Východoslovenský Kraj

Východoslovenský Kraj

 

an administrative unit in Czechoslovakia in the eastern Slovak Socialist Republic. Area, 16,200 sq km. Population, 1,250,000 (1969). The city of Košice is its administrative center.

The eastern part of the Tatra Mountains (Mount Gerlachovský Štït, 2,655 m) and of the Slovak Ore Mountains, the LevoČa Mountains, the southern slopes of the Eastern Beskids, and the Slanské Mountains, as well as the Vihorlat and Ondava hills, occupy the western and northern districts of Východoslovenský Kraj. Located in the southeast is the northeastern part of the Central Danubian Plain, which is drained by the rivers of the Danube basin (the Bodrog and its tributaries). The climate is moderate—in Košice the average January temperature is -3.4° C, the average July temperature is 19.1° C, and the average annual precipitation is 663 mm. There are broad-leaved and coniferous forests, and at elevations above 1,600-1,800 m there are mountain meadows.

In 1968, 4.3 percent of the industrial production of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was carried on in Východoslovenský Kraj. The mining industry is developed: iron, manganese, antimony, and copper ores, as well as magnesite and salt, are mined. The Východoslovenský Metallurgical Combine is located in Košice city district, and there is a copper-smelting plant in Krompachy. Machine-building enterprises are located in Košice and Prešov, and there are chemical plants in Strázske, Humenné, and Svit. Východoslovenský Kraj also has paper, woodworking, and food-processing industries, as well as light industry and the production of building materials. It provides 8 percent of the agricultural production of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The main agricultural products are cereal grain and live-stock. In the south, wheat, corn, and grapes are the main crops and in the north, barley, oats, and potatoes. Cattle and pigs are also raised, primarily in the south. In the mountain regions forestry is carried on. Cierna on the Tisa River—a railroad station bordering the USSR—is a major transship-ping point for freight.

L. A. AVDEICHEV