Svidník (rarely Oberswidnik, Felsővízköz, before 1907 Felsöszvidnik) is a town in eastern Slovakia, acting as the capital of Svidník District in Prešov Region. It has a population of 12,384 (2005).

Geography

It is located in the Ondava Highland, at the confluence of Ondava and Ladomírka rivers, located around 20 km from the Dukla Pass (Polish border) and around 55 km north-east of Prešov.

History

The town arose in 1944 by merger of formerly two independent municipalities of Nižný (eng: Lower) Svidník and Vyšný (eng: Upper) Svidník. The first written mention stems from 1355 as Scyuidnyk

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the town had 12,428 inhabitants. 79.60% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 13.04% Rusyns, 4.07% Ukrainian, 1.50% Roma and 0.39% Czechs. The religious make-up was 41.10% Greek Catholics, 25.82% Orthodox, 24.13% Roman Catholics ,5.17% people with no religious affiliation and 0.93% Lutherans.

Twin cities

• Chrudim — Czech Republic

References

External links

• Official website