a city on the Nitra River in Czechoslovakia, in West Slovakia, the Slovak Socialist Republic. Population, 47,000 (1971). Industries include food processing and machine building.

Nitra is one of Slovakia’s most ancient cities. In the early Iron Age (800–500 B.C.), a large settlement surrounded by ramparts existed on the site of the modern city. With the arrival in the sixth and seventh centuries of the Slavs in the vicinity of the Danube, Nitra became an important political and cultural center of Slovakia. In the ninth century it was the capital of the Nitra Principality; the oldest church was built, and the first church diocese appeared. At this time, Nitra consisted of two large fortifications surrounded by double ramparts and by palisades. In the early tenth century, after the Magyar invasion, the city of Nitra became a separate principality. After liberation from the Magyars in the 13th century and restoration of the diocese, Nitra was for a long time a diocesan possession. Systematic excavations have been conducted since 1949.

a river in Czechoslovakia, a left tributary of the Váh River of the Danube River basin. The Nitra is 242 km long and drains an area of 5,200 sq km. It rises on the southern slopes of the Malá Fatra Mountains of the Western Carpathians, and the lower course flows across the Central Danubian Plain. The mean flow rate in the lower course is approximately 25 cu m per sec. High water occurs in spring; the water is at its lowest level in summer. The river is used for floating timber. The city of Nitra is situated on the Nitra.