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Záhorie ( hu, Erdőhát) is a region in western
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
between by the Little Carpathians to the east and the Morava River to the west. Although not an administrative region, it is one of the 21 official tourism regions in Slovakia. Záhorie lies in the area of three administrative regions: Bratislava Region (
Malacky District The Malacky District ( sk, okres Malacky) is a district in the Bratislava Region of western Slovakia. It lies north from Bratislava on Záhorská nížina lowland. Its current borders have been established in 1996. The administrative seat is its l ...
plus
Záhorská Bystrica Záhorská Bystrica (german: Bisternitz, hu, Pozsonybeszterce) is a city borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is located in the northern part of the city, lying on the foothills of the Pezinok Carpathians, part of the Little Carpa ...
in
Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...
),
Trnava Region The Trnava Region ( sk, Trnavský kraj, ; hu, Nagyszombati kerület; german: Tyrnauer Landschaftsverband) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It was established in 1996, before which date most of its districts were parts of Brat ...
(
Senica Senica (; german: Senitz; hu, Szenice) is a town in Trnava Region, western Slovakia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the Záhorie lowland, close to the Little Carpathians. Etymology The name is derived from the word ''seno'' ("hay") ...
and Skalica districts) and
Trenčín Region The Trenčín Region ( sk, Trenčiansky kraj, ; cs, Trenčínský kraj; hu, Trencséni kerület) is one of the eight Regions of Slovakia, Slovak administrative regions. It consists of 9 districts (''Districts of Slovakia, okresy''). The region ...
(southern part of
Myjava District Myjava District ( sk, okres Myjava, hu, Milavai járás) is a district in the Trenčín Region of western Slovakia. It is located in the area of the Myjava Hills The Myjava Hills () is an area of hills in western Slovakia, rugged highlands alo ...
). The region also creates the borders between Slovakia, the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
and
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. A military district of the same name is located around Malacky.


Name

The word "Záhorie" means "(The land) behind the mountains", referring to the Little Carpathians mountains that separate Záhorie from the rest of Slovakia. The Hungarian name of Záhorie, "Erdőhát" translates to "(The land) behind the forest".


Geography

In the middle of the region is the Záhorská nížina, a plain between the towns of Senica and Malacky. Most of the area is forested because its sandy subsoil is not suitable for farming. The forested area is used as a testing range for military vehicles, especially tanks and artillery. The testing range is called Vojenský technický skúšobný ústav Záhorie (the Záhorie Military Technical Testing Institute), and it contains the testing range, the Kuchyňa airbase and the village of Záhorie, which was built for workers at the testing range. Headquarters are located in the village of Záhorie and includes storage facilities and research facilities. The western edge of the region is formed by the river Morava. The eastern border is the Carpathian Mountain Range. On the north is the Chvojnická pahorkatina. The Myjava River flows through the region, and nearly every village has a dam or lake.


Climate and agriculture

The region is a plain behind mountains, so the climate is much drier than that of the rest of Slovakia. The region is well known for its wide yellow fields of rapeseed and red wine. Other grown crops are
maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...
, sunflowers and
grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
. This region is well known for producing high quality wines, especially in the regions around the town Skalica. This town is well known for a typical cuveé - Skalicky Rubin (Skalica Carbuncle), a composition of three sorts of red wine - Noir de Franconie (subsort Lampart)+ Portugais Bleu + Saint Laurent (Skalicka Frankovka, Modry Portugal, Svätovavrinecké) and also a typical subsort of Noir de Franconie redwine - Lampart. The region specific production of alcoholic beverages is typically known with wine brandy and various fruit spirits (pear, apple, plum...) with higher volume of alcohol, 40% and more, especially
slivovica Slivovitz is a fruit spirit (or fruit brandy) made from damson plums, often referred to as plum spirit (or plum brandy). If anyone else has a dictionary of some Slavic language that translates your word for slivovitz as "plum brandy", please a ...
, a popular local speciality.


Population

The population in the area is around 170,000. Towns in the region are
Gbely Gbely ( German and Hungarian: ''Egbell'') is a town in the Skalica District, Trnava Region in western Slovakia, close to the Czech border. History The first written record about Gbely was in 1392. It gained town rights in the 16th–17th centuri ...
, Holíč,
Malacky Malacky ( German: ''Malatzka'', Hungarian: ''Malacka'') is a town and municipality in western Slovakia around north from capital Bratislava. From the second half of the 10th century until 1918, it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. It is one o ...
,
Senica Senica (; german: Senitz; hu, Szenice) is a town in Trnava Region, western Slovakia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the Záhorie lowland, close to the Little Carpathians. Etymology The name is derived from the word ''seno'' ("hay") ...
, Skalica, Stupava and
Šaštín-Stráže Šaštín-Stráže (german: Schoßberg-Strascha, hu, Sasvár-Morvaőr, tr, Şaşvar) is a town in the Senica District, Trnava Region in western Slovakia. Originally two separate villages, now it is one of the youngest towns in Slovakia, having ...
. The people here were for many years in the past farmers, so there are no big towns, most of the people lived in small villages not far from each other. The average distances between the villages are less than 3 km. Between the villages are very often small settlements, especially around Myjava and Brezová pod Bradlom, called ''kopanice'', ''osady'' or ''samoty''. Because the region is geographically separated from the rest of Slovakia, its inhabitants (sg. ''Záhorák'', pl. ''Záhoráci'') are culturally closer to the
Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The ...
ns and speak a distinct dialect Slovak that forms
dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated vari ...
with the Moravian dialects of Czech. They are a target of frequent region-specific jokes from the rest of Slovaks, in a similar way that e.g. the Irish are mocked by the British, and the people from
Appenzell Appenzell is a historic canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered a league with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411, ...
,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
are being laughed at by the rest of the
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...
.


Environment and ecology

Some parts of Záhorie are protected by Záhorie Protected Landscape Area, the first lowland protected landscape area in Slovakia. The Landscape Area takes 275.22 km² (106.3 mi²) and is divided into two separate parts – north-eastern and western. The Little Carpathians Protected Landscape Area and Biele Karpaty Protected Landscape Area are partly situated in Záhorie. The largest part of Záhorie is taken up by the Záhorie Lowland, which is divided into the Bor Lowland and the Chvojnica Hills. The Bor Lowland (slovak: Borská nížina) is named after a big artificial forest named ''Bor'', which is an old Slavic word (still commonly used in Czech) meaning '
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...
forest'. This forest was planted with Scots pine in the 18th century on the largest blown sands of Slovakia.


Transportation

The importance of Záhorie for transportation purposes increased sharply after the creation of
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
in 1918, owing to the need to connect the two most important cities of the newly formed country, i.e.
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
and
Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...
, with a road and a railway that do not cross into any other country. Before that time, a typical horse carriage journey from Prague to Bratislava would pass through
Znojmo Znojmo (; german: Znaim) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian ...
and
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
. As a result, the main railway track passing through Záhorie (which was originally built in the late 19th century to connect Bratislava with Skalica) was doubled in 1920 and the track layout at the station of
Kúty Kúty, (german: Kutti; hu, Jókút) is a village and municipality in Senica District in the Trnava Region of western Slovakia. History The village was first mentioned in 1392 under the name Kuth. And in 1498 as Kwhty. Kút is equal to Corner ...
was modified so that the direct track from Bratislava now leads over the Morava river to
Břeclav Břeclav (; german: Lundenburg) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 24,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Town parts of Charvátská Nová Ves and Poštorná are administrative parts of Břeclav. Etymol ...
. The connection with the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway in Břeclav was rebuilt in 1929 too, so that direct trains between Prague and Bratislava no longer had to reverse direction in Břeclav. The construction of the D2 motorway passing through Záhorie and connecting Bratislava with
Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
and further with Prague was commenced in 1969 and completed in 1980. Nowadays Záhorie provides the fastest route between Prague and
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
for both road and rail traffic.


Gallery

Image:Podbranc.jpg, Senica Hills Image:Chvojnica hills near Unin.jpg, Chvojnice Hills Image:Zahorie desert 01.jpg,
Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
s Image:Morava austria slovakia.jpg, Morava River Image:Morava oxbow 3.jpg, Morava oxbow Image:Pine wood bor lowland.jpg, Bor Lowland, pine wood Image:Chvojnicka pahorkatina 1.jpg, Fields near Unín Image:Zaruby peak.jpg, Mount
Záruby Záruby is the highest hill of the Little Carpathians. It is located at an altitude of 768 m, near the village of Smolenice Smolenice ( hu, Szomolány; german: Smolenitz) is a village and municipality of Trnava District in the Trnava Region ...
Image:Kúty stanica 1.jpg, Railway station
Kúty Kúty, (german: Kutti; hu, Jókút) is a village and municipality in Senica District in the Trnava Region of western Slovakia. History The village was first mentioned in 1392 under the name Kuth. And in 1498 as Kwhty. Kút is equal to Corner ...
with an EC train


See also

*
Zagore (region) Zagore ( bg, Загоре ), also Zagorie (), Zagora (), or Zagoriya (), was a vaguely defined medieval region in what is now Bulgaria. Its name is of Slavic origin and means "beyond .e. south ofthe alkanmountains". The region was first ment ...
(also ''Zagorie''), a region in medieval Bulgaria


References


External links


Záhorie
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Slovakia.travelZáhorie
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enjoyBratislava
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahorie Geography of Slovakia Traditional regions of Slovakia