Endangered Regions

There are five levels of the quality of environment that were defined by the new environmental classification based on the complete assessment of the state of air, groundwater, surface water, soil, rock environment, biota and other factors:

Basic criteria of environmental regional classification of the Slovak Republic according to the number of population and area
 

Quality level	Specification of quality	Population of SR		Area of SR
		number	%	km2	%
I. and II.	High quality environment, satisfactory environment	2 379 000	44.5	36 824	75.1
III.	Moderately deteriorated environment	964 000	18.0	7 306	14.9
IV.	Deteriorated environment	752 000	14.0	2 795	5.7
V.	Heavily deteriorated environment	1 262 000	23.5	2 109	4.3
		5 357 000	100.0	49 034	100.0

                                                                                                                                                                Source: SAŽP

Endangered territories of Slovakia according to the environmental classification are the territories where the environmental quality reaches levels IV. and V. at the same time. The percentage of population living in these territories is approx. 33.2% and they occupy 9.5% of the total area of the Slovak Republic. These territories are usually linked to large urban and industrial areas. The territories belonging only to the level IV. of environmental quality are not a part of defined areas. There are approx. 233 000 inhabitants living on these territories. The following settlements together with their own urban areas belong to this group: Senica, Šurany, Šahy, Želiezovce, Levice, Nová Baňa, Lučenec, Svit and Prešov.

The following endangered territories in Slovakia were selected:
 

Endangered region	Number of population	Area (km2)
1. Bratislava Region	491 000	710
2. Trnava-Galanta Region	162 000	384
3. Upper Nitra Region	179 000	519
4. Upper Považie Region	162 000	183
5. Middle Pohronie Region	170 000	371
6. Middle Spiš Region	87 000	364
7. Middle Gemer Region	56 000	401
8. Košice Region	267 000	658
9. Middle Zemplín Region	207 000	1 081
Total	1 781 000	4 671

                                                                                        Source: SAŽP

Quality of the environment in the Slovak Republic
Source: SAŽP
 

While the territories with heavily deteriorated environment in Bratislava, Trnava-Galanta, Horná Nitra and Košice regions are relatively compact, the other are not. They create a mosaic, divided by significant natural barriers that partly eliminate the negative impact.