Based on the (Slovak) government's decision on Wednesday, when processing last year's census data, the number of national minorities is determined by summing up the figures for nationality and second nationality.
Based on this, a total of 456,148 Slovak citizens declared themselves to be of Hungarian nationality. "People of Hungarian nationality thus make up 8.4 percent of the total population," said the Slovak government office, the proposer of the proposal. 2.9 percent of the population, 156,164 people, consider themselves to be Roma. The third largest Slovak minority is the Ruthenian, with a total of 63,562 persons, 1.2 percent of the population. Based on the summation of the answers to the question regarding the first and second nationality, the Ruthenians were ahead of the Czech minority. 45,711 persons, 0.8 percent of the total population, consider themselves to belong to the latter.
The results of the census serve as a basis for expanding the list of settlements where minorities are entitled to assert the rights to use the minority language in official communication based on their numerical ratio.
This applies to settlements where nationalities make up at least 15 percent of the population during two consecutive censuses.
The updating of the list affects a total of 157 settlements, of which Ruthenian in 87 cases, Romani in 64 settlements, Hungarian in five settlements and German in one case became usable in official communication. The list of settlements will be updated by the end of July.
László Bukovszky drew attention to the strategic importance of census data, which serve as a starting point for minorities, local governments and the state.
Source: aelvidek.ma
(Graphics: Körkép.sk)
