Moravian Slovakia

Moravian Slovakia (Slovak: Moravské Slovensko, Czech: Slovácko) or Slovácko is a cultural region in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic, Moravia on the border with Slovakia (Czech: Slovensko) and Austria, known for its characteristic folklore, music, wine, costumes and traditions. The area forms part of both the Zlín and South Moravian administrative regions.

Male and female traditional costumes worn during the Jízda Králů Festival (Ride of the Kings) held annually in the village of Vlčnov near Uherské Hradiště.

Open-air museum: vernacular architecture of Slovácko in Strážnice Skansen.

Bottles of genuine Moravian wine from the western part of Moravian Slovakia

Its most important center is the town of Uherské Hradiště which is located on the Morava River. Other important population centers include Uherský Brod, Břeclav, Hodonín, Strážnice and Kyjov. In the 9th century the region of Moravian Slovakia was the centre of the Great Moravian empire.

Natives of this region speak the Eastern Moravian dialects of the Czech language, which are transitional dialects between Czech and Slovak. Due to these cultural and linguistic links to Slovakia, many ethnographers until the 20th century used to consider Moravian Slovaks as a people which politically belonged to Moravia and the Bohemian Crown but ethnographically and culturally to the Slovak ethnic group. Historically, there were also significant numbers of German speakers who also influenced local speech.