| Námestovo | |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Žilina |
| Subdivision Type3: | District |
| Subdivision Name3: | Námestovo |
| Pushpin Map: | Slovakia Žilina Region#Slovakia |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Námestovo in Slovakia |
| Coordinates: | 49.4028°N 19.4814°W |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Ján Kadera |
| Established Title: | First mentioned |
| Established Date: | 1557 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 44.45 |
| Elevation M: | 620[2] |
| Elevation Ft: | 2,030 |
| Population Footnotes: | [3] |
| Population Total: | 7539 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | CET |
| Utc Offset1: | +1 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 029 01 |
| Area Code: | +421 43 |
| Blank Name: | Car plate |
| Blank Info: | NO |
| Website: | www.namestovo.sk |
| Area Note: | |
Námestovo (Hungarian: Námesztó; Polish: Namiestów) is a town in northern Slovakia. It is the capital and largest town of Námestovo District in the Žilina Region. its population was 7,827.
The name is derived from a word námesta (a representative, a deputy; like modern Slovak námestník or Czech náměstek) referring to a representative of Vlach settlers whose seat was in Námestovo.[4] Alternatively, it could be derived from a personal name Namest (a less probable theory).[4]
The town is located under the Orava Highlands at the shores of the Orava reservoir, not far from the Polish border, around 15km (09miles) from Tvrdošín and 30km (20miles) from Dolný Kubín.
The town was mentioned in the 16th century, when the massive colonisation of Orava took place. It was growing quickly, thanks to its favourable location on the trade route to Poland. The town was burned down at the end of World War II. The construction of the Orava reservoir affected the way of life in the town, as two-thirds of the town were inundated, including the town centre. Boom of the industry and the following apartment construction in the 1970s contributed to the growth of the town.
According to the 2001 census, the town had 8,135 inhabitants. 98.65% of inhabitants were Slovaks and 0.65% Czechs.[5] The religious makeup was 92.12% Roman Catholics, 4.95% people with no religious affiliation and 0.84% Lutherans.[5]