Electronic Library of Scientific Literature - © Academic Electronic Press
Volume 55 / No. 1 / 2003
Peter Mariot*
P. Mariot: Territorial aspects of the electoral support to Movement for Democratic Slovakia. Geografický časopis, 55, 2003, 1, 14 figs., 5 tabs., 11 refs.
Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) entered the Slovak political arena in time between the elections for the Slovak National Council (SNR) held in 1990 and 1992. It achieved the position of the most successful political subject in 1992 and also maintained it in the 1994 and 1998 elections. The paper presents the basic features of support to the HZDS in 1992 and their level in 1998 on the detailed network of communes of the Slovak Republic. It concludes that the dimensions of the region of lowered support to HZDS with its dominant position have been almost entirely preserved. Political, as well as regional stability of the support to HZDS, however, is very unstable because it depends on unpredictable destiny of its charismatic leader.
Key words: elections for the Slovak National Council, territorial aspects, electoral geography of Slovakia
Daniel Michniak*
D. Michniak: Accessibility of district centres in Slovakia. Geografický časopis, 55, 2003, 1, 9 figs., 1 tab., 21 refs.
The paper is involved with accessibility of district centres in Slovakia for the population of all communes in the particular district. Accessibility was assessed by means of six simple indicators pointing to application of basic principles governing the spatial organization of society in the framework of the recent territorial-administrative reform. The first three indicators are based on the principle of spatial efficiency and the later three lean on the principle of spatial equity. Summary of these six simple indicators yielded the overall accessibility level of the individual district centres while the resulting value takes into account both quoted principles of spatial organization. Assessment of application of the two principles showed that there are great spatial differences in Slovakia in terms of district centre accessibility. The best overall accessibility level was found for the district centres of Hlohovec, Banská Štiavnica, Bytča, Turčianske Teplice, Kysucké Nové Mesto, and Myjava. On the other side, the least accessible are the district centres in the districts of Košice-environs, Gelnica, Svidník, Krupina, Nové Zámky, Revúca, and Trebišov where the accessibility criterion was practically ignored.
Key words: territorial-administrative division, accessibility of district centres, accessibility indices, spatial equity, spatial efficiency, Slovakia
Marcel Šúri*
M. Šúri: Influence of relief on differentiation of land cover in Slovakia. Geografický časopis, 55, 2003, 1, 11 figs., 4 tabs., 16 refs.
The study analyses incidence of land cover classes in Slovakia in relation to three morphometric parameters of relief – elevation, slope and aspect. The working scale is close to 1:50 000 – 1:100 000 and is related to the applied GIS national databases – digital model of relief with grid size 50 meters and land cover mapped by the CORINE methodology. The overlay of the GIS databases, computing the basic statistical parameters (minimum, maximum, mean, range) and frequency analyses presented in the tables and graphs reveal new findings that are compared to the existing empirical experience. The study provides an insight into the frequency distribution of individual land cover classes in respect to the elevation, slope and aspect, pointing to the limits of their occurrence and dominance. The correct interpretation of the results is supported by providing examples of some logical and positional inconsistencies that are related to the methodology of creating the used databases and their analyses. The possibilities to identify these inconsistencies directly during the land cover mapping are discussed. The advantage to analyses the spatial relation between the databases is documented on several examples.
Key words: land cover, relief, geographical information system, Slovakia
Ján Hanušin*
J. Hanušin: Analysis of runoff changes in the selected small basins of Slovakia. Geografický časopis, 55, 2003, 1, 11 figs., 1 tab., 21 refs.
The aim of the study is identifying and interpreting of runoff changes on the example of five small basins in the period of the most intensive collectivisation of agricultural production (from 1931 or 1941 to 1969). Land reforms, which in the majority of cases conditioned the changes in farm land use, represent in certain circumstances the triggering mechanism of runoff changes in the basin. The method of the double mass curve of runoff depth was applied. Analysis showed that like in the majority of phenomena taking place in natural landscape in this case it is not possible to produce a univocal and generally applicable scheme. Effect of collectivisation of agricultural production in the 1950’s on the size of runoff was not proved though the previous land reforms manifested such changes in some basins.
Key words: changes of runoff size, land use changes, land reforms, collectivisation, Slovakia
Electronic Library of Scientific Literature - © Academic Electronic Press