President: Ivan Gasparovic Prime minister-elect: Robert Fico
Population
1,343,239,923
5,483,088
Life Expectancy
74.840 years
76.030 years
Capital City
Beijing
Bratislava
Largest city
Shanghai (population: 14,608,500)
Bratislava (population: 423,737)
Human Development Index
0.762
0.872
GDP per capita
$8,500 US
$23,600 US
Literacy Rate
90.9%
99.6%
Corruption Perception Index
3.6
5
Percentage of Women in Parliament
21.3%
19.3%
Wealthiest Citizens
Liu Yongxing ($3.0bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
6.500%
13.500%
Death Penalty
Legal
Abolished
Political System
Communist state
parliamentary democracy
Independence date
221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic of China); 1 October 1949 (People's Republic of China established)
1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)
Religions
Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2% note: officially atheist (2002 est.)
Roman Catholic 68.9%, Protestant 10.8%, Greek Catholic 4.1%, other or unspecified 3.2%, none 13% (2001 census)
Languages
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)
Slovak (official) 83.9%, Hungarian 10.7%, Roma 1.8%, Ukrainian 1%, other or unspecified 2.6% (2001 census)
Exports
electrical and other machinery, including data processing equipment, apparel, textile, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment
vehicles 25.9%, machinery and electrical equipment 21.3%, base metals 14.6%, chemicals and minerals 10.1%, plastics 5.4% (2004)
External Debt
$697,200,000,000 $
$72,940,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Renminbi yuan (RMB) per US dollar - 6.9385 (2008 est.), 7.61 (2007), 7.97 (2006), 8.1943 (2005), 8.2768 (2004)
Slovak koruny (SKK) per US dollar - 21.05 (2008 est.), 24.919 (2007), 29.611 (2006), 31.018 (2005), 32.257 (2004) note: on 1 January 2009 Slovakia adopted the euro as legal tender
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
4.300%
1.080%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
100
6
Location
Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
Central Europe, south of Poland
Area
9,596,961 km sq
49,035 km sq
Coastline
14,500 km
0 km
Climate
extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
