Svidník (, , , ) is a town in eastern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, the capital of the

Svidník District Svidník District (''okres Svidník'') is a district in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia. Until 1918, the district was part of the Hungarian county of Šariš (Sáros). Municipalities * Belejovce * Beňadikovce * Bodružal * Cernina * ...

in the Prešov Region. It has a population of around 11,000. There is a monumental Soviet Army Memorial in the city, in memory of Battle of the Dukla Pass.

Geography

It is located in the Ondava Highlands, at the confluence of Ondava and Ladomírka rivers, located around from the Dukla Pass ( Polish border) and around north-east of

Prešov Prešov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region () and Šariš. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city i ...

History

The town arose in 1944 by merger of two formerly independent municipalities of Nižný Svidník and Vyšný Svidník. The first written mention stems from 1355 as ''Scyuidnyk''. Before the establishment of independent

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in 1918, Nižný Svidník and Vyšný Svidník were part of Sáros County within the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. From 1939 to 1945, they were part of the Slovak Republic. On 19 January 1945, the Red Army dislodged the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

from Svidník in the course of the Western Carpathian offensive and it was once again part of Czechoslovakia.

Demographics

According to a 2001

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the town had 12,428 inhabitants. 79.60% of inhabitants were

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

, 13.04% were

Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...

, 4.07% were Ukrainian, 1.50% were of Romani descent and 0.39% were

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

. The religious make-up was 41.10% Greek Catholics, 25.82% Orthodox, 24.13% Roman Catholics, 5.17% people with no religious affiliation and 0.93% Lutherans.

Twin towns — sister cities

Svidník is twinned with: * Strzyżów, Poland * Świdnik, Poland *

Jarosław Jarosław (; , ; ; ) is a town in southeastern Poland, situated on the San (river), San River. The town had 35,475 inhabitants in 2023. It is the capital of Jarosław County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. History Jarosław is located in the ...

, Poland * Sanok County, Poland * Chrudim, Czech Republic * Kriva Palanka, North Macedonia * Rakhiv, Ukraine * Vrbas, Serbia

References

External links

* * Cities and towns in Slovakia Šariš {{Prešov-geo-stub