Abstract
No appropriate research on regional identities, especially a qualitative one, has so far been conducted in Slovakia. Given the fact that Slovakia can be considered an extremely suitable area of interest in terms of a research on regional identities, this fact is quite striking.
In particular the north of Slovakia with traditional regions characterised by a relatively high level of institutionalisation represent an excellent area of interest. The paper seeks to overcome at least partially the existing gaps in the debate on Slovakia's regional identities.
It is based on in-depth interviews with mayors of several municipalities from northern Slovakia, which is delimited as the area of the Žilina and Prešov self-governing regions. The study understands region as a social construct which can acquire different geographical scales; regional identity is therefore discussed at several geographical levels.
The major problem in Slovakia in connection with regional identities is the discrepancy between the borders of self-governing regions and the borders of traditional regions.