Government type: parliamentary democracy
National capital: Bratislava
Administrative divisions: 8 departments (kraje, singular-kraj);
Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky,
Trenciansky, Trnavsky, Zilinsky
Independence: 1 January 1993 (from Czechoslovakia)
National holiday: Slovak Constitution Day, 1 September (1992);
Anniversary of Slovak National Uprising, 29 August (1944)
Constitution: ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1 January 1993
Legal system: civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Michal KOVAC (since 2 March 1993); note-leaves office 2 March 1998; first round of voting for his replacement occurred 29 January 1998 head of government: Prime Minister Vladimir MECIAR (since 12 December 1994) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by National Council for a five-year term; election last held 8 February 1993 (next to be held March 1998); following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president election results: Michal KOVAC elected president; percent of parliamentary vote-NA
Legislative branch: unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovensky Repubiky (150 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 30 September-1 October 1994 (next to be held 26-27 September 1998) election results: percent of vote by party-HZDS 35%, SDL 10.4%, Hungarian coalition (Hungarian Christian Democrats, Hungarian Civic Party, Coexistence) 10.2%, KDH 10.1%, DU 8.6%, ZRS 7.3%, SNS 5.4%; seats by party-governing coalition 83 (HZDS 61, ZRS 13, SNS 9), opposition 67 (SDL 18, Hungarian coalition 17, KDH 17, DU 15)