Svinia is a village of some 1,500 people (as of 2005 ) in eastern Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . 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...

 about 8 km west from Prešov

Prešov

Prešov Historically, the city has been known in German as Eperies , Eperjes in Hungarian, Fragopolis in Latin, Preszów in Polish, Peryeshis in Romany, Пряшев in Russian and Пряшів in Rusyn and Ukrainian.-Characteristics:The city is a showcase of Baroque, Rococo and Gothic...

. The village covers an area of 14.734km².

It consists of two settlements of similar size, one inhabited by Slovaks

Slovaks

The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...

 and the other by Roma. The Svinia Roma settlement was visited and "discovered" by Canadian anthropologists in 1993, who were shocked at the appalling and unsanitary living conditions, the 100% unemployment

Unemployment

Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...

, and the deep racial divide between "white Svinia" and "Roma Svinia". Svinia has since become infamous in Europe and has been the subject of studies, books and films. International projects to improve life for the Roma in Svinia have been ongoing since the 1990s.

External links

Svinia Project at the Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC website