Slovaks
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{{Infobox Ethnic group|
|group='''Slovaks'''
|image=[[Image:Svks.jpg|300px|]]
<small><small>[[Anton Bernolák]], [[Ľudovít Štúr]], [[Štefan Anián Jedlík]], [[Jozef Maximilián Petzval]], [[Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav]], [[Milan Rastislav Štefánik]], [[Gustáv Husák]], [[Alexander Dubček]]</small></small></div>
|poptime= '''~7 million''' <!--by adding numbers below-->
|popplace=
{{SVK}}: 4,614,854<sup>[http://www.statistics.sk/webdata/slov/scitanie/tab/zu.htm]</sup><br>
{{USA}}: 1,200,000<sup>[http://www.uszz.sk/files/poctyOdhady.doc]</sup><br>
{{CZE}}: 190,000<sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic#Demographics]</sup><br>
{{CAN}}: 100,000<sup>[http://www.uszz.sk/files/poctyOdhady.doc]</sup><br>
{{GBR}}: 90,000<sup>[http://www.uszz.sk/files/poctyOdhady.doc]</sup><br>
{{SRB}}: 59,021<sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovaks#References]</sup><br>
{{IRL}}: 30,000<sup>[http://www.uszz.sk/files/poctyOdhady.doc]</sup><br>
{{AUT}}: 25,000<sup>[http://www.uszz.sk/files/poctyOdhady.doc]</sup><br>
{{GER}}: 20,200<sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovaks#References]</sup><br>
{{HUN}}: 17,693<sup>[http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magyarorsz%C3%A1gi_szlov%C3%A1kok]</sup><br>
{{BEL}}: 4,000<sup>[http://www.uszz.sk/files/poctyOdhady.doc}]</sup><br>
[[Latin America]]: 300,000 (est.){{Fact|date=February 2007}}<br>
[[Other]]: 120,000 (est.){{Fact|date=February 2007}}
|langs=[[Slovak language|Slovak]]
|rels=[[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] 68.9%, [[Slovak Greek Catholic Church|Byzantine Rite Catholic]] 4.1%, [[Protestant]] 10.8%, [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]], other or unspecified 3.2%, [[theism|no denomination]], [[agnostic]] or [[non-religious]] 13% (2001 [[census]] within Slovakia, extrapolated to outside Slovaks)
|related=other [[West Slavs]]
}}
The '''Slovaks''' or '''Slovakians''' are a [[West Slavs|western Slavic]] [[people]] that primarily inhabit [[Slovakia]] and speak the [[Slovak language]], which is closely related to the [[Czech language]].
Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent [[Slovakia]] (circa 5,000,000). There are Slovak [[minorities]] in the [[Czech Republic]], [[Hungary]], [[Serbia]] and sizable populations of immigrants and their descendants in the [[United States|U.S.]] and in [[Canada]].
==History==
=== Early Slovaks ===
The people of [[Slovakia]] are descended from the [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] settlers of the [[Danube]] river basin around 500 C.E. The first known Slavic state on the territory of present-day Slovakia was the Empire of [[Samo]]. The first known state of the Proto-Slovaks was the [[Principality of Nitra]] founded sometime in the 8th century.
=== Great Moravia ===
[[Great Moravia]] (833 - ?907) was an ancestral state of the present-day [[Moravians]] and Slovaks in the 9th and early 10th century A.D. Its formation and rich cultural heritage attract somewhat more note today due to Slovakia's newfound independence. Important developments took place at this time, including the mission of [[Cyril and Methodius]], the development of the [[Glagolitic]] alphabet, an early form of the [[Cyrillic alphabet]], and the use of [[Old Church Slavonic]] as the official and literary language.
The original territory inhabited by the (proto-)Slovaks included present-day Slovakia, parts of present-day south-eastern Moravia and approximately the entire northern half of present-day Hungary.
=== Kingdom of Hungary ===
Slovakia came under Hungarian rule gradually from 907 to the early 14th century (major part by 1100) and remained a part of the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] (see also [[Upper Hungary]] or [[Uhorsko]]) until the formation of [[Czechoslovakia]] in 1918. Politically, Slovakia formed (again) the separate entity called [[Principality of Nitra|Nitra Frontier Duchy]], this time within the Kingdom of Hungary. This duchy was abolished in 1107. The territory inhabited by the Slovaks in present-day Hungary was gradually reduced, but in the 14th century, there were still many Slovak settlements in northern eastern present-day [[Hungary]].
When present-day Hungary was conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1541, Slovakia became the core of the "reduced" kingdom, officially called [[Royal Hungary]]. Many Magyars (Hungarians) fleeing from present-day Hungary to the north settled in large parts of present-day southern Slovakia, thereby creating the considerable Magyar minority in southern Slovakia today. Some [[Croats]] settled around and in present-day [[Bratislava]] for similar reasons. Also, many [[Germans]] settled in Slovakia, especially in the towns, as work-seeking colonists and mining experts from the 13th to the 15th century. German settlers outnumbered the native populace in almost all towns in the Kingdom of Hungary, but their numbers began to stagnate in the 16th century and to decrease later. Jews and Gypsies also formed significant populations within the territory.
After the Ottoman Empire was forced to retreat from present-day Hungary around 1700, thousands of Slovaks were gradually settled in depopulated parts of the restored Kingdom of Hungary (present-day [[Hungary]], [[Romania]], [[Serbia]], and [[Croatia]]) under [[Maria Theresia]], and that is how present-day Slovak enclaves (like [[Slovaks in Vojvodina]]) in these countries arose.
Slovakia was the most advanced part of the Kingdom of Hungary for centuries (the most urbanized part, intense mining of gold and silver), but in the 19th century, when [[Buda]]/[[Pest (city)|Pest]] became the new capital of the kingdom, the importance of Slovakia as well as other parts within the Kingdom fell, and many Slovaks were relegated to the indigence. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Slovaks emigrated to [[North America]], especially in the late 19th century and early 20th century (between cca. 1880–1910), and a total of at least 1.5 million (~2/3 of them were part of some minority).
Slovakia exhibits a very rich folk culture. A part of Slovak customs and social convention are common with those of other nations of the former [[Habsburg monarchy]] (the Kingdom of Hungary was in [[personal union]] with the Habsburg monarchy from 1526 to 1918).
=== Czechoslovakia ===
People of Slovakia spent most part of the 20th century within the framework of [[Czechoslovakia]], a new state formed after [[World War I]]. Significant reforms and post-[[World War II]] [[industrialization]] took place during this time. The Slovak language has been strongly influenced by the [[Czech language]] during this period.
=== Contemporary Slovaks ===
The political transformations of [[Velvet revolution|1989]], [[Dissolution of Czechoslovakia|1993]] and the accession to the [[EU]] in 2004 brought new liberties, which have considerably improved the outlook and prospects of all Slovaks.
Contemporary Slovak society organically combines elements of both folk traditions and Western European lifestyles.
== Name and ethnogenesis==
The Slovaks and [[Slovenes]] are the only current Slavic nations that have preserved the old name of the [[Slavs]] (singular: ''slověn'') in their name - the [[adjective]] "Slovak" is still ''slovenský'' and the feminine [[noun]] "Slovak" is still ''Slovenka'' in the Slovak language, only the [[masculine]] noun "Slovak" changed to ''Slovenin'' probably in the [[High Middle Ages]] and finally (under Czech and [[Poland|Polish]] influence) to ''Slovák'' around 1400. For Slovenes the adjective is still ''slovenski'', the feminine [[noun]] "Slovene" is still ''Slovenka'', but the [[masculine]] noun has since changed to ''Slovenec''. The Slovak name for their language is ''slovenčina'' and the Slovene name for theirs is ''slovenščina''. The Slovak term for the Slovene language is ''slovinčina''; and the Slovenes call Slovak ''slovaščina''.
According to [[Nestor]] and modern Slavic linguists, the above mentioned word ''slověn'' probably was the original name of all Slavs, but most Slavs (Czechs, Poles, Croats etc.) have taken other names in the [[Early Middle Ages]]. Although the Slovaks themselves seem to have had a slightly different word for "Slavs" (''Slovan''), they were called by Latin texts "Slavs" approximately up to the High Middle Ages. Thus, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish when Slavs in general and when Slovaks are meant. A good proof of the use of "Slavs" in the sense of "Slovaks" are documents of the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] which mention Bohemians ([[Czechs]]), [[Poles]], [[Croats]] "and Slavs" (not: and "other Slavs"), implying that the "Slavs" are Slovaks.
Since this is a very difficult topic, some Slovak "extreme" scholars derive from the above that all references to Slavs in the territory of present-day Slovakia are references to Slovaks (e.g. as early as in the 7th century), while on the other hand, some uninformed scholars from Hungary or Czechia derive from the above, that all references to Slovaks are just references to Slavs. The current position of the most prominent Slovak ethnographers and linguists is that the Slavs in the territory of Slovakia have to be called "Slovaks" not later than from 955 or 1000 onwards (when the [[Magyars]] settled in Hungary) and that this Slovak [[ethnogenesis]] (i.e. separation from the other Slavs) started approximately in the 8th century. Considering, however, that the Slavs that came to present-day Slovakia around 500 are the direct predecessors of present-day Slovaks (they have never been "replaced" by "other" Slavs) and that it is usual today to call the Slovenes, Poles and other nations by their later names well before 1000 (although the ethnic situation is not different from that of the Slovaks at that time), the 1000 limit is rather arbitrary and it is not completely wrong to call the Slavs in this territory "Proto-Slovaks" or "Old Slovaks" or even "Slovaks" even before 1000 in certain contexts.
==Quotes from important chronicles ==
This is how [[Nestor]] in his [[Primary Chronicle]] (historically correctly) describes the Slovaks: ''Slavs that were settled along the Danube, which have been occupied by the Hungarians, the Czechs, the Lachs, and Poles that are now known as the Rus''. Nestor calls these Slavs "Slavs of Hungary" in another place of the text, and mentions them in the first place in a list of Slavic nations (besides Moravians, Bohemians, Poles, Russians, etc.), because he considers the [[Carpathian Basin]] (including what is today Slovakia) the original Slavic territory.
Anonymus, in his [[Gesta Hungarorum]], calls the Slovaks (around 1200 with respect to past developments) ''Sclavi'' , i.e. Slavs (as opposed to "Boemy" - the Bohemians, and "Polony" - the Poles) or in another place ''Nytriensis Sclavi'', i.e. [[Principality of Nitra|Nitrian]] Slavs.
And this is how Slovaks were called in various very precise sources approximately from 1200 to about 1400: ''Slovyenyn, Slowyenyny; Sclavus, Sclavi, Slavus, Slavi; Tóth; Winde, Wende, Wenden''.
== Culture ==
:''See also [[List of Slovaks]]''
[[Image:Ludovit Stur.jpg|150px|thumb|[[Ľudovít Štúr]] - epitome of the Slovak Revival - politician, poet, journalist, publisher, teacher, philosopher and linguist.]]
Slovaks have a very rich, old and diverse folk culture (songs, fairy tales, dances), literature, music and art.
The art of Slovakia can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when some of the greatest masterpieces of the country's history were created. Significant figures from this period included the many Masters, among them the [[Master Paul of Levoča]] and [[Master MS]]. More contemporary art can be seen in the shadows of [[Koloman Sokol]], [[Albín Brunovský]], [[Martin Benka]], [[Mikuláš Galanda]], and [[Ľudovít Fulla]]. The most important Slovak composers have been [[Eugen Suchoň]], [[Ján Cikker]], and [[Alexander Moyzes]].
The most famous Slovak names can indubitably be attributed to invention and technology. Such people include [[Jozef Murgaš]], the inventor of wireless telegraphy; [[Ján Bahýľ]], the inventor of the motor-driven helicopter; [[Jozef Maximilián Petzval]], inventor of the camera zoom and lens (although he considered himself an ethnic Hungarian); [[Jozef Karol Hell]] (although German by heritage), inventor of the industrial water pump; [[Štefan Banič]], inventor of the modern parachute; [[Aurel Stodola]], inventor of the bionic arm and pioneer in thermodynamics; and, more recently, [[John Dopyera]], father of modern acoustic string instruments.
Slovakia is also known for its polyhistors, of whom include [[Pavol Jozef Šafárik]], [[Matej Bel]], [[Ján Kollár]], and its political revolutionaries, such [[Milan Rastislav Štefánik]] and [[Alexander Dubček]].
There were two leading persons who codified the Slovak language. The first one was [[Anton Bernolák]] whose concept was based on the dialect of western Slovakia (1787). It was the enactment of the first national literary language of Slovaks ever. The second notable man was [[Ľudovít Štúr]]. His formation of the Slovak language had principles in the dialect of central Slovakia (1843).
The best known Slovak hero was [[Juraj Jánošík]] (the Slovak equivalent of [[Robin Hood]]). The famous Hungarian explorer named [[Móric Benyovszky]] had Slovak ancestors from his father side.
In terms of sports, the Slovaks are probably best known (in North America) for their hockey personalities, especially [[Stan Mikita]], [[Peter Šťastný]], [[Marian Hossa]] and [[Peter Bondra]]. For a list see [[List of Slovaks]].
For a list of the most notable Slovak writers and poets, see [[List of Slovak authors]].
==Statistics==
There are approximately 4.6 million autochthonous Slovaks in Slovakia. Further Slovaks live in the following countries (''the list shows estimates of embassies etc. and of associations of Slovaks abroad in the first place, and official data of the countries as of 2000/2001 in the second place'').
The list stems from [[Claude Baláž]], a Canadian Slovak, the current plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Slovaks abroad (see e.g.: <sup>6</sup>) :
* [[USA]] (1 200 000 / 821 325*) [<small>*(1)there were, however, 1 882 915 Slovaks in the US according to the 1990 census, (2) there are some 400 000 "Czechoslovaks" in the US, a large part of which are Slovaks</small>] - 19th - 21st century emigrants; see also [http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf]
* [[Czech Republic]] (350 000 / 183 749*) [<small>*there were, however, 314 877 Slovaks in the Czech Republic according to the 1991 census</small>] - due to the existence of former [[Czechoslovakia]]
* [[Hungary]] (110 000 / 39 266)
* [[Canada]] (100 000 / 50 860) - 19th - 21st century migrants
* [[Serbia]] (60 000 / 59 021*) [especially in [[Vojvodina]];<small>*excl. the [[Rusins]]</small>] - 18th & 19th century settlers
* [[Poland]](2002) (47 000 / 2 000*) [<small>* The Central Census Commission has accepted the objection of the Association of Slovaks in Poland with respect to this number </small>]- ancient minority and due to border shifts during the 20th century
* [[Romania]] (18 000 / 17 199) - ancient minority
* [[Ukraine]] (17 000 / 6 397) [especially in [[Carpathian Ruthenia]]] - ancient minority and due to the existence of former [[Czechoslovakia]]
* [[France]] (13 000/ n.a.)
* [[Australia]] (12 000 / n.a.) - 20th - 21st century migrants
* [[Austria]] (10 234 / 10 234) - 20th - 21st century migrants
* [[Great Britain|UKGB&NI]] (10 000 / n.a.)
* [[Croatia]] (5 000 / 4 712) - 18th & 19th century settlers
* other countries
The number of Slovaks living outside Slovakia in line with the above data was estimated at max. 2 016 000 in 2001 (2 660 000 in 1991), implying that, in sum, there were max. some 6 630 854 Slovaks in 2001 (7 180 000 in 1991) in the world.
The estimate according to the right-hand site chart yields an approximate number of Slovaks living outside Slovakia of 1.5 million.
Other (much higher) estimates stemmig from the [[Dom zahraničných Slovákov]] (House of Foreign Slovaks) can be found [http://www.sme.sk/c/2422124/Ako-ziju-Slovaci-za-hranicami-Slovensko-mam-rad-ale-mojim-domovom-uz-nie-je.html here](in Slovak).
==References==
{{reflist}}
#[http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf Slovaks in the US] [[PDF]]
#[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ez.html Slovaks in Czech Republic]
#[[Vojvodina#Demographics|Slovaks in Serbia]]
#[[List of Canadians by ethnicity|Slovaks in Canada]]
#[http://www.nepszamlalas.hu/eng/volumes/18/tables/load1_28.html Slovaks in Hungary]
#Baláž, Claude: Slovenská republika a zahraniční Slováci. 2004, Martin
#Baláž, Claude: (a series of articles in:) Dilemma. 01/1999 – 05/2003
==See also==
* [[List of Slovaks]]
* [[List of Slovak Americans]]
* [[Slovaks in Vojvodina]]
* [[Czechs and Slovaks in Bulgaria|Slovaks in Bulgaria]]
* [[History of the Slovak language]]
* [[Slovakia]]
==External links ==
*[http://www.snm.sk/old/zbornik/zbornik_text.htm Some studies on the early Slovaks and Slavs, on the Slovak language and Slovak hydronymy]
*[http://www.loc.gov/rr/european/imsk/slovakia.html Slovaks in America (Library of Congress)]
*[http://terkepek.adatbank.transindex.ro/kepek/netre/11.gif The Slovaks in the Kingdom of Hungary according to the (disputed) 1910 census]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Europe]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Serbia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Slovakia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Vojvodina]]
[[Category:Slavic nations|Slovaks]]
[[Category:Slovak people|*]]
[[bs:Slovaci]]
[[bg:Словаци]]
[[cs:Slováci]]
[[de:Slowaken]]
[[eo:Slovakoj]]
[[ko:슬로바키아인]]
[[hr:Slovaci]]
[[it:Slovacchi]]
[[ka:სლოვაკები]]
[[lt:Slovakai]]
[[hu:Szlovákok]]
[[mk:Словаци]]
[[nl:Slowaken]]
[[ja:スロバキア人]]
[[pl:Słowacy]]
[[pt:Eslovacos]]
[[ro:Slovaci]]
[[ru:Словаки]]
[[sk:Slováci]]
[[cu:Словѣне (Карпатьсци)]]
[[sl:Slovaki]]
[[sr:Словаци]]
[[sh:Slovaci]]
[[fi:Slovakit]]
[[sv:Slovaker]]
[[uk:Словаки]]