Geography of Bratislava
Bratislava,Slovakia, the nation's capital. It lies on the Danube River at the western end of the Carpathian Mountains, near the Austrian border. Bratislava is a busy river port and railway hub and a major industrial center, producing mainly petroleum products, electrical equipment, machinery, chemicals, and textiles. The city contains many notable historic structures, built between 1300 and 1800, and is the seat of Comenius University.
Bratislava is known to have existed as a Roman outpost as early as the first century A.D.After 1526 it was ruled by the Austrian Hapsburgs as part of Hungary for nearly 400 years and served as the seat of the Hungarian parliament until 1848. Austrians called the city Pressburg; Hungarians, Pozsony. In 1918 Bratislava became part of newly created Czechoslovakia and was given its present name. In 1993 Czechoslovakia split into two independent nations and Bratislava became the national capital of Slovakia.
Population: 444,482.