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 are represented by crude oil and natural gas in the north, by 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 found 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, 26 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. is divided into 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 47.1 %. Almost a quarter of urban population lives in the centre of the region – Trnava.

Demographics background

Trnavský kraj, with a population of 564 917 as at December, 31 2019, 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 on average per 1 km² lived in Trnava district (179 inhabitants), the least in Senica district (88 inhabitants).

In 2019, 5 385 children were born and 5 410 inhabitants died in the region. The population change has registered a decrease of population since 2001. Only in years 2009 and 2011 a natural increase of population was recorded. The net migration and the total increase in population can be assessed positively.

The changes also continued in the age composition of the population. In 2019, the share of the children's component was by 2.6 p.p. lower than the share of the population over 65 years of age. In the last five years, the share of the child component of the population (0–14 years of age) has increased by 0,6 p.p. but the growth of population older than 65 years of age was much faster, up to 2.3 p.p. In 2019 the mean age of population was almost 42 years and the ageing index reached 117.9.

There were concluded 3 017 marriages and 1 161 marriages were divorced in 2019. In 2018 the five year lasting growth of nuptiality was interrupted and the number of concluded marriages has begun to decline slightly. Divorces have stagnated in the last five years.

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 2019, the economically active population made up 51.2% of the population. In the last three years, the rate of economic activity has fallen to 59.9 %. The employment rate has been rising slightly for a long time to 70.1 %. On the contrary, the unemployment rate has been declining for the last six years, in 2019 reached the value of 4.6 %. The average nominal monthly earnings reached EUR 1 197 and lagged behind the national average by 5.2 %.

From view of organizational statistics at the end of 2019, there were 25.4 thous. legal persons, of which profit-oriented organizations created a share of 85.6 % and 36.4 thous. natural persons, of which self-employed persons accounted for 93,3 %. A dense network of wholesale, retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles was created in the region, in which run business 16.8 % of the total number of profit-oriented organizations and more than 17 % of the number of self-employed persons. Furthermore, enterprises and self-employed persons operated mainly in the sectors of professional, scientific and technical activities, industrial production and construction.

In 2018, Trnavský kraj with the regional gross domestic product of EUR 10 088 mill. at current prices accounted for 11,2 % of national GDP. The regional GDP per capita exceeded the national average by 8.8 % and reached EUR 17 917 at current prices, which was the second-highest value in the regional comparison.

According to economic activities, industry accounted for the highest share of 37.2 % of the regional gross value added in 2018. Public administration, defence, compulsory social security, health care and social assistance accounted for 15.4 % and trade, transport, accommodation and food service for 14.8 %.

 The Trnavský kraj is one of the most productive agricultural regions of the Slovak Republic (it follows Nitriansky kraj). Agricultural land occupies 69.4 % of the total area of the region. The share of arable land is the highest within Slovakia. The production capacity of agricultural land in the region is very good. The structure of sown areas also corresponds to this. The largest shares of agricultural crops have cereals, oilplants, sugar beet and perennial fodder. The highest hectare yields are achieved 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. Another 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. In 2019, industrial entities reached turnover EUR 12.6 billion.

 In terms of construction production, Trnavský especially kraj is one of the weaker regions. In 2019, construction organizations by own employees carried out construction production in value of EUR 484 mil. Contractually agreed construction production reached EUR 529 mill. There were 3 478 new flats built in the region, almost a third of them were located in Trnava district.

 The transport position of Trnavský kraj and especially town Trnava as a centre of the region is significantly exposed in terms of domestic and also international transport. Road, railway and water transport are represented 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 1 947 km of roads, of which motorways and expressways make up only 4.8 %. In 2019, 384 672 motor vehicles were registered in the region, of which 71.8 % 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. In 2019, pre-primary, primary, secondary and lower tertiary education was provided by 307 kindergartens, 211 primary schools, 21 grammar schools, 46 secondary vocational schools. 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 are also the University in Sládkovičovo and the University of Central Europe in Skalica in the region.

In 2019 health care was provided in 1 270 health care facilities, which also included 6 hospitals, 948 outpatient health care facilities and 3 institutes for treatment. 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 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 19 museums, most of them are located in the building of The Western Slovakian Museum in Trnava. In 2019, readers had 175 libraries available.

 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. In 2019, the Trnavský kraj offered 313 accommodation facilities to 433 thous. of visitors.