City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 236,093), eastern Slovakia.
Settled in the 9th century and chartered in 1241, it served as a trading settlement during the late Middle Ages. It developed rapidly after becoming part of Czechoslovakia in 1920. Occupied in 1938 by Hungary, it was liberated in 1945 and became the first seat of the postwar Czechoslovakian government. A part of independent Slovakia since 1992, it is the political, economic, and cultural centre of southeastern Slovakia.