Detva
Encyclopedia
Detva is a town in central Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

 with a population of 15,000. It is situated on the mountain, Poľana
Polana
Polana may refer to the following places in Poland:*Polana, Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Polana, Bieszczady County in Subcarpathian Voivodeship *Polana, Opole Voivodeship...

.

History

Detva was created as a village of bondage in a deep-forested area belonging to Zvolenská Slatina
Zvolenská Slatina
Zvolenská Slatina is a village and municipality of the Zvolen District in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia.-Geography:The village lies at an altitude of 340 metres and covers an area of 45.938km². It has a population of 2,671 people....

 and Očová
Ocová
Očová is a village and municipality of the Zvolen District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia. -Official name:...

 upon instruction of the owner of the Vígľaš
Víglaš
Vígľaš is a village and municipality in Detva District, in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia.-External links:*...

 dominion
Ladislav Čáky resp. Ladislaus Csáky in 1636-1638. The first settlers were coal producers from Ľubietová
Lubietová
Ľubietová is a village in central Slovakia. Originally an ancient mining town, it is known for precious minerals. It has less than 1,000 inhabitants.-Geography:...

, followed by Walachian-type settlers from northern and eastern parts of Slovakia and immigrants from other surrounding villages. In 1787, Ján Vagač founded the first known manufactory producing bryndza
Bryndza
Bryndza is a sheep milk cheese made in Central and Eastern Europe. Recipes differ slightly across the countries.-Etymology:Brânză or brînză is the generic word for "cheese" in Romanian, there is no special type of cheese associated with it...

 cheese. The settlement became an oppidum
Oppidum
Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age...

 (market town) in 1811 and a town in 1965. In 1996 the town of Detva became the seat of new Detva district.

It was developed as a large newly cleared land and this character has been preserved up to present, despite the fact that a part of the newly cleared lands were separated from Detva - Hriňová
Hrinová
Hriňová is a town in the Detva District of central Slovakia.-Geography:The town is located on the Slatina river, under the Poľana mountains. It is located app. from Detva and from Zvolen. A dam is located above the town.-History:...

 (before 1863), Detvianska Huta
Detvianska Huta
Detvianska Huta is a village and municipality in Detva District, in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia.-History:...

 (in ?), Korytárky
Korytárky
Korytárky is a village and municipality in Detva District, in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia.-External links:*...

 (in 1955; part of Kriváň until 1993) and Kriváň
Kriván
Kriváň can refer to:* Kriváň , peak in the High Tatras, Slovakia* Veľký Kriváň, the highest peak in Malá Fatra, Slovakia* Malý Kriváň, peak in Malá Fatra, Slovakia* Kriváň , village in Slovakia in the Detva District...

 (in 1955). Logging and wood processing, sheep breeding and peasantry had been the main source of bread and butter of the Detvans. Hard living conditions at distant isolated newly cleared lands and self-sufficiency in providing of basic living needs determined the formation of the original material and spiritual culture of local inhabitants and thanks to this Detva had become one of the symbols of the modern Slovak nation.

In 1955 Detva experienced a significant change. A factory for military machinery and strategic constructions was built in the town's woods for security purposes. This factory, called Podpolianske strojárne Detva (PPS) at that time, produced UNC
Unified Thread Standard
The Unified Thread Standard defines a standard thread form and series—along with allowances, tolerances, and designations—for screw threads commonly used in the United States and Canada...

 machinery, aka "Universal" on Western European markets. Machinery such as front loaders and skid steer loaders used to reach an annual production of 4,000. The factory enlarged the population of Detva from 3,500 to over 12,000, employing over 70% of Detva's population. However, after the Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...

 and the split of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

, infamous illegal and non-transparent privatization, typical of then Central and Eastern European states, took place. Detva's PPS factory had to put its production on halt and to downsize its workforce from 8,000 in 1993 to 1,000 in 2005. Nowadays, Detva faces the highest unemployment in Slovakia - it reaches some 30%.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, the town had 15,122 inhabitants. 96.11% of inhabitants were Slovaks
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...

, 1.75% Roma, and 0.75% Czechs
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

. The religious make-up was 78.03% Roman Catholics, 13.11% people with no religious affiliation and 4.47% Lutherans.

Neighborhoods

  • Detva (proper)
  • Detva - sídlisko
  • Kostolná
  • Krné
  • Piešť I
  • Piešť II
  • Skliarovo
  • Zapriechody

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK