Slovakia
A landlocked Carpathian country of castles, caves, and high Tatra peaks
Slovakia is a compact, mountainous country in the heart of Central Europe, where the Carpathian arc throws up the dramatic granite spires of the High Tatras above forested valleys and medieval towns. Landlocked and threaded by the Danube along its southern edge, it counts about 5.4 million people, with Bratislava perched on the river within sight of both Austria and Hungary. Famous for its density of castles, ice caves, and folk wooden churches, Slovakia is a quietly spectacular land long overshadowed by larger neighbors.
The Western Carpathians dominate the landscape, rising to Gerlachovský štít at 2,655 meters, the highest peak in the entire range. Beneath the mountains lie the country's celebrated karst caves, some filled with ice year-round, and mineral and thermal springs. The Danube and its tributary the Váh drain the lowlands of the southwest, where most agriculture and industry concentrate. A strong automotive manufacturing sector has made Slovakia, per capita, one of the world's largest car producers.
The Slovak lands were part of the Kingdom of Hungary for nearly a thousand years before joining the Czechs to form Czechoslovakia in 1918. After a wartime puppet state and decades of communist rule, Slovakia split amicably from the Czech Republic in the 1993 Velvet Divorce. It adopted the euro in 2009 and remains a committed EU and NATO member. A Slavic, largely Catholic nation, Slovakia preserves a vivid folk heritage of music, costume, and the painted villages that dot its valleys.