Kukkonia

In popular culture Kukkónia is historically used as reference to Great Rye Island, a river island in south western Slovakia. It dates back to the time of the Tatar invasion where inhabitants developed a way of communication by imitating the croaks of native frog, the fire-bellied toad, in order to inform each other of approaching enemies.

The island is 84 kilometres long and 15-30 kilometres wide, its area of 1,885 km2 makes it the largest river island in Europe. Its altitude ranges between 105-130 meters above sea level, the highest point is a mound with the local Roman Catholic Church and cemetery in Malé Dvorníky. It is the driest and warmest part of Slovakia with 2,000-2,500 sunshine hours a year. The weather is rarely calm, most of the year there is a West to North-West wind. Despite the dry and warm climate it has the largest reservoir of drinking water in Central Europe with about 10 billion m3 of quality drinking water.

Since 2014, a non-profit organization named „Kukkonia“ has been set up, with the mission to support the development of the region and preserve its values and traditions. Its main focus is to engage and support local citizens and entrepreneurs in agriculture, tourism and culture related activities.