Tvrdošín (; ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Northern

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 ...

Geography

The town is located at the confluence of the Orava and Oravica rivers, from the Polish borders and cca. from

Dolný Kubín Dolný Kubín (; also known by #Names, other names) is a town in northern Slovakia in the Žilina Region. It is the historical capital and the largest settlement of the Orava (region), Orava region. Names The name is derived from the archaic Slov ...

. It consists of the boroughs of Krásna Hôrka, Medvedzie, and Tvrdošín.

History

The town was mentioned in the Zobor documents in 1111 and in the document of Béla III of Hungary in 1183. It received royal free town privileges in 1369.

Demographics

According to the 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 9,544 inhabitants. 99.03% 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 ...

, 0.53%

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 ...

and 0.19% Polish. The religious make-up was 92.10%

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 4.84% people with no religious affiliation and 1.18%

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

Twin towns — Sister cities

Tvrdošín is twinned with: * Kościelisko, Poland * Kobylnica, Poland *

Durbuy Durbuy (; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. The total area is 156.61 km2, consisting of the following districts: Barvaux, Bende, Bomal, Borlon, Durbuy, Grandhan, Heyd, Izier, Septon ...

, Belgium *

Orimattila Orimattila () is a town in Päijänne Tavastia regions of Finland, region, Finland. The southern part of Lahti is connected to the village of Pennala, which is located in the northern part of the Orimattila municipality. Its neighboring municipali ...

, Finland *

Östhammar Östhammar is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Östhammar Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 4,534 inhabitants in 2010. Today Östhammar Municipality is a part of Uppsala County, but the area has historically been a part of ...

, Sweden * Uusikaupunki, Finland * Valga, Estonia * Valka, Latvia * Weißenburg in Bayern, Germany

References

External links

Official website
* Cities and towns in Slovakia Orava (region) {{Žilina-geo-stub