1.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
2.
Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Teplice
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Teplice, Teplice-Šanov until 1948 is a statutory city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic, the capital of Teplice District. It is the second largest spa town, after Karlovy Vary. Teplice is located in the North Bohemia region, near the border with the German state of Saxony. It is situated in the valley of the Bílina river between the slopes of the Ore Mountains in the northwest and the Central Bohemian Uplands in the southeast, about 15 km west of Ústí nad Labem. The municipal area comprises the communities of Teplice proper, Prosetice, Nová Ves, Řetenice, Hudcov, Trnovany. A fortified town arose around the monastery, which was destroyed in the course of the Hussite Wars after the 1426 Battle of Aussig, in the late 15th century, queen consort Joanna of Rožmitál, wife of King George of Poděbrady, had a castle erected on the ruins. Consequently, and until 1945, Teplitz Castle was the seat of the princely House of Clary-Aldringen. After the Thirty Years War, the town was the destination of many German settlers. After a blaze in 1793, large parts of the town were rebuilt in a Neoclassical style, in 1895 Teplice merged with neighbouring Lázně Šanov. Upon the dissolution of Austria-Hungary after World War I and the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, with the Sudetenland, Teplice was annexed by Nazi Germany according to the 1938 Munich Agreement and incorporated into a Reichsgau. After World War II the Czechoslovak government enacted the Beneš decrees, in 1945, the Princes of Clary-Aldringen, lords of Teplice since 1634, were expropriated. In 1994 Jaroslav Kubera of the Civic Democratic Party became mayor of Teplice, Teplice is home to the professional football club FK Teplice playing in the Gambrinus liga. Notable players of the club include Josef Masopust and Pavel Verbíř, the stadium, Na Stínadlech, is one of the largest in the country and has hosted international matches. 3. Biography, Maxi Bőhm, Bei uns in Reichenau by Georg Markus, copyright 1983
4.
San Marino
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Its size is just over 61 km2, with a population of 33,562. Its capital is the City of San Marino and its largest city is Dogana, San Marino has the smallest population of all the members of the Council of Europe. The country takes its name from Marinus, a stonemason originating from the Roman colony on the island of Rab, in 257 CE Marinus participated in the reconstruction of Riminis city walls after their destruction by Liburnian pirates. San Marino is governed by the Constitution of San Marino, a series of six books written in Latin in the late 16th century, the country is considered to have the earliest written governing documents still in effect. The countrys economy mainly relies on finance, industry, services and it is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP, with a figure comparable to the most developed European regions. San Marino is considered to have a stable economy, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, no national debt. It is the country with more vehicles than people. Saint Marinus left the island of Arba in present-day Croatia with his lifelong friend Leo, and went to the city of Rimini as a stonemason. After the Diocletianic Persecution following his Christian sermons, he escaped to the nearby Monte Titano, the official date of the founding of what is now known as the Republic is 3 September 301. In 1631, its independence was recognized by the Papacy, the offer was declined by the Regents, fearing future retaliation from other states revanchism. During the later phase of the Italian unification process in the 19th century, in recognition of this support, Giuseppe Garibaldi accepted the wish of San Marino not to be incorporated into the new Italian state. The government of San Marino made United States President Abraham Lincoln an honorary citizen and he wrote in reply, saying that the republic proved that government founded on republican principles is capable of being so administered as to be secure and enduring. Italy tried to establish a detachment of Carabinieri in the republic. Two groups of ten volunteers joined Italian forces in the fighting on the Italian front, the first as combatants, the existence of this hospital later caused Austria-Hungary to suspend diplomatic relations with San Marino. From 1923 to 1943, San Marino was under the rule of the Sammarinese Fascist Party. During World War II, San Marino remained neutral, although it was reported in an article from The New York Times that it had declared war on the United Kingdom on 17 September 1940. The Sammarinese government later transmitted a message to the British government stating that they had not declared war on the United Kingdom, Three days after the fall of Benito Mussolini in Italy, PFS rule collapsed and the new government declared neutrality in the conflict. The Fascists regained power on 1 April 1944 but kept neutrality intact, despite that, on 26 June 1944 San Marino was bombed by the Royal Air Force, in the belief that San Marino had been overrun by German forces and was being used to amass stores and ammunition
5.
Burgos
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Burgos is a city in northern Spain and the historic capital of Castile. It is situated on the confluence of the Arlanzón river tributaries and it has about 180,000 inhabitants in the actual city and another 20,000 in the metropolitan area. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the community of Castile. A large number of churches, palaces and other buildings from the medieval age remain, the city is surrounded by the Fuentes Blancas and the Paseo de la Isla parks. The city forms the principal crossroad of northern Spain along the Camino de Santiago and it has a well-developed transportation system, forming the main communication node in northern Spain. In 2008, the international Burgos Airport started to offer commercial flights, furthermore, AVE high speed trains are planned to start service in the near future, stopping at the newly-built Rosa de Lima train station. The Museum of Human Evolution was opened in 2010, unique in its kind across the world, the museum features the first Europeans, which lived in this area 800,000 years ago. Burgos was selected as the Spanish Gastronomy Capital of 2013, there are several possible origins for the toponymy. When the city was founded, the inhabitants of the country moved into the fortified village. The city began to be called Caput Castellae, early humans occupied sites around Burgos as early as 800,000 years ago. When the Romans took possession of what is now the province of Burgos, in Roman times, it belonged to Hispania Citerior and then to Hispania Tarraconensis. The region came to be known as Castile, i. e. land of castles, the city began to be called Caput Castellae. The county of Burgos, subject to the Kings of León, continued to be governed by counts and was extended, one of these counts, Fernán González. In the 11th century, the city became the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burgos, throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, Burgos was a favourite seat of the kings of León and Castile and a favoured burial site. In 1285, Sancho IV added a new body to the consejo which came to dominate it, the jurado in charge of collecting taxes and overseeing public works, the alguacil was the royal official instituted to judge disagreements. On 9 June 1345, sweeping aside the city government, Alfonso XI established direct rule of Burgos through the Regimiento of sixteen appointed men. In 1574, Pope Gregory XIII made the bishopric a Metropolitan archbishorpic, Burgos has been the scene of many wars, with the Moors, the struggles between León and Navarre, and between Castile and Aragon. In the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France, the siege of Burgos was a scene of a withdrawal for Arthur Wellesley, again in the 19th-century Carlist civil wars of the Spanish succession Burgos was the scene of a battle
6.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
7.
Czechoslovakia
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From 1939 to 1945, following its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, the state did not de facto exist but its government-in-exile continued to operate. From 1948 to 1990, Czechoslovakia was part of the Soviet bloc with a command economy and its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949, and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of May 1955. A period of liberalization in 1968, known as the Prague Spring, was forcibly ended when the Soviet Union, assisted by several other Warsaw Pact countries. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the two states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Form of state 1918–1938, A democratic republic, 1938–1939, After annexation of Sudetenland by Nazi Germany in 1938, the region gradually turned into a state with loosened connections among the Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian parts. A large strip of southern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine was annexed by Hungary, 1939–1945, The region was split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic. A government-in-exile continued to exist in London, supported by the United Kingdom, United States and its Allies, after the German invasion of Russia, Czechoslovakia adhered to the Declaration by United Nations and was a founding member of the United Nations. 1946–1948, The country was governed by a government with communist ministers, including the prime minister. Carpathian Ruthenia was ceded to the Soviet Union, 1948–1989, The country became a socialist state under Soviet domination with a centrally planned economy. In 1960, the country became a socialist republic, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It was a state of the Soviet Union. 1989–1990, The federal republic consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic, 1990–1992, Following the Velvet Revolution, the state was renamed the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, consisting of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Neighbours Austria 1918–1938, 1945–1992 Germany Hungary Poland Romania 1918–1938 Soviet Union 1945–1991 Ukraine 1991–1992 Topography The country was of irregular terrain. The western area was part of the north-central European uplands, the eastern region was composed of the northern reaches of the Carpathian Mountains and lands of the Danube River basin. Climate The weather is mild winters and mild summers, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean from the west, Baltic Sea from the north, and Mediterranean Sea from the south. The area was long a part of the Austro Hungarian Empire until the Empire collapsed at the end of World War I, the new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935. He was succeeded by his ally, Edvard Beneš. The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, nationalism became a mass movement in the last half of the 19th century
8.
2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
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The 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 12th staging of UEFAs European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Slovakia from 27 May to 3 June 2000, northern Ireland competed for the first time. For the first time a tournament with two groups of four teams was held, with one of those teams, Slovakia, having been chosen as the hosts. The top four teams in this competition qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics, Italy won the competition for the fourth time, thus qualifying for the Olympic games finals, alongside Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia and Spain. The 47 national teams were divided into nine groups, the records of the nine group runners-up were then compared. The top seven joined the nine winners in a play-off for the eight finals spots, one of the eight qualifiers was then chosen to host the remaining fixtures. Four venues were selected for the competition, andrea Pirlo was the top goalscorer of three goals. He was also announced as the UEFA Golden Player award recipient,3 goals 2 goals 1 goal 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship at UEFA. com 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship at Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation
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2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
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The UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2007 were held from 10 June 2007 to 23 June 2007. It is the 16th staging of UEFAs European Under-21 Championship, for the first time, a host nation was chosen ahead of the competition – the Netherlands, who are also the defending champions, were exempt from qualifying. The host nation was chosen on 15 December 2005, England, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and Sweden also submitted bids. Of UEFAs 52 member countries, only the Faroe Islands did not compete in the round for the tournament. That left 50 nations attempting to qualify for the seven remaining spots at the finals and this was the first time that the competitions final matches took place in an odd-numbered year. The tournament also served as the European qualifying tournament for the 2008 Summer Olympics, however, as England is not an Olympic nation, their team was ineligible for the Olympics. Therefore, with the event of England reaching the semi-finals, a playoff was necessary. In this competition, a new UEFA penalty shootout record was established, the semi final between The Netherlands U21 and England U21 finished in 1-1. No less than 32 penalties had to be taken before the tie was decided, the Netherlands U21 won 13-12, and went on to win the tournament by defeating Serbia U21 4-1 in the final. Dutch coach Foppe de Haan expressed the actions of players as inappropriate. In order to make the switch from even to odd-numbered years, therefore, a completely new qualification format was devised to eliminate the weaker nations early, and saw a decrease in the size and duration of qualification groups. The draw for the finals place in Arnhem on 24 November 2006. The provisional dates for the games are 10 June to 17 June 2007, with Heerenveen. The final took place on Saturday 23 June at the Euroborg stadium in Groningen, the opening game was between the Netherlands and Israel at 10 June. Europes four places at the Olympic tournament were to be filled by the four semi-finalists, Italy defeated Portugal through a penalty shoot-out booking their Olympic place in Beijing. com
10.
2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
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UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2011 was the 18th staging of UEFAs European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Denmark between 11 and 25 June 2011, the Danish bid was chosen by UEFAs Executive Committee on 10 December 2008 in Nyon, Switzerland. This bid defeated the other bid from Israel, qualification for the final tournament took place between March 2009 and October 2010. Spain won their third title after defeating Switzerland 2–0 in the final, the organisation of the event was initially contested by only two bids, Denmark and Israel. The bids were submitted on 15 June 2008, the bids were inspected between June and September 2008, and a report was given to the National Team Competition Committee in October. The committee discussed the bids on 27 November 2008 and issued a recommendation to the UEFA Executive Committee, the draw for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying round took place in Århus on 4 February 2009. The qualifying draw determined the makeup of ten groups, ten groups were formed in the qualifying draw including two sections of six sides and eight of five, as teams chase 7 finals places alongside host Denmark. The seeding pots are formed on the basis of performance in the tournament. All groups contained one nation from the first five pots and two sections also included a team from Pot 6, the six European federations that have qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup were each drawn in one of the six groups of five teams. The tournament was used as the European qualifying tournament for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with the top teams qualifying for London 2012, the four British federations entered the qualification process as single entities, but are not eligible to qualify for the Olympics. If one or more British teams had qualified for the Championship, as Great Britain is the host nation for the 2012 Olympics, it is entitled to an automatic place in the competition. This caused controversy as in the Olympics, Great Britain competes as a unified country. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all logged public objections to the idea of a GB team at the Olympics, a compromise was reached in 2009 whereby England would field a team for the tournament, while the other three would not participate, but not object to Englands involvement. On 20 September 2010 it was announced that Aarhus Stadion would host the final, further Aalborg Stadion was confirmed as the venue for the opening match and the eventual Olympic qualifying play-off. The semifinals were played at Herning Stadium and Viborg Stadion and it was also published that Denmark would play all of its matches in Aalborg and Aarhus. The final tournament consisted of two groups of four, with the top two from each progressing to the semifinals where it becomes a knockout competition, in the finals held a year before a summer Olympic Games the championship also serves as qualification for the Olympic Football Tournament. Players were eligible for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship if they were born on or later than 1 January 1988, the draw for the final tournament took place on 9 November 2010 at Aalborg Congress & Culture Centre in Aalborg. Similar to former tournaments, the games in group are to be held at just two stadia
11.
Romania
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Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage
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Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
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