Bratislava now also goes by the nickname “Partyslava,” as the Slovakian capital is young, dynamic, and self-confident. The city’s more than 400,000 inhabitants have reason to celebrate, as Bratislava stagnated for quite some time following its glory days in the 18th century as one of the most important cities in the Kingdom of Hungary. The city only began to come into its own once again following the collapse of communism in 1989 and the subsequent transition to a free-market economy. Today, Bratislava is the second-richest economic region in the new EU states after Prague; the area’s purchasing power and productivity are at exactly the EU average. Back in the early 1990s, few people thought Slovakia was capable of accomplishing what it has done since that time. Many felt that the country was too dependent on the more developed Czech economic centers, where most foreign investment in modern infrastructure and technology had been channeled prior to the voluntary breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993. However, extensive economic reforms in Slovakia ultimately paved the way for foreign investment in one of the world's youngest sovereign states.