Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
The Old Town of Bratislava is encouraging non-Slovak native speakers to list their mother tongue in the ongoing census of Slovakia.
“It does not matter what our mother tongue is and what nationality we declare. We are united by our love for the Old Town and the desire for our city district to grow and develop.” These were the words used by the Old Town of Bratislava to address non-Slovak speakers living within its confines.
The 2021 census kicked off in mid-February. The forms are available online for the first time. That means that most people do not have to fill in paper forms, answering the census questions in an online questionnaire.The 2021 census kicked off in mid-February. The forms are available online for the first time. That means that most people do not have to fill in paper forms, answering the census questions in an online questionnaire.
The census is compulsory for everybody living in Slovakia, not only citizens.
Though aimed at minorities as well, the programme was mostly targeted at foreigners who often don’t know that they are required to report themselves in the census if they have a permanent or permitted residence in Slovakia.
“There are a lot of people in the Old Town, and in Bratislava in general, which is why self-governing regions need to have census data. Many will settle and raise their families here, which is why it is good for us to know about them so we can take them into account,” said Old Town Mayor Zuzana Aufrichtová in a press release, when talking about including foreigners in the census.
She added that though filling out the census form takes only ten minutes, the results of the census will influence the income of villages and cities over the next ten years. This is why the Old Town has invested time and effort into reaching foreign residents via social media and their information channels.
The town used 7 languages other than Slovak to reach out to non-Slovak native speakers: English, German, French, Rusyn, Roma, Hungarian and Ukrainian. It is also possible to fill out the census form in these languages.
