For the Indian college, see Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Vasad more commonly referred to as SVIT, is a private technical institute located in the bank of Mahi River, Gujarat, India. It offers undergraduate and graduate-level technical education. It is one of the best engineering college in Gujarat...

Svit is a small town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 and municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in Poprad District

Poprad District

Poprad District is a district inthe Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia.Until 1918, the district was almost entirely part of the Hungarian county of Spiš, apart from two small areas in the...

 in the Prešov Region

Prešov Region

The Prešov Region is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It consists of 13 districts.-Geography:It is located in north-eastern Slovakia and has an area of 8,975 km². The region has diverse types of landscapes occurring in Slovakia, but mostly highlands and hilly lands dominate the...

 in northern 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...

. It lies 8 km (5 mi) west of the city of Poprad

Poprad

Poprad is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the tenth largest city in Slovakia with a population of approximately 55,000.The Poprad-Tatry Airport is...

, at the foothills of the High Tatras

High Tatras

High Tatras or High Tatra are a mountain range on the borders between Slovakia and Poland. They are a part of the Tatra Mountains...

.

History

Svit is one of the youngest Slovak towns. It was established in 1934 by business industrialist Jan Antonín Baťa

Jan Antonín Bata

Jan Antonín Baťa was a Czech shoe manufacturer from Uherské Hradiště , brother of Tomáš Baťa....

 of Zlín

Zlín

Zlín , from 1949 to 1989 Gottwaldov , is a city in the Zlín Region, southeastern Moravia, Czech Republic, on the Dřevnice River. The development of the modern city is closely connected to the Bata Shoes company...

, Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 (now Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

) through his organization Baťa a.s., Zlin in accordance with his policy of setting up villages around the country for his workers. As a boy, Jan Baťa saw the poverty and sickness of his fellow countrymen. He wanted to change this by creating cities full of the most modern factories and filled with the best (and happiest) workers in Europe. The Baťa System under Jan's administration brought propserity first to Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

, and later 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...

 and Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

. It was Jan's policy for full employment that drove him to create each Baťa town for a different purpose: Shoes, Rubber and Tires, Textiles, Airplanes, Chemicals, Plastics, Media, Stockings, Leather, Machinery. Jan Baťa's business were all successful, as he had planned and have brought prosperity to the whole country until this day. When the Second World war came, Jan's policy was to secretly fund the Czechoslovak government-in-exile

Czechoslovak government-in-exile

The Czechoslovak government-in-exile was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee, initially by British diplomatic recognition. The name came to be used by other World War II Allies as they subsequently recognized it...

, to secretly supply the Czech Army with shoes and clothing, to secretly fund the Slovak National Uprising

Slovak National Uprising

The Slovak National Uprising or 1944 Uprising was an armed insurrection organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. It was launched on August 29 1944 from Banská Bystrica in an attempt to overthrow the collaborationist Slovak State of Jozef Tiso...

 that started at Baťovany (now Partizánske

Partizánske

Partizánske |partisan]] town, formerly: Baťovany) is a town in Trenčín Region, Slovakia.-Geography:It is located in the northern part of the Danubian Hills around from Nitra, on the Nitra River, near the Tribeč mountains.-History:...

) on August 29, 1944. Jan Baťa represented Czech/Slovak freedom and prosperity.

Svit is short for "Slovenské vizkózové továrne" (in English Slovak Viscose Works). (Also, the word "svit" means "shine" in Slovak language.) Svit is the smallest town in Slovakia (4.5 km²) with the population of 7,400.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, the town had 7,445 inhabitants. 96.44% of inhabitants were 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...

, 1.11% Romani and 0.79% Czechs

Czech people

Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

. The religious make-up was 62.53% Roman Catholics, 20.67% people with no religious affiliation, 8.62% Lutherans and 4.00% Greek Catholics

Greek Catholic Church

The Greek Catholic Church consists of the Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine liturgical tradition and are thus in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.-List of Greek Catholic Churches:...

.

External links

• Official website of Svit (in Slovak language only)