It is located in the Ondava Highlands, at the confluence of Ondava and Ladomírka rivers, located around 20 km (12.43 mi) from the Dukla Pass (Polish border) and around 55 km (34.18 mi) north-east of Prešov.
History
The town arose in 1944 by merger of two formerly independent municipalities of Nižný Svidník and Vyšný Svidník. The first written mention stems from 1355 as Scyuidnyk. Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Nižný Svidník and Vyšný Svidník were part of Sáros County within the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1939 to 1945, they were part of the Slovak Republic. On 19 January 1945, the Red Army dislodged the Wehrmacht from Svidník in the course of the Western Carpathian offensive and it was once again part of Czechoslovakia.