The Bratislava Region is one of the administrative regions of Slovakia. Its capital is Bratislava. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders exist from 1996. It is the smallest of the eight regions of Slovakia as well as the most urbanized.
The first known permanent settlement of the area of today's Bratislava was the Linear Pottery Culture, around 5000 BC in the Neolithic era. Around 200 BC, the Celtic Boii tribe established an oppidum on the site of today's Bratislava Castle. The Romans established their camp Gerulata on the right bank of the Danube in the 1st century and remained there until the 4th century. The area was part of the Principality of Nitra and later, in the 9th century, of Great Moravia. From the 10th century onwards, it became part of the Principality of Hungary and almost the whole area was part of Pozsony county. After the break-up of Austria-Hungary in 1918, region was newly defined in 1923 and present Bratislava region approximately copies its 1923 borders. Bratislava Regio was abolished in 1928 and replaced by a new territorial unit called the "Slovak Land". During the WWII Slovak Republic, Bratislava county was restored, albeit with somewhat modified borders. After the restoration of Czechoslovakia, the pre-breakup status was restored. From 1949–1960 a unit named Bratislava Region existed, but it was replaced in 1960 by the Western Slovak Region. After abolition of the regions in 1990, the current system was introduced in 1996. Since the administrative regions became autonomous in 2002, it has been governed by the Bratislava Self-Governing Region.
Demographics
Although it is the smallest region of Slovakia by area, it does not have the lowest population. The largest city is Bratislava and the second largest is Pezinok. The region has a high level of urbanization. According to the 2001 census, there were 599,015 inhabitants in the region, with most of them being Slovaks, with minorities of Hungarians and Czechs.
Economy
The economy of the Bratislava Region accounts for about a quarter of the Slovak GDP. Bratislava has one of the highest GDP per capita at PPP of among whole E.U. €51,200. It is marked by a strong tertiary sector, while the primary sector has a share of only around 1% and the secondary sector around 20%. Important branches include chemical, automobile, machine, electrotechnical and food industries.
Administrative division
The Bratislava Region consists of 8 districts: Malacky, Pezinok, Senec and 5 districts of Bratislava. There are 73 municipalities in the region, of which 7 are towns.
