Most of the 150,000-strong German population living in Slovakia and a part of the Hungarian minority fled or were expelled after 1945. In the Holocaust, Nazis and their sympathizers deported and murdered almost all of Slovakia's Jewish population, which had numbered approximately 70,000 in 1939. At the end of the World War II, southern Slovakia was reincorporated in the restored Czechoslovak state, and Ruthenia was ceded to Ukraine, which was then a part of the Soviet Union.Īlthough minorities living in Slovakia alleged discrimination against them during the period of the first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), the most flagrant violation of their rights occurred during and after World War II. After 1939, Hungary occupied the southern portions of Slovakia together with Ruthenia. Slovak resentment of the centralizing policies pursued by the government in Prague facilitated the disintegration of Czechoslovakia in 1939. In 1918, Slovakia was joined with Bohemia, Moravia, Austrian Silesia and Ruthenia in the state of Czechoslovakia. From the tenth to the early twentieth centuries, Slovakia formed a part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Slovaks settled in the Carpathian region during the seventh century but were subsequently conquered by the Hungarians. On 31 December 1992, the union between the Czech lands and Slovakia formally dissolved and Slovakia became an independent state. Most of Slovakia is mountainous, being crossed by the western arc of the Carpathians.įor most of the twentieth century, Slovakia was a part of Czechoslovakia, although a separate Slovak state was briefly established as a satellite of Nazi Germany. Slovakia is bordered by Poland to the north, Hungary to the south, Austria and the Czech Republic to the west, and Ukraine to the east. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content.
Refworld entries have been updated accordingly. For the most part, overview texts were not themselves updated, but the previous 'Current state of minorities and indigenous peoples' rubric was replaced throughout with links to the relevant minority-specific reports, and a 'Resources' section was added. In October 2015, MRG revised its World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. Minority Rights Group International, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Slovakia, 2007, available at:
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