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Most of Slovakia is traversed by the Carpathian Mts., including the Tatra and the Beskids. Gerlachovka (8,737 ft/2,663 m) in the High Tatra, is the highest peak. S Slovakia is a part of the Little AlfOld, a plain. Its fertile soil is drained by the Danube and its tributaries, notably the VAh. Several of its rivers have been dammed for hydroelectric power. Major cities include Bratislava and KomArno, which are the major Danubian ports; and Kosice, Trnava, and Nitra.
Slovaks comprise about 85% of the population; other groups include Hungarians (over 10%), Gypsies, and Czechs (who are ethnically and linguistically related to the Slovaks, but have a separate history and cultural traditions). A law passed in 1995, and strongly opposed by Hungarians and other minorities, made Slovak the sole official language. Hungarian is also spoken. About 60% of the population profess Roman Catholicism, and there are significant Protestant (mainly Lutheran) and Orthodox minorities.
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