Bratislava

Bratislava
Capital city
Bratislava montage. From top left to right: View of Bratislava, View of Old Town, Financial District, Old Town streets, Blue Church, Grassalkovich Palace.
Flag Coat of arms Wordmark
Nicknames:  Beauty on the Danube, Little Big City, Blava
Bratislava Location of Bratislava in Slovakia Bratislava Bratislava (Bratislava Region) Bratislava Bratislava (Europe)
Coordinates: 48°08′38″N 17°06′35″E
Country	Slovakia
Region	Bratislava
First mentioned	907
Government
• Mayor	Matúš Vallo
Area
• Capital city	367.66 km2 (141.95 sq mi)
• Metro	5,316.2 km2 (2,052.60 sq mi)
Elevation	134 m (440 ft)
Population  (2025)
• Capital city	480,902
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,400/sq mi)
• Metro density	360.33/km2 (933.3/sq mi)
• Metro	739,635
Demonym(s)	Bratislavčan (m), Bratislavčanka (f) (sk) Bratislavan (en)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	8XX XX
Area code	421 2
Car plate	BA, BL, BT
GRP (Metro)	2019
– Total	€26.4 billion ($30B)
– Per capita	€40,000 ($44779)
Website	www.bratislava.sk/

Bratislava is the capital city of Slovakia. About 450,000 people live there. It used to be called Pressburg (German) or Pozsony (Hungarian) and by some other names. Bratislava is the seat of the national government, the presidency, and the parliament. It has several museums, galleries, and other educational, cultural, and economic institutions.

There is a small Old Town and a castle called Bratislavský Hrad. The Danube river goes through Bratislava.

Etymology

Bratislava had many names through its history. Here are some of them:

• German: Preßburg (now spelled Pressburg)
• Slovak: Prešporok, from German name
• Hungarian: Pozsony (still used today by Hungarians)
• Greek (medieval): Istropolis (meaning the Danube City)
• Latin: Posonium
• English: Pressburg(h)/Pressborough

and many others.

Geography

Bratislava is in the extreme southwest of Slovakia, on the borders with Austria and Hungary, and not far from the Czech Republic border. It is on the Morava and Danube rivers.

History

People have lived here since the Neolithic age. The Celts inhabited this area from 400 BC-50 BC. The Roman Empire set up border military camps near Bratislava from the 1st century until the 5th century, for example,"Gerulata." The Slavs started moving here in the 6th century. Bratislava was part of the Slavic empire called Great Moravia in the 9th century. From the second half of the 10th century until 1918, it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, with some exceptions. It was even the capital of the Kingdom between 1524 and 1830/1848. After the World War I ended in 1918, it was part of newly founded Czechoslovakia until 1939, when it became the capital of World War II the Slovak Republic until 1945. After 1945, it was part of Czechoslovakia again, becoming the capital of Slovak Socialist Republic (which was still part of Czechoslovakia) in 1968. After the event called Velvet Divorce, when Czechoslovakia broke up, Bratislava became the capital of Slovakia.

Population

Population statistics (10 years)

Year:	1995	2005	2015	2025
Count:	452,053	425,459	422,932	480,902
Progress:		-5.88%	-0.59%	+13.70%

Population statistics

Year:	2024	2025
Count:	479,389	480,902
Progress:		+0.31%

Ethnic composition

Census 2021 (1+ %)

Ethnicity	Number	Fraction
Slovak	409,314	82.46%
Not found out	44,083	8.88%
Hungarian	13,953	2.81%
Czech	7832	1.57%
Total	496,364

In year 2021 was 496,364 people by ethnicity 409,314 as Slovak, 44,083 as Not found out, 13,953 as Hungarian, 7832 as Czech, 4861 as Other, 2091 as Rusyn, 1913 as German, 1624 as Russian, 1623 as Ukrainian, 1037 as Croatian, 870 as Vietnamese, 720 as Romani, 701 as Polish, 637 as Italian, 631 as Jewish, 626 as Bulgarian, 545 as Serbian, 523 as French, 459 as Moravian, 412 as Chinese, 401 as Austrian, 319 as Romanian, 262 as Albanian, 232 as Greek, 149 as English, 131 as Canadian, 129 as Turkish, 101 as Korean, 94 as Irish, 50 as Iranian and 41 as Silesian.

Note on populationThe difference between the population numbers above and in the census (here and below) is that the population numbers above are mostly made up of permanent residents, etc.; and the census should indicate the place where people actually mainly live.
For example, a student is a citizen of a village because he has permanent residence there (he lived there as a child and has parents), but most of the time he studies at a university in the city.

Religion

Census 2021 (1+ %)

Religion	Number	Fraction
None	206,945	43.52%
Roman Catholic Church	179,053	37.66%
Not found out	44,599	9.38%
Evangelical Church	19,392	4.08%
Greek Catholic Church	5416	1.14%
Total	475,503

In year 2021 was 475,503 people by religion 206,945 from None, 179,053 from Roman Catholic Church, 44,599 from Not found out, 19,392 from Evangelical Church, 5416 from Greek Catholic Church, 2735 from Eastern Orthodox Church, 2558 from Other, 2499 from Ad hoc movements, 1622 from Calvinist Church, 1521 from Other and not ascertained christian church, 1395 from Buddhism, 1295 from Christian Congregations in Slovakia, 1203 from Jehovah's Witnesses, 908 from Islam, 737 from Jewish community, 720 from Church of the Brethren, 635 from Baptists Church, 607 from Apostolic Church, 466 from Paganism and natural spirituality, 279 from Seventh-day Adventist Church, 262 from United Methodist Church, 183 from Old Catholic Church, 182 from Hinduism, 148 from Czechoslovak Hussite Church, 82 from Bahá'i Community, 57 from Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and 4 from New Apostolic Church.

Sightseeing

Main square in the Old Town

List of notable structures:

• Bratislava Castle
• St. Martin's Cathedral
• Primate's Palace
• Bratislava town hall
• Michael's Gate
• Grassalkovich Palace
• Nový Most (New Bridge)
• Kamzík TV Tower
• Devín Castle

Economy

The economy of Bratislava is prosperous and based on the automobile industry, chemical industry, and services. Unemployment (people without work) is the lowest in Slovakia (around 2%, compared to the national average of 7%). Approximately 250,000 people from all over Slovakia travel to Bratislava for work.

Transport

Motorway D1 in Bratislava

The position of Bratislava made it a natural crossroads for international traffic. It is a motorway and rail junction with its own international airport. The international river traffic passes along the Danube through Bratislava, with its own river port.

Bratislava has its own public transport system, with buses, trams and trolleybuses.

Territorial division

Bratislava districts

Bratislava is divided into 5 national districts and 17 city parts:

• District I: Staré mesto (Old Town)
• District II: Ružinov, Vrakuňa, Podunajské Biskupice
• District III: Rača, Nové mesto (New Town), Vajnory
• District IV: Karlova Ves, Dúbravka, Devín, Devínska Nová Ves, Záhorská
• District V: Petržalka, Jarovce, Rusovce, Čunovo

Further it is divided into 20 cadastral areas, which are identical with the city parts with 2 exceptions:

• Nové mesto = Nové mesto + Vinohrady
• Ružinov = Ružinov + Nivy + Trnávka

Twin towns

• Yerevan, Armenia
• Vienna, Austria
• Ruse, Bulgaria
• Larnaka, Cyprus
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Alexandria, Egypt
• Turku, Finland
• Bremen, Germany
• Ulm, Germany
• Thessaloniki, Greece
• Székesfehérvár, Hungary
• Perugia, Italy
• Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Kraków, Poland
• Ljubljana, Slovenia
• İzmir, Turkey
• Kyiv, Ukraine
• Cleveland, USA

Pictures

• 
  Panorama of Bratislava
• 
  Panorama of Bratislava
• 
  Bratislava Castle
• 
  Slovak National Theatre
• 
  The Grassalkovich Palace
• 
  St. Martin's Cathedral
• 
  Hviezdoslav Square
• 
  Primate's Square
• 
  Michael's Gate
• 
  Laurinc Gate
• 
  Kalvínsky kostol
• 
  Church of Saint Stephen
• 
  Trinitarian Church
• 
  Streets of the Old Town
• 
  Bratislava Old Town
• 
  Laurinská Street

Other websites

• Official website
• Bratislava City Guide prepared by locals
• ŠÚ SR - Statistical office of the Slovak Republic Archived 2013-05-31 at the Wayback Machine