional short form: Slovakia local long form: Slovenska Republika local short form: Slovensko |
Currency | new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD) | Slovak koruna (SKK) |
Death rate | 4.26 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 9.22 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.) | $9.6 billion (2002 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador Ronald WEISER
embassy: Hviezdoslavovo Namestie 4, 81102 Bratislava mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [421] (2) 5443-3338 FAX: [421] (2) 5441-5148 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador Rastislav KACER
chancery: 3523 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 237-1054 FAX: [1] (202) 237-6438 |
Disputes - international | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation | small boundary changes made with Poland in 2003; Hungary has yet to amend status law extending special social and cultural benefits to ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia, who protest the law |
Economic aid - recipient | $800 million disbursed (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) | ODA $113 million (2000),; $92 million EU structural adjustment funds (2000 est.) |
Economy - overview | Economic output in the West Bank is governed by the Paris Economic Protocol of April 1994 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Real per capita GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996 due to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and rapid population growth. The downturn in economic activity was largely the result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The most serious social effect of this downturn was rising unemployment; unemployment in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by 1995 it had risen to over 20%. Israel's use of comprehensive closures during the next five years decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor. These changes fueled an almost three-year-long economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in 1998 and 6% in 1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with the outbreak of Palestinian violence, which triggered tight Israeli closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and severely disrupted trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, internal turmoil and Israeli military measures in Palestinian Authority areas have resulted in the destruction of much capital plant and administrative structure, widespread business closures, and a sharp drop in GDP. Another major loss has been the decline in earnings of Palestinian workers in Israel. | Slovakia has mastered much of the difficult transition from a centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. The DZURINDA government has made excellent progress in 2001-03 in macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform. Major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands, and foreign investment has picked up. Slovakia's economy exceeded expectations in 2001-03, despite the general European slowdown. Unemployment, at an unacceptable 15% in 2003, remains the economy's Achilles heel. The government faces other strong challenges in 2004, especially the cutting of budget and current account deficits, the containment of inflation, and the strengthening of the health care system. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 24.41 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | - | 5.141 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | NA kWh | 1.381 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel; East Jerusalem Electric Company buys and distributes electricity to Palestinians in East Jerusalem and its concession in the West Bank; the Israel Electric Company directly supplies electricity to most Jewish residents and military facilities; at the same time, some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants | 30.29 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
fossil fuel: 30.3%
hydro: 16% nuclear: 53.6% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m |
lowest point: Bodrok River 94 m
highest point: Gerlachovsky Stit 2,655 m |
Environment - current issues | adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment | air pollution from metallurgical plants presents human health risks; acid rain damaging forests |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17% | Slovak 85.7%, Hungarian 10.6%, Roma 1.6% (the 1992 census figures underreport the Gypsy/Romany community, which is about 500,000), Czech, Moravian, Silesian 1.1%, Ruthenian and Ukrainian 0.6%, German 0.1%, Polish 0.1%, other 0.2% (1996) |
Exchange rates | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.2757 (December 2001), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997); Jordanian dinars per US dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996) | koruny per US dollar - 45.33 (2002), 48.35 (2001), 46.04 (2000), 41.36 (1999), 35.23 (1998) |
Executive branch | - | chief of state: President Rudolf SCHUSTER (since 15 June 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister Mikulas DZURINDA (since 30 October 1998); Deputy Prime Minister Pavol RUSKO (since 24 September 2003) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 29 May 1999 (next to be held NA May/June 2004); following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president election results: Rudolf SCHUSTER elected president in the first direct, popular election; percent of vote - Rudolf SCHUSTER 57%; Mikulas DZURINDA reelected prime minister October 2002 note: government coalition - SDKU, SMK, KDH, ANO |
Exports | $603 million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip (2001 est.) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone | machinery and transport equipment 39.4%, intermediate manufactured goods 27.5%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 13%, chemicals 8% (1999) |
Exports - partners | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip | Germany 30.1%, Czech Republic 16.4%, Austria 10.7%, Italy 7.2%, Poland 5.7%, Hungary 4.6% (2002) |
Fiscal year | calendar year (since 1 January 1992) | calendar year |
Flag description | - | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red superimposed with the Slovak cross in a shield centered on the hoist side; the cross is white centered on a background of red and blue |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $2.1 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $67.34 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 9%
industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 4.5%
industry: 34.1% services: 61.4% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $12,400 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | -35% (2001 est.) | 4.4% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 32 00 N, 35 15 E | 48 40 N, 19 30 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.) | landlocked; most of the country is rugged and mountainous; the Tatra Mountains in the north are interspersed with many scenic lakes and valleys |
Heliports | - | 1 (2002) |
Highways | total: 4,500 km
paved: 2,700 km unpaved: 1,800 km (1997 est.) note: Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish settlements |
total: 42,717 km
paved: 37,036 km (including 296 km of expressways) unpaved: 5,681 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 18.2% (1992) |
Illicit drugs | - | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for regional market |
Imports | $1.9 billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip (2001 est.) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | food, consumer goods, construction materials | machinery and transport equipment 37.7%, intermediate manufactured goods 18%, fuels 13%, chemicals 11%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 9.5% (1999) |
Imports - partners | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip | Germany 24.8%, Czech Republic 16%, Russia 13.5%, Austria 7%, Italy 6.4%, France 4% (2002) |
Independence | - | 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 4.4% (2002 est.) |
Industries | generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers | metal and metal products; food and beverages; electricity, gas, coke, oil, nuclear fuel; chemicals and manmade fibers; machinery; paper and printing; earthenware and ceramics; transport vehicles; textiles; electrical and optical apparatus; rubber products |
Infant mortality rate | 21.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 8.55 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 9.39 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.66 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) | 3.3% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | - | Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMISET, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 8 (1999) | 6 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 1,740 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Council); Constitutional Court (judges appointed by president from group of nominees approved by the National Council) |
Labor force | NA | 3 million (1999) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996) | industry 29.3%, agriculture 8.9%, construction 8%, transport and communication 8.2%, services 45.6% (1994) |
Land boundaries | total: 404 km
border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km |
total: 1,524 km
border countries: Austria 91 km, Czech Republic 215 km, Hungary 677 km, Poland 444 km, Ukraine 97 km |
Land use | arable land: NEGL%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 30.74%
permanent crops: 2.64% other: 66.62% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) | Slovak (official), Hungarian |
Legal system | - | civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members are elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20-21 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - HZDS-LS 19.5%, SDKU 15.1%, SMER 13.5%, SMK 11.2%, KDH 8.3%, ANO 8%, KSS 6.3%; seats by party - governing coalition 78 (SDKU 28, SMK 20, KDH 15, ANO 15), opposition 72 (HZDS 36, SMER 25, KSS 11) (as of February 2003, 12 deputies had split from HZDS and formed an independent faction) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.47 years
male: 70.76 years female: 74.29 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 74.43 years
male: 70.44 years female: 78.64 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Middle East, west of Jordan | Central Europe, south of Poland |
Map references | Middle East | Europe |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | - | total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 11,574 GRT/16,330 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | - | Army (Ground Forces), Air and Air Defense Forces, Home Guards (Territorial Defense Forces), Civil Defense Force, Railway Armed Forces (subordinate to the Ministry of Transportation, Post, and Telecommunications) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | $406 million (2002) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 1.89% (2002) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 1,484,950 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 1,135,612 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 44,287 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | - | Constitution Day, 1 September (1992) |
Nationality | noun: NA
adjective: NA |
noun: Slovak(s)
adjective: Slovak |
Natural hazards | droughts | NA |
Natural resources | arable land | brown coal and lignite; small amounts of iron ore, copper and manganese ore; salt; arable land |
Net migration rate | 3.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 6,769 km; oil 449 km (2003) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Christian Democratic Movement or KDH [Pavol HRUSOVSKY]; Democratic Party or DS [Ludovit KANIK]; Direction (Smer) [Robert FICO]; Movement for a Democratic Slovakia-People's Party or HZDS-LS [Vladimir MECIAR]; New Citizens Alliance or ANO [Pavol RUSKO]; Party of the Hungarian Coalition or SMK [Bela BUGAR]; Slovak Communist Party or KSS [Jozef SEVC]; Slovak Democratic and Christian Union or SDKU [Mikulas DZURINDA]; Slovak National Party or SNS [Jan SLOTA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | Association of Employers of Slovakia; Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ; Metal Workers Unions or KOVO and METALURG |
Population | 2,163,667 (July 2002 est.)
note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.) |
5,430,033 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 3.39% (2002 est.) | 0.14% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Bratislava, Komarno |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0
note: the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts from an AM station in Ramallah on 675 kHz; numerous local, private stations are reported to be in operation (2000) |
AM 15, FM 78, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999) | - |
Railways | 0 km | total: 3,668 km
broad gauge: 106 km 1.520-m gauge standard gauge: 3,511 km 1.435-m gauge (1,567 km electrified) narrow gauge: 51 km (46 km 1,000-m gauge; 5 km 0.750-m gauge) (2002) |
Religions | Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8% | Roman Catholic 60.3%, atheist 9.7%, Protestant 8.4%, Orthodox 4.1%, other 17.5% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for communication services in the West Bank |
general assessment: a modernization and privatization program is increasing accessibility to telephone service, reducing the waiting time for new subscribers, and generally improving service quality
domestic: predominantly an analog system that is now receiving digital equipment and is being enlarged with fiber-optic cable, especially in the larger cities; mobile cellular capability has been added international: three international exchanges (one in Bratislava and two in Banska Bystrica) are available; Slovakia is participating in several international telecommunications projects that will increase the availability of external services |
Telephones - main lines in use | 95,729 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (1997) | 1,934,558 (1998) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 736,662 (April 1999) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 38 (plus 864 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east | rugged mountains in the central and northern part and lowlands in the south |
Total fertility rate | 4.77 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 1.25 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 26% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) | 17.2% (2002 est.) |
Waterways | none | 172 km (all on the Danube) |