Ilava (, ) is a town in the

Trenčín Region The Trenčín Region (, ; ; ) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It consists of nine districts ('' okresy''). The region was established in 1996: previously it had been a part of the West Slovak Region () and partly the Central S ...

, northwestern

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 ...

Name

The name is of uncertain origin. The historic medieval names were ''Lewe'', ''Lewa'' (the same historic name as

Levice Levice (; , Hungarian pronunciation: ; ) is a town in western Slovakia. The town lies on the left bank of the lower Hron river. The Old Church Slavonic, Old Slavic name of the town was ''Leva'', which means "the Left One". The town is located i ...

), ''Lewa de cidca fluviom Vag'', later ''Ilava''. The form ''Illava'' is known from the 19th century and was used after the

Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (, ) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which was a military and diplomatic alliance of two sovereign states. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereign ...

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 5,441 inhabitants. 98.1% 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 ...

, 0.9%

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 0.1%

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

and

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

. The religious makeup was 87.2%

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 ...

, 7.9% people with no religious affiliation, and 1.2%

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 ...

Notable people

Ivan Baranka Ivan Baranka (born 19 May 1985) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Rangers. Playing career Baranka was drafted 50th overall in 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the New Y ...

(born 1985), ice hockey player *

Mária Bieliková Mária Bieliková is a Slovak computer scientist who specializes in human-computer interaction and trustworthy artificial intelligence. She is the CEO of the Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies (KInIT). Biography Mária Bieliková ...

(born 1966), computer scientist *

Hana Burzalová Hana Burzalová (born 3 November 2000) is a Slovak race walker. She represented Slovakia at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, taking part in the women's 20 kilometres walk and mixed marathon walk relay. Biography Hana Burzalová was born on ...

(born 2000),

racewalker Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

Radoslav Ďuriš Radoslav Ďuriš (born 10 August 1974 in Ilava) is a Slovakia, Slovak wheelchair curling, wheelchair curler. He participated at the Wheelchair curling at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, 2014, Wheelchair curling at the 2018 Winter Paralympics, 2018 ...

(born 1974), wheelchair curler *

Artur Gajdoš Artur Gajdoš (born 20 January 2004) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for ŠK Slovan Bratislava in the Niké Liga. Early life Gajdoš was born on 20 January 2004 in Ilava. His father Jozef was a footballer who playe ...

(born 2004), association footballer *

Katrina Grey Katrina Grey is a Slovak actress who is best known for the Hollywood movie Hard Target 2 as Kay Sutherland, and the French movie Brice 3. Early life Katrina Grey was born as Katarina Greguskova in Ilava, Slovakia. Following her film debut, sh ...

(born 1991), actress *

Marcel Hossa Marcel Hossa (; born 12 October 1981) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey left winger. Hossa played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Phoenix Coyotes, having been drafted by the Canadiens ...

(born 1981), ice hockey player *

Tomáš Kopecký Tomáš Kopecký (; born 5 February 1982) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), forward. He played in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers. He is a two-time St ...

(born 1982), ice hockey player, two-time

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

Champion *

Marek Kvapil Marek Kvapil (born 5 January 1985) is a Czech professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He has won the Gagarin Cup twice with Dynamo in 2012 and 2013. Although born in the Slovak c ...

(born 1985), ice hockey player *

Richard Pavlikovský Richard Pavlikovský (born March 3, 1975, in Ilava, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak professional ice hockey defenceman. From 2005 through 2013, he played for Krefeld Pinguine in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). In the 2013–2014 season, he began ...

(born 1975), ice hockey player *

Natália Prekopová Natália Prekopová (born 31 May 1989) is a former Slovak Biathlon, biathlete. Career Prekopová competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics for Slovakia. She finished 13th as a part of the Slovakian women's Biathlon at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Wo ...

(born 1989), biathlete *

Ľubomír Šatka Ľubomír Šatka (; born 2 December 1995) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Süper Lig club Samsunspor and the Slovakia national team. Club career Early career Šatka was born in Ilava, Trenčín Region. A prod ...

(born 1995), association footballer *

Tomáš Tatar Tomáš Tatar (; born 1 December 1990) is a Slovak professional ice hockey forward for EV Zug of Switzerland's National League. Tatar was drafted 60th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2009 NHL entry draft. Playing career Slovak Extral ...

(born 1990), ice hockey player *

Pavel Traubner Pavel Traubner (2 May 1941 – 14 November 2024) was a Slovak neurologist. Life and career Traubner was born in Ilava on 2 May 1941, to a Jewish family, which faced persecution by the Hlinka Guard. His father was a dentist. In 1944, a police ...

(1941–2024), neurologist

Twin towns — sister cities

Ilava is twinned with: *

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

, Hungary *

Klimkovice Klimkovice () is a spa town in Ostrava-City District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,500 inhabitants. Administrative division Klimkovice consists of five municipal parts (in brackets population according to th ...

, Czech Republic *

Mikołów Mikołów (, ) is a town in Silesia, in southern Poland, near the city of Katowice. Outer town of the Metropolis GZM, a metropolis with a population of over 2 million, and is within a greater Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area populated by abou ...

, Poland

References

External links