Location, area, geographical conditions
With an area of 4 146.3 km², the Trnavský kraj occupies 8.5% of Slovakia´s area. It is located in the western part of the Slovak Republic, where it forms a common border with the Czech Republic and the Republic of Austria in the north and with the Republic of Hungary in the south. It also borders with three regions Bratislavský kraj, Nitriansky kraj and Trenčiansky kraj.
From a geographical point of view, Podunajská nížina lowlands occupies the largest area in the south and Záhorská nížina lowlands in the north. The mountain range Malé Karpaty separate these two lowlands. The highest peak of this mountain is Záruby hill (766.7 meter above sea level), which is also the highest place in the region. The lowest place is the bank of the Asód-Čergov canal in the cadastral district of Okoč municipality (107.1 m above sea level).
The territory of the region is spread over two climatic zones - warm and moderately warm. The driest and the warmest are the southern areas of Podunajská nížina and the coldest area is the area of Malé Karpaty mountain. Average annual temperature is around 10 °C.
The water network belongs to the basin of the river Dunaj (Danube), the second largest river in Europe. Water sources are relatively rich and the sources of utility and drinking water are the streams of the rivers Danube, Váh, Malý Dunaj and Dudváh. Several water reservoirs have been built on them and their tributaries, the largest and most famous is the Gabčíkovo waterworks.
The mineral resources of the region consist of crude oil and natural gas in the north, deposits of brick raw materials, limestone, dolomites, glass and foundry sands and gravel in other parts of region. A source of beech and oak wood used for fuel and various industrial purposes is in Malé Karpaty mountain.
There is an extensive network of protected areas in the region. There are located 4 protected landscape areas: Dunajské Luhy, Biele Karpaty, Malé Karpaty and Záhorie, 8 national nature reserves, 27 nature reserves, 28 protected areas, 23 natural monuments, 1 national natural monument – jaskyňa Driny cave and 10 special protection areas.
According to the territorial-administrative arrangement in accordance with the Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No 221/1996 Coll. the region consists of 7 districts Dunajská Streda, Galanta, Hlohovec, Piešťany, Senica, Skalica and Trnava. The largest district is Dunajská Streda, which accounts for 25.9 % of the total area of the region, and the smallest is Hlohovec, which occupies 6.4 %.
The region consists of 251 municipalities. The significant concentration of population is in 17 municipalities with town status. Urban population accounts for 46.2 %. Almost a quarter of urban population lives in the centre of the region – Trnava.
Demographics background
Trnavský kraj, with a population of 566,114 as at December, 31 2023, was the smallest in comparison with other Slovak regions. Its share on total population of the Slovak Republic was 10.4 %. With a population density of 136 inhabitants per km², it became the second most densely populated region. The population density was different in the individual districts of the region. The most inhabitants per 1 km² lived in Trnava district (179 inhabitants), the least in Senica district (87 inhabitants).
There were born 4,634 children and 5,786 inhabitants died in the region during the year 2023. The region, which has been reporting a natural population decline for a long time, also lost 1,152 inhabitants in 2023 due to natural change. The migration balance can be evaluated positively, with which the region gained 1,693 inhabitants. In total, the number of inhabitants of the region increased by 541 inhabitants.
The changes also continued in the age composition of the population. The share of the children's component in 2023 was by 4 p.p. lower than the share of the population over 65 years of age. In the last ten years, the share of the child component of the population (0–14 years of age) increased by 1 p.p. but the growth of population older than 65 years of age was much faster, up to 4.6 p.p. The mean age of population was 43 years.
There were concluded 2,672 marriages and 952 marriages were divorced in 2023. The number of marriages increased nearly by 10% year-on-year, while the number of divorces was approximately the same as in 2022. Comparing data from the last ten years, the number of marriages was the third lowest and the number of divorces the second lowest.
Economic and social specifics
Many industrial also agricultural enterprises and a wide network of services together with a good location and infrastructure offer a wide range of job opportunities. The economically active population in 2022 made up 53.2% of the population. The rate of economic activity reached the value to 62.7%, the employment rate in age 20 – 64 years was 79.4% and the unemployment rate 4.4%. The average nominal monthly earnings grew at EUR 1,421 and lagged behind the national average by 5.3%.
From view of organizational statistics at the end of 2022, there were 27.4 thous. legal persons, of which profit-oriented organizations created a share nearly of 87% and 43.5 thous. natural persons, of which self-employed persons accounted less than 94%. A dense network of wholesale, retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles was created in the region, in which run business 15.1% of the total number of profit-oriented organizations and more than 14.6% of the number of self-employed persons. Enterprises operated mainly in the sectors of professional, scientific and technical activities and industrial production. More than quarter of self-employed persons run the business in the branch of construction .
Trnavský kraj with the regional gross domestic product of EUR 12,102 mill. at current prices accounted for 11% of national GDP in 2022. The regional GDP per capita exceeded the national average by 6.2% and reached EUR 21,209 at current prices, which was the second-highest value in the regional comparison.
Industry accounted for exactly one third of the regional gross added value of the Trnavský kraj in 2022. The share of public administration, defence, compulsory social security, health and social assistance was just under 17%, and trade, transport, accommodation and catering 14.2%.
The Trnavský kraj is one of the most productive agricultural regions of the Slovak Republic (it follows Nitriansky kraj). Agricultural land occupies 69.3% of the total area of the region. The share of arable land is the highest within Slovakia (89.7%). The production capacity of agricultural land in the region is very good. Agricultural crops as cereals, oil plants, sugar beet and perennial fodder have the largest shares on sown areas and achieve the highest hectare yields within the regions of the Slovak Republic. Crop production is supplemented by animal production, breeding of cattle and pigs is very significant (especially in the Dunajská Streda district).
The structure of the industry is represented by almost all activities. The distribution of industry is territorially unequal, the northern and central part has industrial character and the southern part an industrial-agricultural character. There is the most developed a production of milk and dairy products, meat and meat products, sugar, confectionery and sparkling wines. Regional production focuses mainly on the production of computers, electronic, optical products and motor vehicles. Other important industrial branches are the manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products; manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.; manufacture of chemicals and chemical products; manufacture of pharmaceuticals. Industrial entities employed 56.5 thous. persons and reached turnover EUR 16.9 billion in 2022.
In terms of construction production, Trnavský kraj is one of the weaker regions. Construction organizations by own employees carried out construction production in value of EUR 517.1 mill. and contractually agreed construction production reached EUR 604.2 mill. in 2022. There were 3,294 new dwellings completed in the region, more than a third of them were located in Dunajská Streda and more than quarter in Trnava districts
The transport position of Trnavský kraj and especially town Trnava as a centre of the region is significantly exposed in terms of domestic and international transport. Road, railway and water transport are presented here. Important road routes from Bratislava through Trnava to Žilina and from Hodonín through Trnava to Nitra pass through the region. The regional road network consists of 1,964 km of roads, of which motorways and expressways make up only 5.6%. In the region 413.5 thous. of motor vehicles were registered in 2022, of which more than 71% were passenger cars.
Railway transport is represented by important transport routes such as Bratislava – Žilina and the electrified single-track line Trnava – Galanta and Trnava – Kúty, which extends the southern railway line towards the Czech Republic. The Bratislava – Galanta – Štúrovo line is also important. Gabčíkovo, waterworks have significantly improved sailing conditions on the Slovak section of the Danube.
The network of school facilities is relatively well developed in the region. Pre-primary, primary, secondary and lower tertiary education was provided by 316 kindergartens, 214 primary schools, 21 grammar schools, 42 secondary vocational schools in 2022. The centre of higher education is Trnava town, which is the seat of the University of Trnava, the University of St. Kyrillius and Methodius and the Slovak Technical University – Faculty of Materials Science and Technology. There is also the University DANUBIUS in Sládkovičovo.
Health care was provided in 1,363 health care facilities, which also included 7 hospitals, 1,051 outpatient health care facilities and 4 institutes for treatment in 2022. Geothermal and curative springs, which are used in natural curative spas in the towns Piešťany and Smrdáky, are of particular importance for the development of the region.
The field of culture is represented in the region by 5 theatres including small and independent. Theatre in town Trnava has the most important position. Film art is promoted by an extensive network of permanent and open-air cinemas. Historical and cultural exhibition are presented in 2 galleries and 22 museums, most of them are located in the buildings of The Western Slovakian Museum in Trnava. Readers had 145 libraries available in 2022.
Trnava, the centre of the region, is called the Slovak Rome due to the numerous historical sacral buildings. There are many castles and manors in the region (Ostrý Kameň, Korlátka, Dobrá Voda, Smolenice, Dolná Krupá), which are frequent destinations for trips and hiking trails. Záhorie, the west part of the region, is known for basilica in Šaštín town and the cultural and historical monuments in Skalica town. There are several water mills on Malý Dunaj river as well as thermal swimming pools in towns Dunajská Streda, Veľký Meder and Topoľníky. Trnavský kraj in 2022 had 326 accommodation facilities available, the services of which were used by more than 329 thous. visitors.
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