The majority of the 5.4 million inhabitants of Slovakia are Slovak (85.5%). Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority (9%) and are concentrated in the southern and eastern regions of Slovakia. Other ethnic groups, as of the 2001 census, include Roma with 1.7%, Ruthenians or Ukrainians with 1%, and other or unspecified, 1.8% (Czechs, Germans, Poles and Jews). Unofficial estimates on the number of Roma population are much higher, around 9%.
Languages
The official state language is Slovak, a member of the Slavic Language Family, but Hungarian is also widely spoken in the south of the country and enjoys a co-official status in some municipalities, and many people also speak Czech. Other spoken languages are Roma, Rusyn and Polish.
Slovak National Institutions for Language
Ludovit Stúr Institute of Linguistics
Slovakian Academy of Science
Slavomir Ondrejovich, Director
Panská 26
813 64 Bratislava
Slovakia
+421-2-54431761
slavoo@juls.savba.sk
