Mezei István: Urban development in Slovakia (Pécs-Somorja, 2010)

3. The settlement structure of Slovakia

Factors forming settlements in Slovakia

the plains there is an overwhelming majority of settlements with a high population, which also means that settlement density is rather low (17.4/100 km2). The settlements adjusted to the terrain in their location. The structure of the settlements is especially characteristic at the meeting point of the hilly and the plain areas, on the alluvial cone of rivers, on the edge of the plains and at the foot of the mountains. This can also be seen in the areas to the east of the Little Carpathians, in the valley of the lower reaches of the rivers Váh and Nitra, in Žitný ostrov and in Szigetköz.

The overwhelming majority (2,058 or 66.8%) of all settlements can be found in the Carpathians, and 58% of the whole population lives there. This indicates the importance of small settlements. The varied terrain is decisive in this area. The region of the Carpathians can be divided into two geographical and settlement units. One of them is the area of large valleys, which accounts for 16.5% of the area of the country. Thirty per cent, i.e. 924, of all settlements can be found there. The density of typically small settlements is higher (11.4 settlements/100 km2). The number of towns is also high in these valleys: 38% of all towns, with 41% of the urban population. The large valley of the river Váh, at middle height, is the most densely populated. The other geographical unit is the mountainous area, which covers the largest area of the Carpathians (55.1%), but compared with the size of the area the high number of settlements (1,134, or 36.8% of all settlements) gives an extremely low population density (4.2 inhabitants/100 km2) in the high-lying valleys (Očovský- Bezák- Podolák 1996).

Table 7. The main characteristic features of the Slovak settlement system

Geographical composition of the area of the country

(%)

Number of settlements

Proportion of settlements

(%)

Settlement density number/100 km2

Proportion of the population

(%)

Lowlands

28.3

1022

33.2

7.36

42

The Carpathians

71.7

2058

66.8

5.85

58

large valleys

16.5

924

30.0

11.4

35

mountains

55.1

1134

36.8

4.2

23

Source: Očovský- Bezák- Podolák 1996

3. 2 The settlement system of Slovakia

The main characteristic feature of the settlement system of Slovakia is that there are many settlements within its borders, especially small villages. This is mostly due to the geographical surface, because the

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