Ethnographic map of austrian monarchy czoernig 1855

Slovak lands or Slovakian lands ( or shortly ; Hungarian: ''Tótország'';

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Ziemia Słowacka'' or shortly ''Słowaczyzna'') is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovak-inhabited territories in

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

. However, It more or less corresponds to modern

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 ...

and the adjacent territories in which

autochthonous Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to: Nature * Autochthon (geology), a sediment or rock that can be found at its site of formation or deposition * Autochthon (nature), or landrace, an indigenous animal or plant * Autochthonou ...

Slovak

minorities The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

live.

Terminology

The term ''Slovak lands'' describes Slovak ethnic territory claimed from the 5th century when

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

inhabited these lands. The Slovaks called their country 'Slovensko' (Slovakia) – the term appears in written documents from as early as the fifteenth century.

History

The first known Slavic entities on the territory of Slovakia were the

Samo's Empire Samo's Empire (also known as Samo's Kingdom or Samo's State) is the historiographical term for the West Slavic tribal union established by Samo who is called King (" Rex") according to Fredegarius, the only contemporary source. It existed betwe ...

in the 7th century, the

Principality of Nitra The Principality of Nitra (; ), also known as the Duchy of Nitra, was a West Slavic polity encompassing a group of settlements that developed in the 9th century around Nitra, in present-day Slovakia. Its history remains uncertain because of a ...

founded sometime in the 8th century and

Great Moravia Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...

in the 9th and early 10th centuries. The Slovak lands for 1000 years were an important part of 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 ...

. During the 17th century many

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

settled into these areas.

Autonomy of Slovak lands

Slovak lands acquired autonomous status within

Hungarian Democratic Republic The First Hungarian Republic (), until 21 March 1919 the Hungarian People's Republic (), was a short-lived unrecognized country, which quickly transformed into a small rump state due to the foreign and military policy of the doctrinaire pacifis ...

at March 11, 1919 by LEX No. XXX. after dissolution of the

. Autonomy was signed by Hungarian president

Mihály Károlyi Count Mihály Ádám György Miklós Károlyi de Nagykároly (; ; or in short simple form: Michael Károlyi; 4 March 1875 – 19 March 1955) was a Hungarian politician who served as a leader of the short-lived and unrecognized First Hungarian Re ...

and prime minister

Dénes Berinkey Dénes Berinkey (17 October 1871 – 25 June 1944) was a Hungarian jurist and politician who served as 21st Prime Minister of Hungary in the regime of Mihály Károlyi for two months in 1919. On 20 March 1919 the French presented the Vix Note ...

References

{{reflist Historical geography of Slovakia Slovakia in the Kingdom of Hungary