ABSTRACT
With an area of just over 49,000sq.km Slovakia is a diverse Central European country, with the high ground of the Carpathians in the northern and central areas grading through hill country to the Danube lowlands in the south (Figure 10.1). The country is well settled and quite highly urbanised, the population of the capital (Bratislava) exceeding 450,000 while large towns of over 80,000 (Banská Bystrica, Košice, Nitra, Prešov and Žilina) account for most of the other seven county centres. Small towns are numerous, especially in former mining areas which are of considerable historical interest. But they are also of importance in connection with mineral and thermal springs which have great value for tourism. Meanwhile Slovakia has almost 2900 villages, though in some mountain areas the rural settlement is highly fragmented. Intensive human activity in the primary sector as well as energy, manufacturing and tourism has generated many conflicts in the way resources are used. Environmental problems have often emerged, especially in the more devastated areas, and these are now being more widely Salient features of Slovakia https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203449707/524486a3-1084-49d4-a8e0-97d3b4e56111/content/fig00017_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
