Žiar nad Hronom

Geography

It is located in the Žiar Basin, on the Hron river, around 40 km from Banská Bystrica and 170 km from Bratislava. In addition to the main settlement with in 1969 annexed Horné Opatovce village, the town also has "parts" of Šášovské Podhradie (annexed 1971)

Economy

The main employer is the metallurgy factory company Slovalco, formerly called Závody Slovenského národného povstania ("Slovak National Uprising Works"), built in the 1950s.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the town had 19,945 inhabitants. 94.27% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 1.97% Roma, 0.95% Czechs and 0.69% Hungarians. The religious make-up was 62.07% Roman Catholics, 25.54% people with no religious affiliation and 3.19% Lutherans. 

Source: wikipedia