Slovakia used to be part of Czechoslovakia until the "velvet divorce" in January 1993. Since then the central European nation has preserved its own language and culture, which is home to some 5.5 million citizens.
While Slovakia has had its own economic turmoil in the past almost three decades of its existence, the last 20 years have seen the country join Nato in 2003, the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone in 2009. It has also played a part in peacekeeping around the world, sending its mission troops to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo.
The media is largely independent and freedom of reporting is respected, however according to Reporters Without Borders, since the 2018 murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée at their home, tension has increased in the realm of reporting and the free press.
