World Esperanto Congress in Nitra Welcomed Participants from 60 Countries

The premises of the Slovak University of Agriculture and the streets of Nitra are hosting the 101^st World Esperanto Congress from 24 to 30 July. Organizers have welcomed more than 1 300 visitors.

The premises of the Slovak University of Agriculture and the streets of Nitra are hosting the 101^st World Esperanto Congress from 24 to 30 July. Organizers have welcomed more than 1 300 visitors from Cuba, South Korea, China, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, Lithuania, as well as from exotic countries like Madagascar, Togo or Tanzania.

The Congress is the biggest and the most important event of Esperantists in the world. Slovakia hosts it for the first time and with the main theme of Social Justice – Linguistic Justice. The number of participants from various countries and the length of its duration makes the Congress one of the biggest international events during the first presidency of Slovakia in the Council of the EU. 

Esperanto is widely used. Many people use it when travelling, to find a person that can provide them with accommodation or show them the country. There is also a very rich Esperanto literature, both translated into and written in this language. Several internet radios broadcast in Esperanto as well. Although it is an artificially constructed language, Esperanto is a living and further developing language. The state and the development of the language, as well as its purity and compliance with principles are supervised by Akademio de Esperanto (Academy of Esperanto), which creates recommendations for the construction of new words that are subsequently included into the dictionary. There are approximately one million Esperantists in the world.

The history of Esperanto dates back to the 19^th century when Polish physician Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof came up with the idea to create an international planned language. Though no country adopted Esperanto as an official language, it is used by a community of about two million people all around the world. In Slovakia, its history started in 1907 when the first Esperanto textbook was published in the Slovak language thanks to Albert Škavran.

The World Esperanto Congress takes place in a different country every year, usually in large cities. Nitra is the third smallest city in which the Congress has taken place. The event is an exhibition of everything that is created in this language - there are Esperanto groups from all over the world, theatre plays, workshops and presentations. Visitors can enjoy a programme presenting the beauties of Slovakia, theatre performances, movies and concerts of various genres or discos. On 29 July, for instance, visitors can see an attempt to break both the world and the Slovak record for dancing Slovak tango at the Svätopluk Square. After that, an international music festival where not only Slovak groups from Nitra but also Esperanto groups from Germany, Sweden or Lithuania will present various music genres. On 28 and 29 July, a linguistic and politic conference of V4+ countries with the main theme of Perspectives of the EU linguistic policy will take place.