ZAPADNI SLOVENSKO

Czech Zpadoslovensk, English Western Slovakia kraj (region), southwestern Slovakia. It is bordered on the northwest by the Czech Republic, on the southwest by Austria, on the southeast by Hungary, and on the northeast by Stredn Slovensko kraj. Plains formed by the Morava (March), Danube (Dunaj), Vh, Nitra, and Hron rivers dominate the southern part of the region. Wheat, rye, barley, corn (maize), vegetables, hemp, grapes, and tobacco are the main crops grown, and pigs, poultry, and cattle are also raised. The Little and White Carpathians (Mal and Biele Karpaty) ring the western and northern parts of the region. The Carpathian slopes are noted for vineyards. The river valleys of this region produce glass sand, ceramic clay, and gravel; dolomite (marble) and limestone are quarried in the mountains; at Pezinok, antimony is mined. In the 1970s deposits of natural gas and oil were found in the Morava River valley. A series of five dams on the Vh River provides hydroelectric energy for industry centred in the Vh valley cities. Bratislava serves as the region's capital, although it is administered separately; it is also a major industrial centre and effectively the cultural capital. The kraj has several mineral-water spas. Archaeological remains found around the spas show that they were already known in Roman times. The area between the Danube and the Little Danube rivers, called Great Rye Island (Velk Zitn Ostrov), is more than one-half Hungarian, the heaviest concentration of an ethnic minority in Slovakia. Area 5,595 square miles (14,492 square km). Pop. (1991 prelim.) 1,712,181.