The Romans built several border forts near the Celtic settlement at Bratislava, and the Slavs erected an important fortress here in the 5th century within the Great Moravian Empire. Magyars (Hungarians) defeated the empire in 906, and in 1291, Poszony (as the Hungarians called Bratislava) became a royal town. After the Turks defeated the Hungarians in 1526, the territory of modern-day Slovakia fell to the Habsburg family, who renamed the royal town Pressburg. For the next 250 years, Bratislava was the coronation capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until the throne was moved to Vienna in 1783. In 1809 the city was bombarded by Napoleon’s cannons and in 1811 the castle burned down, inaugurating a period of decline. By the turn of the 20th century, only 60,000 people lived in Pressburg. The name Bratislava was chosen for the city by the parliament of the new country of Czechoslovakia in 1919. The city served briefly as the capital of the Second World War Slovak state, and since 1993 it has been the capital of the independent Slovak Republic.

POLITICS

Slovakia is a parliamentary democracy, electing deputies to the 150-seat national parliament every four years in a single, country-wide voting district (MPs do not have constituencies). Wealthier and with a better educated population than the rest of the country, Bratislava is also a political anomaly in Slovakia, strongly supporting the right-wing Slovak Democratic and Christian Union of prime minister Mikulas Dzurinda, while the regions tend to prefer the social-democratic alternative, the Smer opposition party. But 2006 is an election year, and the cumulative effect of the corruption scandals that have beset the Dzurinda government over the past eight years may be sufficient to pave Smer’s path to power, offering the prospect of renewed rifts between the country’s parliamentarians and the residents of its capital city. The most burning question is whether the socialists, if they assume power, will follow through on their promises to undo Slovakia’s hugely successful economic reforms, such as its 19% across-the-board tax.

RELIGION

Bratislava, like the rest of Slovakia, is predominantly Catholic, with about 60% of the population claiming to belong to the faith. In keeping with its German heritage, the city is also strongly influenced by the Lutheran church (specifically the evangelical church of the Augsburg confession). Church and state are largely separate but, after eight years of Christian Democrats in government, they are growing closer. Slovakia’s 16 registered churches are eligible for subsidies from the state budget, and religion is a required optional subject in all Slovak elementary schools. Although Slovakia once had a flourishing Jewish community, decades of fascism followed by Communism have drastically reduced both its population and influence.

ECONOMY

The lion’s share of the foreign investment that Slovakia has attracted in 13 years of independence has ended up in the Bratislava region, giving the city a strong manufacturing base. The anchor of the local economy is a massive Volkswagen factory, which has attracted dozens of suppliers and accounts for about 15% of Slovak GDP. Light industry, service companies and call centres have also flooded in, lured by Slovakia’s 19% tax on personal income and corporate profits. The result has been over 5% annual growth in the national economy in the past two years, and an unemployment rate below 5% in Bratislava. The Slovak capital also enjoys a per capita GDP that is higher than the European average, while the figure for the country as a whole is 52%.

POPULATION

Bratislava has a population of 450,000, making it one of the smallest of Europe’s new capitals. Due to its recent emergence after four decades of Communist isolation from most of the world, Slovak society tends to be rather uniform and is only now experiencing immigration by economic and political refugees. The make-up of the population reflects this and is determined by historical settlement patterns and geopolitical developments. According to the 2001 census, the population breaks down as 86% Slovak, 10% Hungarian, 2% Roma and 2% Western expats.