Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-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 s ...

, around from the capital

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, 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 — approxim ...

, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia with a population of approximately 80,000, an important industrial center, the largest city on the

Váh The Váh (; german: Waag, ; hu, Vág; pl, WagWag
w Słowniku geograficznym Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów ...

river, and the seat of a ''

kraj A kraj ( ''kraje'') is the highest-level administrative unit in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. For lack of other English expressions, the Slavic term is often translated as "province", "region", or "territory", although it approxim ...

'' (

Žilina Region The Žilina Region ( sk, Žilinský kraj; pl, Kraj żyliński; hu, Zsolnai kerület) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts ( okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region ...

) and of an ''

okres Okres (Czech and Slovak term meaning "district" in English; from German Kreis - circle (or perimeter)) refers to administrative entities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is similar to Landkreis in Germany or "''okrug''" in other Slavic-speaki ...

'' (

Žilina District Žilina District ( sk, Okres Žilina) is an '' okres'' (district) of the Žilina Region in north-western Slovakia. The district was first established in 1923. Its present borders date from 1996. The heart of the district is the Váh and Rajec rive ...

). It belongs to the

Upper Váh region Upper Váh region ( sk, Horné Považie) is the tourism region in the north-west of Slovakia, because of its beautiful countryside it is one of the most visited regions in Slovakia. In the past it was part of Trencsén County. Districts *Bytča ...

of tourism.

Etymology

The name is derived from Slavic/Slovak word ''žila'' - a "(river) vein". Žilina means "a place with many watercourses". Alternatively, it is a secondary name derived from Žilinka river or from the name of the local people, Žilín/Žiliňane.

History

The area around today's Žilina was inhabited in the late

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

(about 20,000 BC). In the 5th century,

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

started to move into the area. However, the first written reference to Žilina was in 1208 as ''terra de Selinan''. From the second half of the 10th century until 1918, it was part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

. In the middle of the 13th century, ''terra Sylna'' was the property of the Cseszneky de Milvány family. The city started to develop around 1300, and, according to records in 1312, it was already a town. In 1321, King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

made Žilina a free royal town. On 7 May 1381, King

Louis I Louis I may refer to: * Louis the Pious, Louis I of France, "the Pious" (778–840), king of France and Holy Roman Emperor * Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia (ruled 1123–1140) * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois ( ...

issued

Privilegium pro Slavis The ''Privilegium pro Slavis'' ("Privilege for the Slovaks", sometimes translated as "Privilege for the Slavs") is a privilege granted to the Slovaks in Žilina. (german: Sillein; hu, Zsolna), Kingdom of Hungary, by the King Louis I during his v ...

, which made the Slav inhabitants equal to the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

by allocating half of the seats at the city council to Slavs. The town was burned in 1431 by the

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

s. During the 17th century, Žilina gained position as a center of manufacturing, trade, and education, and, during the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

age, many monasteries and churches, as well as the

Budatín Castle The Budatín Castle ( sk, Budatínsky zámok) is a castle in north-western Slovakia, near the city of Žilina, where the Kysuca river flows into the Váh river. History It was built as a guarding castle in the second half of the 13th century nea ...

, were built. In the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

, Slovak volunteers, part of the Imperial Army, won a battle near the city against Hungarian honveds and gardists. The city boomed in the second half of the 19th century as new railway tracks were built: the Kassa Oderberg Railway was finished in 1872 and the railway to

(Pozsony in Hungarian) in 1883, and new factories started to spring up, such as the drapery factory ''Slovena'' (1891) and the Považie chemical works (1892). It was one of the first municipalities to sign the

Martin Declaration The Martin Declaration ( sk, Martinská deklarácia) is the name usually given to the ''Declaration of the Slovak Nation'' ( sk, Deklarácia slovenského národa) that was proclaimed in the town of Turčiansky Svätý Martin (now Martin, Slova ...

(30 October 1918), and until March 1919, it was the seat of the Slovak government. On 6 October 1938, shortly after the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...

, the autonomy of Slovakia within Czechoslovakia was declared in Žilina. During

the Holocaust in Slovakia The Holocaust in Slovakia was the systematic dispossession, deportation, and murder of Jews in the Slovak State, a client state of Nazi Germany, during World War II. Out of 89,000 Jews in the country in 1940, an estimated 69,000 were murdered ...

, tens of thousands of Jews were deported from Žilina. Žilina was captured on 30 April 1945 by

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

troops of the

4th Ukrainian Front The 4th Ukrainian Front (Russian: Четвёртый Украинский фронт) was the name of two distinct Red Army strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The front was first formed on 20 October 1943, by ...

, after which it again became part of Czechoslovakia. After the war, the city continued its development with many new factories, schools and housing projects being built. It was the seat of the

from 1949 to 1960 and again since 1996. Today, Žilina is the fourth largest city in Slovakia, the third most important industrial center and the seat of a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, the Žilinská univerzita (founded in 1953). Since 1990 the historical center of the city has been largely restored and the city has built

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

lines.

Geography

Žilina lies at an altitude of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

and covers an area of . It is located in the Upper Váh region ( sk, Horné Považie) at the confluence of three rivers: Váh, flowing from the east into the south-west,

Kysuca The Kysuca ( hu, Kiszuca) is a river in northern Slovakia. It is a right tributary to the Váh. The river gives name to the informal Kysuce region. It is long and its basin size is . Its source is near the village of Makov. At first, the river ...

, flowing from the north and

Rajčanka Rajčanka or Rajčianka ( hu, Rajcsánka) is a river in northern Slovakia springing in Strážovské vrchy near Čičmany and pouring into Váh in Žilina. It is long and its basin size is . It forms the border of Lúčanská Malá Fatra Mount ...

rivers from the south, in the Žilina Basin. The city is surrounded by these mountain ranges:

Malá Fatra Malá Fatra (; also Little Fatra or Lesser Fatra, pl, Mała Fatra, hu, Kis-Fátra) is a mountain range in the Western Carpathians in the north-west of Central Slovakia. In the geomorphological system, it is a part of the Fatra-Tatra Area.Craig S ...

, Súľovské vrchy,

Javorníky The Maple Mountains, Javornik Mountains, or Javorniks (Czech and Slovak: ''Javorníky'') are a mountain range of the Slovak-Moravian Carpathians that forms part of the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Its highest point is Veľký ...

and Kysucká vrchovina. Protected areas nearby include the Strážov Mountains Protected Landscape Area, the

Kysuce Protected Landscape Area Kysuce Protected Landscape Area ( sk, Chránená krajinná oblasť Kysuce) is one of the 14 protected landscape areas in Slovakia. It is made of two separate parts, the Javorníky mountains in the west, and Kysucké Beskydy mountains in the east, ...

, and the

Malá Fatra National Park The Malá Fatra National Park (Slovak: ''Národný park Malá Fatra'') is a national park in the northern part of the Malá Fatra mountains called Krivánska Malá Fatra. It has an area of 226.3 km2 (87.37 mi2) and a 232.62 km2 (89. ...

. There are two

hydroelectric dams Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

on the Váh river around Žilina: the Žilina dam in the east and the Hričov dam in the west.

Climate

Žilina lies in the

north temperate zone In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

and has a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...

with four distinct seasons. It is characterized by a significant variation between hot summers and cold, snowy winters. The average temperature in July is , in January, . The average annual rainfall is ; most of the rainfall occurs in June and in the first half of July. Snow cover lasts from 60 to 80 days per year.

Symbol

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of Žilina is a golden double-cross (so-called

cross of Lorraine The Cross of Lorraine (french: Croix de Lorraine, link=no), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizont ...

) with roots and two golden stars on an olive-green background. The double-cross is of Byzantine origin and stems from

Cyril Cyril (also Cyrillus or Cyryl) is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Greek name Κύριλλος (''Kýrillos''), meaning 'lordly, masterful', which in turn derives from Greek κυριος (''kýrios'') 'lord'. There are various varian ...

lic- methodic tradition. This is one of the oldest municipal coat of arms, not only in Slovakia, but in Europe. It has been used as the city's symbol since 1378.

Demographics

Žilina has a population of 82,664 (as of September 2020), with the population of the urban area of 108,114 and the population of the metro area of 159,729. According to the 2001

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, 96.9% of inhabitants were

Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak. In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...

, 1.6%

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, c ...

, 0.2%

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

, 0.1%

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

and 0.1%

Moravians Moravians ( cs, Moravané or colloquially , outdated ) are a West Slavic ethnographic group from the Moravia region of the Czech Republic, who speak the Moravian dialects of Czech or Common Czech or a mixed form of both. Along with the Silesi ...

. The religious makeup was 74.9%

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 16.7% people with no

religious affiliation Religious identity is a specific type of identity formation. Particularly, it is the sense of group membership to a religion and the importance of this group membership as it pertains to one's self-concept. Religious identity is not necessarily the ...

, and 3.7%

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

Economy

Žilina is the main industrial hub of the upper Váh

river basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

region, with a fast-growing economy as north-west Slovakia's business center with large retail and construction sectors. By far the biggest and most important employer is Korean car maker

Kia Motors Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

. By 2009, the plant produced 300,000 cars a year and had up to 3,000 employees. Kia Motors' direct investment in the Žilina car plant amounts to over 1.5 billion

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

. In 2009 the Žilina car plant produced Kia Cee'd, Kia Sportage and Hyundai ix35 car models. Kia Motors is further upgrading its capacity to be ready to produce engines for a sister company,

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

, located at

Nošovice Nošovice (german: Noschowitz, pl, Noszowice) is a municipality and village in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,000 inhabitants. Etymology The name originates from ''lokator'' Potmieno ...

in 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 ...

with a planned investment of US$200 million. Žilina is also the seat of the biggest Slovak construction and transportation engineering company, Vahostav. The chemical industry is represented by Považské chemické závody and Tento, a

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

company.

Siemens Mobility Siemens Mobility GmbH is a separately-managed company of Siemens, arising from a corporate restructuring effective 1 August 2018. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens Mobility has four core business units: Mobility Management, dedi ...

also has an engineering center in Žilina.

Main sights

The historical center of the city, reconstructed in the early 1990s is protected as a city monument reserve ( sk, Mestská pamiatková rezervácia). It is centered on the Mariánske námestie and

Andrej Hlinka Andrej Hlinka (born András Hlinka; 27 September 1864 – 16 August 1938) was a Slovak Catholic priest, journalist, banker, politician, and one of the most important Slovakian public activists in Czechoslovakia before the Second World War. He w ...

squares. The Mariánske námestie square has 106 arcade passages and 44 burgher houses along the whole square. It is dominated by the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, the old building of the city council, and the baroque statue of

the Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. Nearby is the Church of the Holy Trinity, a sacral building built around 1400, which is since February 2008 the cathedral of the

Diocese of Žilina In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. The

Church of Saint Stephen the King The Church of Saint Stephen the King is the oldest extant historical building located in Žilina, Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

( sk, Kostol Sv. Štefana krála) is the oldest architectural relic of town Zilina, located just southwest from the center. It is one of the first Romanesque churches in Slovakia, dating back to the years 1200–1250, by the experts. The legend goes that the Hungarian King István I himself ordered to build it. Valuable is the inner decoration of the church. Wall paintings originate from approximately 1260; in 1950 they were discovered and later on restored by the Žilina fine artist Mojmír Vlkoláček. Nowadays it is a popular place for wedding ceremonies. Other landmarks around the city include: *

, housing Považie Museum with its tinker trade exhibition * The wooden Roman Catholic church of St. George in the Trnové section (one of the few outside north-eastern Slovakia) * The

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

, which now houses the Museum of Jewish culture * The New Synagogue, now a cultural centre The city is a starting point for various locations of western and eastern Slovakia, including hiking trails into the

Lesser Fatra Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my Elohim, God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician * Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic * Anton Lesser (born 1952 ...

and

Greater Fatra Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

mountains. Other locations of interest include

Bojnice Castle Bojnice Castle ( sk, Bojnický zámok, hu, Bajmóci vár) is a medieval castle in Bojnice, Slovakia. It is a Romanesque castle with some original Gothic and Renaissance elements built in the 12th century. Bojnice Castle is one of the most visit ...

, Strečno, Orava region, and the villages of

Čičmany Čičmany is a village and municipality in Žilina District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia. It contains a folk architecture reserve, which was founded in 1977. Etymology The name is derived from a Slovak word ''čičman'' (a lumber ...

and

Vlkolínec Vlkolínec is a village under the administration of the town of Ružomberok in Slovakia. Historically, however, it was a separate village. The first written mention of the village came from 1376 and after 1882 it became part of Ružomberok. Its n ...

Culture

Žilina is candidate city for the title o
European Capital of Culture 2026.
Žilina host several cultural institutions:
Mestské divadlo Žilina
(Žilina City Theater)
Rosenfeld Palace
(Žilina city cultural centre Rosenfeld Palace)
Považská galéria umenia v Žiline
(Považie galerie of contemporary art)
Považské múzeum
(Považie museum), situated in the Budatín castle but also running Strečno castle, Palace in Bytča, open-air museum Čičmany, manor-house in Divinka
Bábkové divadlo Žilina
(Žilina Puppet Theatre)
Múzeum židovskej kultúry
(Museum of

Jewish culture Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewi ...

)
Štátny komorný orchester Žilina
(Slovak Sinfonietta Žilina)
Krajská knižnica v Žiline
(Regional Library in Žilina)
Stanica Žilina-Záriečie
(Cultural Center Stanica)
Nová synagóga Žilina
(New Synagogue Žilina) Žilina is also home of two multi 3D digital theaters, in Mirage Shopping Centre - Ster Century Cinemas and Cinemax MAX in Max Shopping Centre OC Max Solinky. The city host also several cultural events: * Žilina Cultural Summer * Fest Anca - Animated film festival * Žilina Literary festival * KIOSK – festival of new Slovak theater * Allegretto Žilina – International music Festival * Puppet Žilina * Jánošik's Days

Sport

Football (soccer) club

MŠK Žilina MŠK Žilina () is a Slovak football club based in the town of Žilina, that is playing in the Slovak Superliga. Since the league inception in 1993, the club has won 7 titles and comes second in All-time table that makes them one of the most s ...

plays in the top Slovak division

Fortuna liga The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, ...

and is one of the most successful teams in recent years, having won five domestic titles and been runners-up three times between 2001 and 2010. The team's colors are the yellow and green, taken from the city's flag. Home games are played at the Stadium Pod Dubňom which is situated at the edge of city center in the neighborhood of the

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

stadium. They played in the

2010-11 UEFA Champions League 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

for the first time in their history. Ice hockey club MsHK Žilina plays in the

Slovak Extraliga The Tipos Extraliga (Slovak Extraliga) is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. From the 2018–19 season to the 2020–21 season, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. In 2009, it was ranked by the IIHF as the fifth stro ...

. They have won one domestic title so far. Rugby club plays in Slovak league, and is the one with the best location in Slovakia. They participate in the Czech championship, with the support of Olomouc Rugby Club, and made a partnership with

Rugby Klub Bratislava Rugby Klub Bratislava is a Slovakian rugby club based in Nove Mesto, Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the ...

to organize rugby events. Slovak professional road bicycle racer for World Tour team Bora-Hansgrohe, three-time world champion

Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-country race at the 2008 ...

, was born in Žilina in 1990, and is considered one of cycling's most promising young talents, having earned many prestigious victories in his early twenties. He was the winner of the points classification in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

in 2012 through 2016; as a result, Sagan became the first rider to win the classification in his first five attempts. In 2015, he was also the first Slovak cyclist to win the

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

Government

The city is governed by a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

( sk, primátor) and a

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

(Slovak: ''mestské zastupiteľstvo''). The mayor is the head of the city and its chief executive, with a four-year term of office. The current mayor is Peter Fiabáne . The council is the city's legislative body, with 31 councillors. The last municipal election was held in 2014 and councillors are elected to four-year terms, concurrent with the mayor's. Žilina is divided into eight electoral districts, consisting of the following neighborhoods: * Staré mesto, Hliny I-IV, Hliny VIII (5 councillors) * Hliny V-VII, Bôrik (4 councillors) * Solinky (5 councillors) * Vlčince (6 councillors) * Hájik (3 councillors) * Bytčica, Rosinky, Trnové, Mojšová Lúčka (2 councillors) * Závodie, Bánová, Strážov, Žilinská Lehota (2 councillors) * Budatín, Považský Chlmec, Vranie, Brodno, Zádubnie, Zástranie (3 councillors) Žilina is the capital of one of eight considerably autonomous

Regions of Slovakia Since 1949 (except 1990–1996), Slovakia has been divided into a number of ''kraje'' (singular ''kraj''; usually translated as "Regions" with capital R). Their number, borders and functions have been changed several times. There are eight regio ...

. It is also the capital of a smaller

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

. The

(Slovak: ''okres Žilina'') is nested within the Žilina Region. The city also hosts a regional branch of the

National Bank of Slovakia National Bank of Slovakia ( sk, Národná banka Slovenska, NBS), is the central bank of Slovakia, a member state of the European Union since 2004 and of the euro area since 2009. It was formed on from the division of the State Bank of Czecho ...

Education

The city is home to the

University of Žilina The University of Žilina was established on 1 October 1953 as the College of Railways in Praha, Slovakia, Prague. In 1959, the institution changed its name to the University of Transport and moved to Žilina. As a result of the increasing role ...

, which has seven faculties and 12,402 students, including 625 doctoral students. There are 18 public

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s, one private primary school, and three church primary schools. Overall, they enroll 7,484 pupils. The city's system of

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

(some middle schools and all high schools) consists of eight gymnasia with 3,514 students, ten specialized

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s with 3,696 students, and nine

vocational school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...

s with 4,870 students.

Transport

The city is an important international road junction, and Žilina railway station is a major rail junction. Roads and railways connect the city with

and

Prievidza Prievidza (; hu, Privigye, german: Priwitz) is a city in the central-western Slovakia. With approximately 46,000 inhabitants it is the second biggest municipality in the Trenčín Region and 11th List of cities and towns in Slovakia, largest ...

in the south,

Čadca Čadca (; until 1918 Čatca, Czača, hu, Csaca, pl, Czadca) is a district town in northern Slovakia, near the border with Poland and the Czech Republic. Etymology The name is derived from a word ''čad'' (smoke, soot; Proto-Slavic: ''čadъ'', ...

in the north, and

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

in the east. The construction of the D1, and D3

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

s and their feeders continues towards Žilina. The city is also served by international Žilina Airport, which is about away from the city center. Public transport within the city is operated by DPMZ and consists of

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es (since 1949) and trolleybuses (since 1994). Night bus services started in Žilina in 1970 with the introduction of one route, the 50, which continues to operate as the sole night bus in the city, operating from 22:55 to 04:22. Route 50 makes a circuitous route of all major residential areas, and includes a stop at Železničná stanica, the principal railway station. File:Škoda 14Tr in Žilina, 2006.jpg, Trolleybus transport File:Zilina from above.jpg, Aerial view of Žilina

Notable people

AYA (band) AYA is a Slovak rock band formed in the fall of 1992 in Žilina, Slovakia best known for the hits Malý princ, Baby kakavové, So mnou, Teším sa na teba, Lietaj, dýchaj, buď.... The classic lineup consisted of Boris Lettrich, Mário Tom ...

* Zuzana Babiaková * Pavol Bajza * Peter Baláž * Štefan Beniač (1869–1942), Slovak priest, preacher and publicist *

Tomáš Bezdeda Tomáš Bezdeda (born December 2, 1985, in Žilina, Slovakia) is a Slovaks, Slovak singer who rose to popularity after placing third in ''Slovensko hľadá SuperStar, Slovensko Hľadá SuperStar'', the Slovak version of ''Pop Idol'', shown by Slove ...

(born 1985, here), singer * Peter Cehlárik (born 1995), Slovak hockey player * Jakab Cseszneky de Csesznek et Visk, medieval magnate *

Martin Dúbravka Martin Dúbravka (born 15 January 1989) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Newcastle United and the Slovakia national team. After playing in the top flights of Slovak, Danish and Czech football, Dúbravka j ...

, footballer *

Martin Ďurica Martin Ďurica (born 11 July 1981 in Žilina) is a Slovak football midfielder currently playing for FK Senica, who has represented the Slovakia national team playing in the qualifiers for Euro 2004. At club level, Ďurica played for MŠK Ži ...

, footballer *

Ľubomír Feldek Ľubomír Feldek (* 9 October 1936, Žilina, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak poet, writer, playwright, and translator. He is married to Oľga Feldeková. Feldek is the author of several books of poetry (''Kriedový kruh'', ''Paracelsus'', and ''Milo ...

(born 1936, here), Slovak poet * Ján Franek (born 1960, here) *

Ľudovít Fulla Ľudovít Fulla (27 February 1902, Ružomberok – 21 April 1980, Bratislava) was a Slovak painter, graphic artist, illustrator, stage designer and art teacher. He is considered one of the most important figures of Slovak creative art in the ...

Stanislav Griga Stanislav Griga (born 4 November 1961) is a Slovak football manager and former player. He played 34 matches for Czechoslovakia and scored eight goals. Career Griga was a participant in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and had a headed goal controversia ...

(born 1961, here), football coach *

Ladislav Hecht Ladislav Hecht (; hu, Hecht László ; August 31, 1909 – May 27, 2004) was a Jewish Czechoslovak-American professional tennis player. He won the gold medal in singles at the 1932 Maccabiah Games in Mandatory Palestine, and won the 1934 Hung ...

(1909–2004), tennis player * Peter Hoferica, footballer * Anton Hrnko (born 1955, here), historian and politician *

Tomáš Hubočan Tomáš Hubočan (; born 17 September 1985) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a defender for Cypriot club Karmiotissa. He made his senior international debut in 2006. He has gone on to make 73 appearances for Slovakia, represe ...

, footballer * Miroslav Hýll, footballer *

Juraj Jánošík Juraj Jánošík (first name also ''Juro'' or ''Jurko'', ; baptised 25 January 1688, died 17 March 1713) was a Slovak highwayman. Jánošík has been the main character of many Slovak novels, poems, and films. According to the legend, he robbed ...

, Slovak national hero *

Michael Kolář Michael Kolář (born 21 December 1992) is a Slovak Enduro mountain bike competitor. Kolář also competed as a road bicycle racer between 2012 and 2018 for the , and teams. For the 2014 season, Kolář joined UCI World Tour team, , from th ...

, cyclist *

Karol Križan Karol Križan (born June 5, 1980 in Žilina, Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia) is a professional Slovak professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for HKM Rimavská Sobota in the Slovak 2. Liga. Career Križan played three and a half s ...

, ice hockey player *

Dušan Kuciak Dušan Kuciak (; born 21 May 1985) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Polish club Lechia Gdańsk and the Slovakia national team. He is the younger brother of Martin Kuciak, who plays as a goalkeeper for Považsk� ...

Martin Kuciak Martin Kuciak (born 15 March 1982) is a Slovak football goalkeeper who last played for Slovak third division team of MŠK Považská Bystrica. He is the elder brother of Lechia Gdańsk and ex-Slovakia goalkeeper Dušan Kuciak. Club career M ...

* Branislav Labant *

Gwido Langer Lt. Col. Karol Gwido Langer (Žilina, Zsolna, Austria-Hungary, 2 September 1894 – 30 March 1948, Kinross, Scotland) was, from at least mid-1931, chief of the Polish General Staff's Biuro Szyfrów, Cipher Bureau, which from December 1932 decr ...

* Dávid Leimdörfer, rabbi and author * Vladimír Leitner * Ján Mikolaj *

Marek Mintál Marek Mintál (; born 2 September 1977) is a Slovak former professional Association football, footballer who played as a attacking midfielder or forward (association football), forward. He is the current manager of 1. FC Nürnberg II and assista ...

, football (soccer) player *

Juraj Okoličány Juraj Okoličány (28 March 1943 – 10 September 2008) was a Slovak ice hockey referee and ice hockey administrator. He officiated from 1962 to 1986, including games in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League, IIHF World U20 Championships, an ...

(1943–2008), ice hockey referee *

Roman Ondak Roman Ondak (born August 5, 1966) is a Slovak conceptual artist. Life and career Roman Ondak was born in Žilina. He studied at Academy of Fine Arts and Design ( Slovak: ''Vysoká škola výtvarných umení'', abbr. VŠVU) in Bratislava from 1 ...

* Emil Pažický *

Peter Pekarík Peter Pekarík (; born 30 October 1986) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bundesliga club Hertha BSC and the Slovakia national team. Club career Žilina Pekarík, born in Žilina, began playing football at the y ...

, football player *

Ronald Petrovický Ronald Petrovický (born February 15, 1977) is a Slovak former ice hockey right winger. He played professionally in Europe and in North America in the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as international play for the Slovak national ice hockey ...

, ice hockey player * Lukáš Pohůnek, conductor *

Dárius Rusnák Dárius Rusnák (born December 2, 1959) is a retired Slovak professional ice hockey forward who played in the Czechoslovak Extraliga for HC Slovan Bratislava. He was a member of the Czechoslovak 1981 Canada Cup team and was a silver medalist at th ...

Branislav Rzeszoto Branislav Rzeszoto (born 3 November 1975 in Žilina) is a Slovakian former football goalkeeper. Club career Rzeszoto previously played for MŠK Žilina, FC Spartak Trnava and ŠK Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak Corgoň Liga. He also played for F ...

Juraj Sagan Juraj Sagan (born 23 December 1988 in Žilina) is a Slovak former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2010 to 2022, for the , , and teams. During his professional career, Sagan took four victories – all of whi ...

, cyclist *

Ján Slota Ján Slota (born 14 September 1953) is the co-founder and former president of the Slovak National Party,Ľuboš Šoška Ľuboš Šoška (born 21 December 1977 in Žilina) is a Slovak slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 1994 to 2006. He won a bronze medal in the C2 team event at the 2006 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Prague. He ...

Peter Šoška Peter Šoška (born 21 October 1976 in Žilina) is a Slovak slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 1994 to 2006, specializing mostly in the C2 discipline where he was partnered by his younger brother Ľuboš Šoška. The ...

Martin Šulík Martin Šulík (born October 20, 1962, in Žilina) is a Slovak film director. He studied film directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava from which he graduated in 1986. His 2011 film ''Gypsy'' was selected as the Slovak entry for t ...

, actor * Miroslav Šustek, writer *

Viktor Tausk Victor Tausk (also Viktor; March 12, 1879 – July 3, 1919) was a pioneer psychoanalyst and neurologist. A student and a colleague of Sigmund Freud, he was the earliest exponent of psychoanalytical concepts with regard to clinical psychosis and t ...

, psychoanalyst *

Jozef Vengloš Jozef Vengloš (18 February 1936 – 26 January 2021) was a Slovak professional football player and manager. He held a doctorate in Physical Education and also specialised in Psychology. He was selected by FIFA on various occasions to lecture ...

Radoslav Židek Radoslav Židek (born October 15, 1981 in Žilina) is a snowboarder who became the first Slovak to win a Winter Olympics medal. He won a silver in Snowboard Cross at the 2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX O ...

, snowboarder, first Slovak medal winner at the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Žilina is twinned with: *

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of . It is a ...

, Poland *

Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...

, China *

Dnipro Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

, Ukraine *

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

, Belgium *

Frýdek-Místek Frýdek-Místek (, pl, Frydek-Mistek; german: Friede(c)k-Mistek) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 54,000 inhabitants. The historic centres of both Frýdek and Místek are well preserved and are protecte ...

, Czech Republic *

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...

, Belarus *

Kikinda Kikinda ( sr-Cyrl, Кикинда, ; hu, Nagykikinda) is a city and the administrative center of the North Banat District in Serbia . The city urban area has 38,069 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 59,453 inhabitants. The c ...

, Serbia *

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...

, Russia *

Nanterre Nanterre (, ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering t ...

, France *

Plzeň Plzeň (; German and English: Pilsen, in German ) is a city in the Czech Republic. About west of Prague in western Bohemia, it is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 169,000 inhabita ...

, Czech Republic * Prague 15, Czech Republic *

Třinec Třinec (; pl, Trzyniec ; german: Trzynietz) is a city in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants and is the least populated statutory city in the country. The city is an ...

, Czech Republic

References

External links

*
DPMZ - public transport official site

Žilina official tourist guide

Žilinak.sk - Leading news website

Map and information system of Žilina

Mesto v ktorom žijeme a nieje nám ľahostajné
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zilina Cities and towns in Slovakia Žilina Region