Slovakia

Slovakia builds more cars per person than any other country on earth. Volkswagen, Kia, Stellantis and Jaguar Land Rover all run major plants here, and a dense supplier network around Bratislava and Žilina feeds the whole European auto industry.

Software is the second act. ESET defends millions of devices worldwide from its Bratislava headquarters, Sygic put offline navigation on phones early, and Innovatrics and Photoneo sell biometrics and 3D machine vision globally. Tatra banka keeps winning digital-banking awards; Zlatý Bažant and Martinus cover beer and books.