Slovakia's economy increasingly resembles that of a so-called developed country. With the highest sustained GDP growth in the European Union, reporting 10.4% in 2007 and the highest rating from V4 countries, the Slovak economy has been considered a tiger economy known as the Tatra Tiger. Slovakia has been an EU member state since 2004 and adopted the euro currency at the beginning of 2009. Its capital, Bratislava, is the largest financial centre in Slovakia. Unemployment has fallen considerably, although long-term unemployment remains high. In the long term, improving education outcomes, including by reducing the impact of socioeconomic background on outcomes, will be central to sustaining high economic growth and social cohesion. GDP per capita at purchasing power parity was €18,100 in 2010, which was 74% of the EU average [1].

Since the establishment of the Slovak Republic in January 1993, Slovakia has undergone a transition from a centrally planned economy to a free market economy, a process which some observers believe was slowed in the 1994-98 period due to the crony capitalism and other fiscal policies of Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar's government. While economic growth and other fundamentals improved steadily during Mečiar's term, public and private debt and trade deficits also rose, and privatization was uneven. Real annual GDP growth peaked at 6.5% in 1995 but declined to 1.3% in 1999.

The Slovak Republic (short form: Slovakia ⁱ/sloʊˈvɑːkiə/ or /sləˈvækiə/; Slovak:  Slovensko (help·info), long form  Slovenská republika (help·info)) is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi). Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is the capital, Bratislava, and the second largest is Košice. Slovakia is a member state of the European Union, NATO, United Nations, OECD and WTO among others. The official language is Slovak, a member of the Slavic language family.

The Slavs arrived in the territory of present day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries during the migration period. In the course of history, various parts of today's Slovakia belonged to Samo's Empire (the first known political unit of Slavs), Principality of Nitra (as independent polity, as part of Great Moravia and as part of Hungarian Kingdom), Great Moravia, Kingdom of Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Habsburg Empire, and Czechoslovakia. A separate Slovak state briefly existed during World War II, during which Slovakia was a dependency of Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1944. From 1945 Slovakia once again became a part of Czechoslovakia. The present-day Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

Iveta Radičová (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈɪʋɛta ˈraɟɪt͡ʃɔʋaː]), (born 7 December 1956) is a former Prime Minister of Slovakia. As of March 2012, Iveta Radičová is retired from politics. During her political career she lead the 2010 - 2012 Coalition government where she also held the post of Minister of Defence. Previously, she served as the Minister of Labour in the second Dzurinda's Government. In 2009 presidential election Iveta Radičová unsuccesfully ran for the office of President of the Slovak Republic.

Radičová was born in Bratislava on 7 December 1956. She has one daughter and is the widow of Stano Radič, a famous Slovak comedian and actor who died in 2005. In addition to her native Slovak, Radičová speaks English and Russian fluently and has good knowledge of German and Polish.

Radičová began her academic career studying sociology at the Comenius University in Bratislava, earning a PhD in 1981. Radičová worked as a sociologist at the Slovak Academy of Sciences from 1979–1989, coordinating a research team for family policies. In 1990, she pursued postdoctoral studies for a year at the University of Oxford. Upon her return to Slovakia in 1991, Radičová founded the Center for Analysis of Social Policy, one of Slovakia's first NGOs, and served as its executive director until 2005. During this period, Radičová also lectured in the departments of sociology, political science, and social work at Comenius University. In 2005, she was named a Professor of Sociology by the Faculty of Philosophy at Comenius University, making her Slovakia's first female professor of sociology.

George Gideon Oliver Osborne,MP (born 23 May 1971 in Paddington, London) is a British Conservative politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001.

Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy, known in Ireland as the Ascendancy. He is the heir to the Osborne baronetcy (of Ballentaylor, in County Tipperary, and Ballylemon, in County Waterford).

He was educated at St Paul's School and Magdalen College, University of Oxford, before entering politics.

Osborne is the eldest of four sons. His father, Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet, co-founded the firm of fabric and wallpapers designers Osborne & Little. His mother is Felicity Alexandra Loxton-Peacock, the daughter of artist Lady Clarisse Loxton Peacock.

Originally named Gideon Oliver, he changed his name to George when he was 13. In an interview in July 2005, Osborne said: "It was my small act of rebellion. I never liked it. When I finally told my mother she said, 'Nor do I'. So I decided to be George after my grandfather, who was a war hero. Life was easier as a George; it was a straightforward name."