Since 1949 (except 1990-1996) , Slovakia has been divided into a number of kraje (singular "kraj"; usually translated as "Regions" with capital R). Their number, borders and functions have been changed several times. Each kraj consists of okresy (districts). There are currently 79 districts of Slovakia.

See also the ranked list of Slovak regions.

''NOTE: The term "Region" (Slovak:kraj) is not to be confused with:

• the general (i.e. non-administrative) term "region" (Slovak:región) as it is used for example in the articles List of traditional regions of Slovakia or List of tourism regions of Slovakia
• the 4 "regions" (NUTS 2, Slovak:oblasti/zoskupenia krajov), i.e. groups of several kraje, used by the Eurostat for statistical purposes. These are:
  • Bratislavský kraj SK 01 (Bratislava Region) - comprises only this single kraj
  • Západné Slovensko SK 02 (Western Slovakia) = Trnavský kraj + Trenčiansky kraj + Nitriansky kraj
  • Stredné Slovensko SK 03 (Central Slovakia) = Žilinský kraj + Banskobystrický kraj
  • Východné Slovensko SK 04 (Eastern Slovakia) = Prešovský kraj + Košický kraj

Before 1949

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Historically, Slovakia was not divided into kraje, but into comitatuses (counties, Slovak župy/"stolice") . This was the case when present-day Slovakia was part of:

• Great Moravia (cca. 9th century)
• the Kingdom of Hungary (cca. 11th / 12th century - 1918), see List of traditional regions of Slovakia
• Czechoslovakia (the "župy" existed 1918 - 1928)
• the WWII Slovak Republic (the "župy" existed 1940 - 1945)

In 1928-1939 (and formally also 1945-1948) Slovakia as a whole formed the administrative unit "Slovak land" (Krajina slovenská) within Czechoslovakia.

Kraje December 24, 1948/ January 1 1949 – June 30, 1960

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• Bratislavský kraj (Bratislava Region)
• Banskobystrický kraj (Banská Bystrica Region)
• Košický kraj (Košice Region)
• Nitriansky kraj (Nitra Region)
• Prešovský kraj (Prešov Region)
• Žilinský kraj (Žilina Region)

Each kraj was named after its principal city

Kraje July 1, 1960 – December 19, 1990

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• Stredoslovenský kraj (Central Slovak Region)
• Východoslovenský kraj (Eastern Slovak Region)
• Západoslovenský kraj (Western Slovak Region)
• Bratislava (before March 22 1968 part of the Západoslovenský kraj, afterwards a partly separate entity; from January 1971 a separate kraj)

NOTE: The kraje were abolished from July 1, 1969 to December 28, 1970 and reintroduced then.

Kraje since July 24, 1996

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After a period without kraje and without any equivalent (1990-1996), the kraje were reintroduced in 1996. As for administrative division, Slovakia has been subdivided into 8 "kraje" since:

1. Bratislavský kraj (Bratislava Region) (see also Bratislava)
2. Trnavský kraj (Trnava Region) (see also Trnava)
3. Trenčiansky kraj (Trenčín Region) (see also Trenčín)
4. Nitriansky kraj (Nitra Region) (see also Nitra)
5. Žilinský kraj (Žilina Region) (see also Žilina)
6. Banskobystrický kraj (Banská Bystrica Region) (see also Banská Bystrica)
7. Prešovský kraj (Prešov Region) (see also Prešov)
8. Košický kraj (Košice Region) ( (see also Košice)

As for territorial division and the definition of self-governing entities, since 2002, Slovakia is additionally divided into 8 "vyššie územné celky" abbr. VÚC (Higher Territorial Units) and 8 "samosprávne kraje" (Self-governing (or: Autonomous) Regions), both of which are presently identical with the 8 "kraje" . Thus, the word "kraj" can be replaced by "VÚC" or "samosprávny kraj" in each case in the above list.

External links

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• EU-maps ( the kraje correspond to the NUTS 3 level with EUROSTAT)

Lists of subnational entities | Regions of Slovakia

Verwaltungsgliederung der Slowakei | Regiones de Eslovaquia | Regio's van Slowakije | Podział administracyjny Słowacji | Regiões da Eslováquia | Administratívne členenie Slovenska