Town area:
52,81 km ² (dated on 3 March 1991)

Population: 
40 006 (dated on 31 December 2008)

Altitude:
114 metres above sea level

Location:
Northern part of the East Slovak Lowland, washed by the middle Laborec River.
Natural elevation:
The characteristic dominant feature of Hrádok (193 metres above sea level) and more extensive hill of Biela hora (159 metres above sea level).

The town is situated in the heart of Zemplin region, it is the administrative centre of the district and the centre of the south-east region of Slovakia. It is a gateway to the vacation spot of the lake of Zemplínska šírava. The banks of the Laborec River became home of the first settlers seven thousand years ago. The strategic position of the town gave the bases for the emergence of the traditional and classical crafts, business, and later the industrial production in the fields of clothing, construction, ceramics, engineering, electrical technology and food-processing.

Present-day Michalovce is the home of almost 40 thousand inhabitants. It has become the centre of education, business and tourism in the Zemplin region. Apart from secondary schools with more than fourty-year tradition, branches of four colleges have been established here: the branch of Faculty of Business Economics Košice, The Faculty of Mass-media of Universtiy of Trnava, the branch of Faculty of Science Košice and Faculty of Medicine Bratislava. Three hypermarkets have been built in the town recently with more that will be built in the near future.

Michalovce was famous for the travel and tourist industry mainly in the 1980s. The second largest water reservoir in Slovakia - Zemplínska šírava – owes to its geographic location for its climatic conditions. It is famous for having the highest number of sunny and tropical days of year. The nearest resort (Biela hora) is located just 3 kilometres off the town. The other resorts - Hôrka, Vinianske Lake, Medvedia hora, Kaluža, Kamenec, Klokočov and Paľkov – are also very favourable to swimming, water sports, fishing and hiking in the surrounding hills. Vineyards cover the southern slopes of the hills. The lake “Morské oko” (Great Vihorlat Lake) and the nearby hill of “Sninský kameň” are visited very frequently not only by the locals, but also by a growing number of foreign tourists coming from the neighbouring countries. The tourist footpaths of the picturesque Vihorlat Hills, forming part of a conservation area, are also a tourist attraction.

Regular cultural-social events provide a very pleasant way of spending free time in Michalovce, both for its visitors and the local citizens. Spring, summer and winter open-air markets are enriched by a number of accompanying events. Carnival celebrations, Zemplin Festival of Songs and Dances, Vihorlat Marathon, Hurdle Race Spring Town Award as well as numerous smaller or bigger events taking place throughout the year confirm that the town lives at an intensive pace. Newly reconstructed pedestrian precinct with its dominant feature – music fountain – represents the natural centre of this modern heart of Zemplin.

Stop by in our town, enjoy our hospitability and forget about time.