PROJECT COUNTRIES
SLOVAKIA
Slovakia is located in the middle of Europe. Surrounding countries:Czech Republic (west), Austria (south-west), Hungary (south), Ukraine (east), Poland (north).
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What every visitor should know before coming toSlovakia: Visas and embassies, electricity and elephones, currency, language, national flag, holidays...
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Slovak Republic
Official name: Slovak Republic
Name in native language Slovensko ("Slovakia"), or Slovenská republika ("Slovak Republic")
Capital city: Bratislava
Currency: Euro
Official language: Slovak
Population: 5.500.000
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The European Union and NATO member state since 2004. Slovak is a western Slavic language, very closely related to Czech and relatively close to Polish and the languages of the former Yugoslavia.
Nationalities: 85% Slovak (western Slavic in origin), 10% Hungarian, 3% Roma. Significant smaller nationalities include Czechs, Ruthenians, Ukranians, Germans and Poles.
Religions: 63% Roman Catholic, 9% Protestant, 4% Greek Catholic, 2% other churches.
Type of government: republic, with parliamentary democracy.
Head of government: Prime Minister, generally the leader of the largest party in parliament, this post holds most real executive authority.
Legislative body: National Council, a one-house parliament elected at least once every four years.
Head of state: President, elected once every five years, largely ceremonial.
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Modern Slovakia was born as an independent nation-state in 1993, when it peacefully separated from the Czech Republic, splitting from the former Czechoslovakia by mutual agreement. (There has been no organized conflict of any kind in Slovakia since 1945.) Many foreigners still confuse Slovakia with Slovenia of the former Yugoslavia.
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ITALY
Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed.
Italy is a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999.
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Nationality: Italian
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Ethnic groups:
Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)
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Languages:
Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German-speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
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Religions:
Christian 80% (overwhelmingly Roman Catholic with very small groups of Jehovah's Witnesses and Protestants), Muslim (about 800,000 to 1 million), Atheist and Agnostic 20%
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Population: 61,855,120 (July 2016 est.)
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Name of the country: Italy/ Italian Republic
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15 regions and 5 autonomous regions
regions: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio (Latium), Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte (Piedmont), Puglia (Apulia), Toscana (Tuscany), Umbria, Veneto (Venetia)
autonomous regions: Friuli-Venezia Giulia; Sardegna (Sardinia); Sicilia (Sicily); Trentino-Alto Adige (Trentino-South Tyrol) or Trentino-Suedtirol (German); Valle d'Aosta (Aosta Valley) or Vallee d'Aoste (French)
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ROMANIA
Official Name: Romania
Location: (Southeastern) Central Europe
Time Zone: Seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time (GMT + 2)
Area: 92,043 sq. miles (238,391 sq. km) - a little larger than the state of Minnesota
Flag of Romania: Three vertical stripes: red, yellow and blue.
Population: 19,651,000 (March 2014)
Main Ethnic Groups: Romanian 84%, Hungarian 6.1%, Gipsy 3.1%,
German 0.2%, Ukrainian 0.2%
Religions: Christian Orthodox 81%, Roman Catholic 4.3%, Reformed 3%,
Greek-Catholic 0.7%, Unitarian 0.3%, Jewish, other.
Official Language: Romanian
Currency: Romanian Leu (RON) ( plural Lei )
Climate: Temperate, four distinct seasons, similar to northeastern USA
Capital: Bucharest (București)
Form of State: Romania is a semi-parliamentary democracy based on a bicameral Parliament: the Chamber of Representatives (Camera Deputaţilor) and the Senate (Senat).
All members of the legislature are directly elected from Romania's 41 counties.)
Legal system: Based on European models and Constitution of 1991.
Electoral System: Universal direct suffrage over the age of 18.
Parties must win at least five percent of the national vote to gain
representation in the Parliament.
National Elections: December 9, 2012;
next ellections: Fall 2014 (presidential), Fall 2016 (parliamentary)
Head of State: President of the Republic, currently Mr. Traian Basescu
(re-elected on December 6, 2009).
Romania's president is allowed to serve two consecutive five-year terms.
National Government: The government is led by the Prime Minister,
confirmed by the Parliament on the nomination of the President of Romania. Head of the Government: the Prime Minister, currently
Romania is a member state of theEU and NATO.
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GREECE
OFFICIAL NAME: Hellenic Republic
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FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary republic
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CAPITAL: Athens
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POPULATION: 10,722,816
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OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Greek
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MONEY: Euro
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AREA: 50,942 square miles (131,940 square kilometers)
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OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Greek
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GOVERNMENT
Greece abolished their monarchy in 1975 and became a parliamentary republic. Under the new constitution, there is a president and a prime minister. The prime minister has the most power, and is the leader of the party that has the most seats in the parliament.
The president selects cabinet ministers who run government departments.The parliament, called the Vouli, has only one house with 300 members who are elected every four years. Greece became part of the European Union in 1981.
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PEOPLE & CULTURE
Family life is a very important part of life in Greece. Children often live with their parents even after they get married. Greeks live long lives and it is thought that their varied diet of olives, olive oil, lamb, fish, squid, chickpeas, and lots of fruits and vegetables keep them healthy. Nearly two-thirds of the people live in large cities. Athens is the largest city, with over 3.7 million people crowding the metropolis.
Nefos, the Greek term for smog, is a big problem in Athens. The Parthenon, the temple to goddess Athena atop the Acropolis, is deteriorating due to pollution and acid rain. Olive trees have been cultivated in Greece for over 6,000 years. Every village has its own olive groves.