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Trnavský kraj - Characteristic of the region
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Trnavský kraj - Characteristic of the region

24.02.2023 | | Number of views: 48744

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, the largest area is occupied by the lowlands Podunajská nížina in the south and by Záhorská nížina in the north. They are divided by the mountain range Malé Karpaty. The highest peak of this mountain is Záruby hill (766 meter above sea level), which is also the highest place in the region. The lowest place is the water area in the cadastral district of Okoč municipality (105 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 46.5 %. Almost a quarter of urban population lives in the centre of the region – Trnava.

Demographics background

Trnavský kraj, with a population of 565 296 as at December, 31 2021, 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 (178 inhabitants), the least in Senica district (87 inhabitants).

There were born 5 447 children and 7 779 inhabitants died in the region during the year 2021. The population change has registered a decline of population for a long time. The decline deepened markedly in 2021. The region lost 2 332 inhabitant by natural change. Net migration can be positively evaluated, the region gained by migration 1 620 inhabitants. Overall, the population of the region decreased.

The changes also continued in the age composition of the population. In the year 2021, the share of the children's component was by 3.1 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 5.5 p.p. The mean age of population was 42 years.

There were concluded 2 649 marriages and 1 042 marriages were divorced in 2021. Compared to the first year of the pandemic (year 2020), there was registered an increase in the number of marriages (by 14.1%) but also in the number of divorces (by 4.8%). However, both the marriage and divorce rates were lower than in years from 2014 to 2019.

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. In 2021, the economically active population made up 53.4% of the population. The rate of economic activity reached the value to 62.8 %, the employment rate in age 20 – 64 years was 77.5% and the unemployment rate 6%. The average nominal monthly earnings grew at EUR 1 328 and lagged behind the national average by 5.5%.

From view of organizational statistics at the end of 2021, there were 26,7 thous. legal persons, of which profit-oriented organizations created a share of 86% and 40.2 thous. natural persons, of which self-employed persons accounted for 93.6 %. A dense network of wholesale, retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles was created in the region, in which run business 15.6 % of the total number of profit-oriented organizations and more than 15.3 % of the number of self-employed persons. Furthermore, enterprises and self-employed persons 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 10 976 mill. at current prices accounted for 11.1% of national GDP in 2021. The regional GDP per capita exceeded the national average by 7.2% and reached EUR 19 415 at current prices, which was the second-highest value in the regional comparison.

 According to economic activities, industry accounted for the highest share of 33.9% of the regional gross value added in 2021. Public administration, defence, compulsory social security, health care and social assistance accounted for 17.4% and trade, transport, accommodation and food service for 15.2%.

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.

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 13.8 billion in 2021.

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 461.7 mill. and contractually agreed construction production reached EUR 529.2 mill. in 2021. There were 3 624 new dwellings built in the region, more than three fifths of them were located in Dunajská Streda and 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 403.2 thous. of motor vehicles were registered in 2021, of which more than 70% 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 311 kindergartens, 212 primary schools, 21 grammar schools, 42 secondary vocational schools in 2021. 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 in Sládkovičovo.

Health care was provided in 1 377 health care facilities, which also included 7 hospitals, 1 058 outpatient health care facilities and 3 institutes for treatment in 2021. 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 4 scenes in permanent operations and theatrical spaces. 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 21 museums, most of them are located in the buildings of The Western Slovakian Museum in Trnava. Readers had 147 libraries available in 2021.

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 offered 323 accommodation facilities to 214 thous. of visitors in 2021.

 

 


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