Background The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the close of World War I allowed the Slovaks to join the closely related Czechs to form Czechoslovakia. Following the chaos of World War II, Czechoslovakia became a Communist nation within Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. Soviet influence collapsed in 1989 and Czechoslovakia once more became free. The Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully on 1 January 1993. Slovakia joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.
SOURCES: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
ALTERNATIVE NAMES:
Slovakia, Slovak Republic, Slovenska Republika, Slovensko, slovak rep. c
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