The territory of the Žilina region belonged to the Liptovská, Oravská and Turiecká capitals from the Middle Ages until 1923. The western part of the region together with the districts of Bytča, Žilina, Kysucké Nové Mesto and Čadca belonged to the Trenčian capital. The Žilina Region was founded in 1949, and included the districts of Považská Bystrica and Ilava, which currently belong to the Trenčín Region. The region operated administratively until its abolition in 1960.
The Žilina Region was re-established in July 1996 through Act No. 221/1996 on the administrative and territorial division of the Slovak Republic.
In 2001, the National Council of the Slovak Republic adopted Act No. 302/2001 on self-government of higher territorial units and Act no. 303/2001 on elections to bodies of self-governing regions, on the basis of which eight self-governing regions (higher territorial units) were established in Slovakia. Within this new territorial-administrative system, the territory of the Žilina region was included under the Žilina self-governing region. The first elections to the councils of higher territorial units (regional parliaments) and the elections of their presidents were held on December 1, 2001.
Chairmen of the Žilina self-governing region since 2001:
election period (2001 – 2005): Jozef Tarčák
election period (2006 – 2009): Juraj Blanár
election period (2009 – 2013): Juraj Blanár
election period (2013 - 2017): Juraj Blanár
election period (2017 - 2022): Erika Jurinová
election period (2022 - 2026): Erika Jurinová
The representative office of the Žilina self-governing region is composed of 57 deputies.
The Žilina self-governing region is located in the northwestern part of Slovakia and is the third largest region of the Slovak Republic. It borders the Czech Republic and Poland in the north. It shares borders with three other regions of Slovakia - Trenčín, Banskobystrica and Prešovský. It includes 5 regions (Horné Považie, Kysuce, Liptov, Orava and Turiec) and 11 districts (Bytča, Čadca, Dolný Kubín, Kysucké Nové Mesto, Liptovský Mikuláš, Martin, Námestovo, Ružomberok, Turčianske Teplice, Tvrdošín and Žilina).
Basic indicators of ŽSK:
Area: 6,809 km2
Number of inhabitants: 689,525 (as of 31.12.2021)
Population density: 101.56 inhabitants per km2
Regional seat: Žilina
Number of districts: 11
Number of seats: 19
Number of municipalities: 296
Regions of ŽSK:
Upper Považie
Sour
Liptov
Orava
Turk
Slovak
Czech
Hungarian
German
