Peter Jacko Post-doc Fellow Basque Center for Applied Mathematics jacko [a] BCAMath. org

Phone       +34-94-656 7847 Fax       +34-94-656 7843 Address       BCAM - Basque Center for Applied Mathematics       Bizkaia Technology Park, Building 500       48160 Derio (Bilbao)       SPAIN

:: Slovakia

I come from Slovakia, the little great country in the heart of Europe.

I have lived in the most alluring and multicultural Slovak city called Košice, the European Capital of Culture 2013, along with Marseille in France.

< Essentials

Here are some essentials you should know about the country before talking to me :)

• Yes, Slovakia is a member of the European Union since 2004, belongs to the Schengen area since 2007, and uses the euro currency since 2009.
• Slovakia had been a member of the federation called Czecho-Slovakia until 1992, when it peacefully divorced with the Czech republic.
• Slovakia was experiencing a sustained high GDP growth (Tatra Tiger), the highest within OECD and EU countries (8.9% in 2006, 10.4% in 2007).
• Bratislava, the capital, having GDP per capita around 150% of the EU average, closely links to Vienna, which is just 50 kms away.
• The landscape is mostly mountainous, with wonderful natural parks (Tatras, Slovak Paradise), spectacular caves and enjoyable spas.
• Western regions of Slovakia gave birth to the first Slav state in the 7th century AD, and to Great Moravia, where the first Slavic alphabet originated.

< News from Slovakia

• Radio Slovakia International - news also in German, French, Russian and Spanish
• The Slovak Spectator - Slovakia's English language newspaper
• SITA - private Slovak News Agency
• TASR - The News Agency of the Slovak Republic

< Independent sources

• World Factbook - Slovakia in the CIA
• The Economist - Slovakia briefing

< Academic sources

• Kosice IT Valley Association
• Czech-Slovak Section of IEEE
• Institute of Mathematics at P. J. Safarik Unviersity in Kosice: Economical and Financial Mathematics group,
• Institute of Computer Science at P. J. Safarik Unviersity in Kosice: Center of Excellence in Computer Science, Wireless Sensor Networks group, Security and Distributed Systems group, and other events

Last modified: 11/2011