Not All Who Wander Are Lost: Slovakia

While perhaps lesser known, Slovakia is a country in Central Europe with a population of over five million. Not knowing very much about geography, I was not aware that Poland and Ukraine are neighboring countries, so it makes sense that along with Slovakia, these three countries make up my heritage on my mom's side, with Irish and German coming from my dad.

Like the Ukraine, Slovakia's borders contain the Carpathian Mountains, and out of all the places I've blogged about thus far, I'm convinced that every place in the world must have mountains, except Ohio, of course. ;) The majority of Slovakia is Slovaks, with the second largest group being Hungarian. A majority of the country consists of Roman Catholics, however the Slovak constitution guarantees religious freedom.

As with many other European countries, tourism consists largely of historical sites. In particular, mountains, caves, medieval castles and towns, folk architecture, spas and ski resorts are the most popular to visit. A majority of the visitors come from other European countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany.

Two popular locations include Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, and the High Tatras, one of the mountain ranges in Slovakia.