The Day of the Foundation of the Slovak Republic

Slovakia, landlocked country of central Europe. It is roughly coextensive with the historic region of Slovakia, the easternmost of the two territories that from 1918 to 1992 constituted Czechoslovakia. The short history of independent Slovakia is one of a desire to move from mere autonomy within the Czechoslovak federation to sovereignty—a history of resistance to being called “the nation after the hyphen.” Although World War II thwarted the Slovaks’ first vote for independence in 1939, sovereignty was finally realized on January 1, 1993, slightly more than three years after the Velvet Revolution—the collapse of the communist regime that had controlled Czechoslovakia since 1948. Of course, the history of the Slovak nation began long before the creation of Czechoslovakia and even before the emergence of Slovak as a distinct literary language in the 19th century. From the 11th century, Hungary ruled what is now Slovakia, and the Slovaks’ ancestors were identified as inhabitants of Upper Hungary, or simply “the Highlands,” rather than by their Slavic language. Despite the Hungarians’ drive to Magyarize the multiethnic population of their kingdom, by the 19th century the Slovaks had created a heavily mythologized identity, linking themselves with the 9th-century Slavic kingdom of Great Moravia. Because they lacked a national dynasty, patron saints, and a native aristocracy or bourgeoisie, their national hero became the 18th-century outlaw Jánošík, sometimes called the Slovak Robin Hood. Only in 1918, when World War I ended with Austria-Hungary on the losing side, did Slovakia materialize as a geopolitical unit—but within the new country of Czechoslovakia. Although a critical stocktaking of the Czech-Slovak relationship shows more discord than harmony, there was one splendid moment when the two nations stood firmly together. This was in the summer of 1968, when the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia and crushed the Prague Spring, the period during which a series of reforms were implemented by Communist Party leader Alexander Dubček, arguably the best-known Slovak in the world. Today Slovakia has become increasingly infiltrated by modern industrial infrastructure, but it still offers breathtaking views of wine-growing valleys, picturesque castles, and historical cities. Its capital, Bratislava, eccentrically located in the extreme southwest of the country, has been known by several different names—Pozsony in Hungarian, Pressburg in German, and Prešporok in Slovak—and for three centuries served as the capital of Hungary. In Košice, the second-largest Slovak city, there is an interesting symbiosis between its distinguished history and the harsh recent past: medieval streets run through the city centre, while the former East Slovakian Iron and Steel Works stands as a monument of communist industrialization. More-authentic Slovak culture survives in the cities of the central highlands and in the country’s many villages. Land Slovakia is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, and Austria to the southwest. Its former federal partner, the Czech Republic, lies to the west. Relief The Western Carpathian Mountains dominate the topography of Slovakia. They consist of a system of three regions of east-west-trending ranges—Outer, Central, and Inner—separated by valleys and intermontane basins. Two large lowland areas north of the Hungarian border, the Little Alfold (called the Podunajská, or Danubian, Lowland in Slovakia) in the southwest and the Eastern Slovakian Lowland in the east, constitute the Slovakian portion of the Inner Carpathian Depressions region. The Outer Western Carpathians to the north extend into the eastern Czech Republic and southern Poland and contain the Little Carpathian (Slovak: Malé Karpaty), Javorníky, and Beskid mountains. Located roughly in the middle of the country, the Central Western Carpathians include Slovakia’s highest ranges: the High Tatra (Vysoké Tatry) Mountains, containing the highest point in the republic, Gerlachovský Peak, at 8,711 feet (2,655 metres); and, to the south of them, the Low Tatra (Nízke Tatry) Mountains, which reach elevations of about 6,500 feet (2,000 metres) (see Tatra Mountains). Farther to the south are the Inner Western Carpathian Mountains, which extend into Hungary and contain the economically important Slovak Ore (Slovenské Rudohorie) Mountains. Drainage Slovakia drains predominantly southward into the Danube (Dunaj) River system. The Danube and another major river, the Morava, form the republic’s southwestern border. The principal rivers draining the mountains include the Váh, Hron, Hornád, and Bodrog, all flowing south, and the Poprad, draining northward. Flows vary seasonally from the torrents of spring snowmelt to late-summer lows. Mountain lakes and mineral and thermal springs are numerous. Soils Slovakia contains a striking variety of soil types. The country’s richest soils, the black chernozems, occur in the southwest, although the alluvial deposit known as Great Rye Island occupies the core of the Slovakian Danube basin. The upper reaches of the southern river valleys are covered with brown forest soils, while podzols dominate the central and northern areas of middle elevation. Stony mountain soils cover the highest regions. Climate Slovakia’s easterly position gives it a more continental climate than that of the Czech Republic. Its mountainous terrain is another determining factor. The mean annual temperature drops to about 25 °F (−4 °C) in the High Tatras and rises to just above 50 °F (10 °C) in the Danubian lowlands. Average July temperatures exceed 68 °F (20 °C) in the Danubian lowlands, and average January temperatures can be as low as 23 °F (−5 °C) in mountain basins. The growing season is about 200 days in the south and less than half of that in the mountains. Annual precipitation ranges from about 22 inches (570 mm) in the Danubian plains to more than 43 inches (1,100 mm) in windward mountain valleys. Maximum precipitation falls in July, while the minimum is in January. Snow remains on the higher peaks into the summer months. Plant and animal life Although Slovakia is a small country, its varied topography supports a wide variety of vegetation. Agriculture and timber cutting have diminished the republic’s original forest cover, but approximately two-fifths of its area is still forested. Forestland is most extensive in the mountainous districts. The forests in the western Beskid Mountains on the Czech-Slovak border and those in central Slovakia near Žiar nad Hronom are among the most endangered. The major forest types include the oak-grove assemblages of the Podunajská Lowland, the beech forests of the lower elevations of the Carpathians, and the spruce forests of the middle and upper slopes. The highest elevations support taiga and tundra vegetation. The timberline runs at about 5,000 feet (1,500 metres). At these upper elevations, particularly in the Tatras, the tree cover below the timberline consists largely of dwarf pine. At about 7,500 feet (2,300 metres), alpine grasses and low-growing shrubs give way to lichens. Slovakia’s wildlife is abundant and diverse; Tatry (High Tatras) National Park shelters an exceptional collection of wild animals, including bears, wolves, lynx, wildcats, marmots, otters, martens, and minks. Hunting is prohibited in the parks, and some animals, such as the chamois, are protected nationwide. The forests and lowland areas support numerous game birds, such as partridges, pheasants, wild geese, and ducks. Raptors, storks, and other large birds are protected. People - Ethnic groups More than four-fifths of Slovakia’s population are ethnic Slovaks. Hungarians, concentrated in the southern border districts, form the largest minority, making up less than one-tenth of the republic’s population. Small numbers of Czechs, Germans, and Poles live throughout the country, while Ruthenians (Rusyns) are concentrated in the east and northeast. There is a sizable and relatively mobile population of Roma (Gypsies), who live mainly in the eastern part of the country. Languages Although the majority of the population identifies Slovak as its mother tongue, a law that came into effect on January 1, 1996, establishing Slovak as the country’s official language was controversial primarily because of its impact on Slovakia’s Hungarian minority. Widespread fluency in Czech is a legacy of the period of federation. As members of the West Slavic language group, Slovak and Czech are closely related and mutually intelligible; both use the Roman rather than the Cyrillic alphabet. In addition to Hungarian, Polish, German, Ukrainian, Rusyn (related to Ukrainian), and Romany are among the other languages spoken in Slovakia. Croatian speakers, living in a small number of villages in western Slovakia, make up a tiny linguistic minority. Religion Four decades of official atheism ended with the collapse of communist control in 1989, and the widespread persistence of religious affiliation quickly manifested itself in both the sectarian and political spheres. The majority of Slovaks are Roman Catholic, but Protestant churches, particularly the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (Lutheran) and the Reformed Christian Church (Calvinist), claim a significant minority of adherents. Greek Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians are found in Ruthenian districts. More than one-tenth of the population professes no religious belief. More … Source: https://www.britannica.com/place/Slovakia/Manufacturing

2025/01/01

Anniversary of the Revolution. Republic of Cuba

Cuba, country of the West Indies, the largest single island of the archipelago, and one of the more-influential states of the Caribbean region. The domain of the Arawakan-speaking Taino, who had displaced even earlier inhabitants, Cuba was claimed by Christopher Columbus for Spain in 1492. It became the Spanish empire’s most-important source of raw sugar in the 18th century and later earned the sobriquet “Pearl of the Antilles.” Though Spain had to fight several difficult and costly campaigns against independence movements, it retained rule of Cuba until 1898, when it was defeated by the United States and Cuban forces in the Spanish-American War. Cuba soon gained formal independence, though it remained overshadowed by the nearby United States. On New Year’s Day, 1959, revolutionary forces led by Fidel Castro overthrew the government of dictator Fulgencio Batista. Two years later Castro proclaimed the Marxist-Leninist nature of the revolution. Cuba became economically isolated from its northern neighbour as it developed close links to the Soviet Union. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s isolated Cuba still further, bringing on what Cubans euphemistically call the período especial (“special period”), a time of widespread shortages and financial uncertainty. By the early 21st century, Cuba had loosened some of its more-restrictive economic and social policies, but the United States continued its decades-long economic embargo against the Castro regime, though the December 2014 announcement of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries held promise of the embargo’s removal. Life in contemporary Cuba is thus challenging, given the limited access to food, transportation, electrical power, and other necessities. Even so, many Cubans show a fierce pride in their revolutionary society, the only one of its kind in Latin America. The protagonist of anthropologist Miguel Barnet’s novel Canción de Rachel (1969; Rachel’s Song, 1991) describes it thus: This island is something special. The strangest, most tragic things have happened here. And it will always be that way. The earth, like humankind, has its destiny. And Cuba’s is a mysterious destiny. Cuba is a multicultural, largely urban nation, although it has only one major city: Havana (La Habana), the capital and commercial hub of the country, on the northwestern coast. Handsome if rather run-down, Havana has a scenic waterfront and is surrounded by fine beaches, an attraction for increasing numbers of visitors from abroad. Cuba’s other cities—including Santiago, Camagüey, Holguín, and, especially, Trinidad—offer a rich legacy of colonial Spanish architecture to complement contemporary buildings. Land Cuba is situated just south of the Tropic of Cancer at the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean (north and east), the Gulf of Mexico (west), and the Caribbean Sea (south). Haiti, the nearest neighbouring country, is 48 miles (77 km) to the east, across the Windward Passage; Jamaica is 87 miles (140 km) to the south; the Bahamas archipelago extends to within 50 miles (80 km) of the northern coast; and the United States is about 90 miles (150 km) to the north across the Straits of Florida. The country comprises an archipelago of about 1,600 islands, islets, and cays with a combined area three-fourths as large as the U.S. state of Florida. The islands form an important segment of the Antilles (West Indies) island chain, which continues east and then south in a great arc enclosing the Caribbean Sea. The island of Cuba itself is by far the largest in the chain and constitutes one of the four islands of the Greater Antilles. In general, the island runs from northwest to southeast and is long and narrow—777 miles (1,250 km) long and 119 miles (191 km) across at its widest and 19 miles (31 km) at its narrowest point. Relief Groups of mountains and hills cover about one-fourth of the island of Cuba. The most rugged range is the Sierra Maestra, which stretches approximately 150 miles (240 km) along the southeastern coast and reaches the island’s highest elevations—6,476 feet (1,974 metres) at Turquino Peak and 5,676 feet (1,730 metres) at Bayamesa Peak. Near the centre of the island are the Santa Clara Highlands, the Sierra de Escambray (Guamuhaya), and the Sierra de Trinidad. The Cordillera de Guaniguanico in the far west stretches from southwest to northeast for 110 miles (180 km) and comprises the Sierra de los Órganos and the Sierra del Rosario, the latter attaining 2,270 feet (692 metres) at Guajaibón Peak. Much of central-western Cuba is punctuated by spectacularly shaped, vegetation-clad hillocks called mogotes. Serpentine highlands distinguish northern and central La Habana and Matanzas provinces, as well as the central parts of Camagüey and Las Tunas. The plains covering about two-thirds of the main island have been used extensively for sugarcane and tobacco cultivation and livestock raising. The coastal basins of Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo and the extensive Cauto River valley lie in the southeast. The Cauto lowland adjoins a series of coastal plains that continue across the island from east to west, including the Southern Plain, Júcaro-Morón Plain, Zapata Peninsula (Zapata Swamp), Southern Karst and Colón Plain, and Southern Alluvial Plain. Cuba’s most extensive swamps cover the Zapata Peninsula and surround the Bay of Pigs (Bahía de Cochinos). The Las Villas Plain of the North, Las Villas Plain of the Northeast, and Northern Plain stretch across much of the opposite coast. Cuba’s approximately 3,570 miles (5,745 km) of irregular, picturesque coastline are characterized by many bays, sandy beaches, mangrove swamps, coral reefs, and rugged cliffs. There are also some spectacular caverns in the interior, notably the 16-mile- (26-km-) long Cave of Santo Tomás in the Sierra Quemado of western Cuba. The main island is surrounded by a submerged platform covering an additional 30,000 square miles (78,000 square km). Among the extensive cays and archipelagoes ringing the main island are Los Colorados, to the northwest; Sabana and Camagüey, both off the north-central coast; the Jardines de la Reina (“Queen’s Gardens”), near the south-central coast; and Canarreos, near the southwest coast. Juventud Island (Isla de la Juventud; “Isle of Youth”), formerly called Pinos Island (Isla de los Pinos; “Isle of Pines”), is the second largest of the Cuban islands, covering 850 square miles (2,200 square km). It is technically a part of the Canarreos Archipelago. Hills, dotted with groves of pine and palm, characterize much of the island’s northwest and southeast. Sand and clay plains cover parts of the north, a gravel bed takes up most of the southern part of the island, and bogs dominate the coasts and sparsely inhabited interior. Drainage Cuban rivers are generally short, with meagre flow; of the nearly 600 rivers and streams, two-fifths discharge to the north, the remainder to the south. The Zapata Peninsula is the most extensive of Cuba’s many coastal wetlands. The main island’s heaviest precipitation and largest rivers are in the southeast, where the Cauto, at 230 miles (370 km) the country’s longest river, lies between the Sierra Maestra and the smaller Sierra del Cristal. The Cauto and its tributaries, notably the Salado, drain the Sierra Maestra and lesser uplands in the provinces of Holguín and Las Tunas. Other rivers in this region include the Guantánamo, Sagua de Tánamo, Toa, and Mayarí. To the west the most important southward-flowing rivers are the Sevilla, Najasa, San Pedro, Jatibonico del Sur, Zaza, Agabama, Arimao, Hondo, and Cuyaguateje. Northward-flowing rivers include the Saramaguacán, Caonao, Sagua la Grande, and La Palma. Cuban lakes are small and more properly classified as freshwater or saltwater lagoons. The latter include Leche (“Milk”) Lagoon, which has a surface area of 26 square miles (67 square km). It is technically a sound because several natural channels connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. Sea movements generate disturbances in the calcium carbonate deposits at the bottom of the lake to produce the milky appearance of its waters. Soils of Cuba The complicated Cuban topography and geology have produced at least 13 distinct groups of soils, the majority of which are fertile and cultivated throughout the year. Highly fertile red limestone soil extends from west of Havana to near Cienfuegos on the southern coast and lies in extensive patches in western Camagüey province, providing the basis for Cuba’s main agricultural output. Another area of fertile soil is north of Cienfuegos between the Sierra de Sancti Spíritus and the Caribbean coast. Camagüey province and the Guantánamo basin have some arable land, although of lower fertility. Areas of sandy soil in Pinar del Río, Villa Clara, and portions of Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey provinces cannot hold moisture and are marginally fertile, as are the soils of the mangrove-dotted coastal swamps and cays. Climate Cuba lies in the tropics. Because it is located on the southwestern periphery of the North Atlantic high atmospheric pressure zone, its climate is influenced by the northeast trade winds in winter and by east-northeast winds in summer. The warm currents that form the Gulf Stream have a moderating influence along the coasts. The annual mean temperature is 79 °F (26 °C), with little variation between January, the coolest month, at 73 °F (23 °C) and August, the warmest month, at 82 °F (28 °C). The November–April dry season abruptly changes to the May–October rainy season. Annual precipitation averages 54 inches (1,380 mm). From June to November the country is often exposed to hurricanes, whose strong winds and heavy rains can cause widespread damage and suffering. More …. Source:  https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba

2025/01/01

Visit Malaysia Official Video

Visit Malaysia 2020 brings out the best of what Malaysia has to offer to the world in a single, event-packed year. The year 2020 holds a special place in the hearts of all Malaysians as we reflect and celebrate all our successes and challenges in transforming a once colonial land, into a thriving, multicultural and dynamic country.

2024/12/31

Morocco 8K

Morocco in 8k follows our journey through this enchanting country. Exploring the streets and markets of Marrakech, Fez, the blue city of Chefchaouen, the Arfoud desert, and the ancient city of Ouarzazate.

2024/12/31

HAITI - Pearl Of The Antilles in 4K!

Take a look at the spectacular and breathtaking Haiti! experience some of the most stunning and unique locations the country has to offer: Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien, Ile-à-Rat, Zitadelle La Ferrière, Bassin Bleu, Île-à-Vache and many more...

2024/12/31

The beauty of Sudan ?? you hardly see on tv Africa

Hello friends I make a new video every week if there’s interesting topic you people want me to share or to do please leave a comment.

2024/12/31

Słowacja

Słowacja to kraj o świeżej historii państwowości, który budzi podziw osiągnięciami organizacyjnymi, krajobrazami oraz zdumiewająco pragmatycznym usposobieniu zamieszkujących go ludzi pozwalającym na cieszenie się życiem, minimalizowanie konfliktów i skuteczne rozwiązywanie problemów.

2024/12/31

Havana City Tour - Travel Video (La Habana, Cuba)

Havana is the number one attraction for travelers to Cuba, and it's little wonder! Old squares and aged buildings sit alongside colonial palaces, impressive avenues and idyllic white-sand beaches in this vibrant Caribbean city.

2024/12/31

The Government of Japan - JapanGov

The official website of the Government of Japan, provides a wealth of information on important policies and efforts to spread fruit of innovation and ...

2024/12/25