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Regional
Development Agency covers with its activities the Zilina region which is located
in the northwest Slovakia. With the area of 6 788 square km, it is the third
biggest region in the country. According to the official territorial
administration, the region is divided into 11 districts: Zilina, Bytca, Cadca,
Kysucke Nove Mesto, Martin, Turčianske Teplice, Dolný Kubín, Tvrdošín, Námestovo,
Ružomberok and Liptovský Mikuláš. There are 315 administrative residencies
in the region, 18 have the statute of a town. The major city of the region
of national and international importance is Žilina, where RDA has its
residence.
In terms of population, Žilina region is the fourth biggest region in the
Slovak Republic. According to the last screening of population, houses and
appartments on 26th May 2001, the region has 692 332 inhabitants – which is
12,87 % of the overall population. With its density of population, Žilina
region is the third least populated area in Slovakia. The population is
concentrated mainly in the valleys of the rivers Váh, Kysuca, Turiec and Orava.
The character of Žilina region is based on industry, however the industry
structure is very diverse. The most effective companies are in the sphere of
wood, cellulose and paper production. Machinery and engineering industry have
the highest percentage of export. Other important sectors contributing to the
GNP in the region are metalurgy, chemistry, textile, fashion and food industry.
The industrial character of the region will be maintained also in the future –
with the focus on increasing effectivity of internal sources and development
potential of the Žilina region. Support of small and medium entrepreneurs
within the Slovak-Polish-Czech euroregion is considered to be the main endavour.
Bordering on the northwest with Czech Republic and on the north with
Poland, the geographic location of the region provides rich opportunities for
developing international and interregional co-operation as well. The area of the
region is one of the most important crossroads of the higher transport system in
the Central Europe. The main transport veins on
national and european level as the Transeuropean multimodal corridor VI.
and Va. are converging here.
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