Žilina ( pronunciation (help·info); German: Sillein, Hungarian: Zsolna, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around 200 kilometres (120 mi) from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia with a population of approximately 85,000, an important industrial center, the largest city on the Váh river, and the seat of a kraj (Žilina Region) and of an okres (Žilina District). It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism.

The area around today's Žilina was inhabited in the late Stone Age (about 20,000 BC). In the 5th century Slavs started to move into the area. However, the first written reference to Žilina was in 1208 as terra de Selinan. From the second half of the 10th century until 1918, it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary.

In the middle of the 13th century terra Sylna was the property of the Cseszneky de Milvány family. The city started to develop around year 1300, and according to records in 1312 it was already a town. In 1321, King Charles I made Žilina a free royal town. On 7 May 1381 King Louis I issued Privilegium pro Slavis which made the Slav inhabitants equal to the Germans by allocating half of the seats at the city council to Slavs. The town was burned in 1431 by the Hussites.