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 (83.9%), a member of the Slavic Language Family, but Hungarian (10.7%) 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 (1.8%), Ukrainian (1%), 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
