Czech Republic

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Česká republika
Czech Republic


Flag	Coat of arms

Motto: Pravda vítězí
(Czech: "Truth prevails")

Anthem: Kde domov můj

Capital
(and largest city)

Prague
50°05′N 14°28′E

Official languages

Czech

Government

Republic

- President Václav Klaus

- Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek

Formation

Ninth century

- Independence
from Austria-Hungary October 28, 1918

- Dissolution of Czechoslovakia January 1, 1993

Accession to EU May 1, 2004

Area

- Total 78,866 km² (117th)
30,450 sq mi

- Water (%) 2.0

Population

- 2006 estimate 10,265,231 (78th)

- 2001 census 10,230,060

- Density 130/km² (77th)
337/sq mi

GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate

- Total $198.93 billion (46th²)

- Per capita $18,341 (37th²)

GDP (nominal) 2005 estimate

- Total $123,603 billion (40th)

- Per capita $12,152 (42nd)

HDI (2004) 0.885 (high) (30th)

Currency Czech koruna (CZK)

Time zone CET (UTC+1)

- Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)

Internet TLD .cz ³

Calling code +420¹

¹ Shared code 42 with Slovakia until 1997
² Rank based on 2005 IMF data
³ also .eu, shared with other European Union member states.

The Czech Republic (Czech: Česká republika) is a landlocked country in Central Europe and a member state of the European Union. The country has borders with Poland to the north, Germany to the northwest and west, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is the historic Prague (Czech: Praha), a major tourist attraction. Other major cities include Brno, Ostrava, Zlín, Plzeň, Pardubice, Hradec Králové, České Budějovice, Liberec, Olomouc, and Ústí nad Labem.

The country is composed of two entire historic regions, Bohemia and Moravia, and parts of Silesia.

[edit] Name

See also: Names of the Czech Republic and Czech lands

After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Czech part found itself without a common single-word name. In 1993, The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggested the name Czechia as an official alternative in all situations other than formal official documents and the full names of government institutions, but this has not caught on in English usage. The official website of the Czech Republic (www.czech.cz) run by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not use the name Czechia any longer as of 2006. Its Czech equivalent is Česko.

[edit] History

Main article: History of the Czech lands

Prague Castle

Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric human settlement in the area dating back to the Neolithic era. In the classical era, from the 3rd century BC Celtic migrations, the Boii (see Bohemia) and later in the 1st century Germanic tribes of Marcomanni and Quadi settled there. During the Migration Period of ca. the 5th century, many Germanic tribes moved westward and southward out of Central Europe. In an equally significant migration, Slavic people from the Black Sea and Carpathian regions settled in the area (a movement that was also stimulated by the onslaught of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Europe: Huns, Avars, Bulgars and Magyars). Following in the Germans' wake, they moved southward into Bohemia, Moravia, and some of present day Austria. During the 7th century the Frankish merchant Samo, supporting the Slavs fighting their Avar rulers, became the ruler of the first known Slav state in Central Europe. The Moravian principality arose in the 8th century (see under Great Moravia).

The Bohemian or Czech state emerged in the late 9th century when it was unified by the Přemyslids. The kingdom of Bohemia was a significant local power during the Middle Ages. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire during the entire existence of this confederation.

Religious conflicts such as the 15th century Hussite Wars and the 17th century Thirty Years' War had a devastating effect on the local population. From the sixteenth century, Bohemia came increasingly under Habsburg control,as the Habsburgs became first the elected and then hereditary rulers of Bohemia. After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia became part of Austria-Hungary.

Following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I, the independent republic of Czechoslovakia was created in 1918. This new country incorporated regions with majority German, Hungarian, Polish and Ruthenian speaking populations. Although Czechoslovakia was a centralist state, it provided what was at the time rather extensive rights to its minorities. However, it did not grant its minorities any territorial political autonomy, which resulted in discontent and strong support among some of the minorities to break away from Czechoslovakia. Adolf Hitler used the opportunity and, supported by Konrad Henlein's Sudeten German Party, gained the majority German speaking Sudetenland through the Munich Agreement. Poland occupied areas with Polish minority around Český Těšín, while Slovakia gained greater autonomy, with the state being renamed to "Czecho-Slovakia". Eventually Slovakia broke away further in March 1939, allied to Hitler´s coalition and the remaining Czech territory was occupied by Hitler who installed the so-called Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which was proclaimed part of the Reich and where the Protectorate President and Prime Minister were subordinate to the Nazi Reichsprotektor ('imperial protector'). Approximately 390,000 citizens, including 83,000 Jews, were killed, executed or killed in war, and hundreds of thousand of others were sent to prisons and concentration camps or forced labour. The Czechoslovak government-in-exile and its army fighting against the Germans were acknowledged by Allies (Czech troops in Great Britain, North Africa, Middle East and Soviet Union). Prague uprising ended the war.

Václav Havel, the first President of the Czech Republic

Václav Klaus, current President of the Czech Republic

In 1945-6 almost the entire German minority of Czechoslovakia, about 2.7 million people, were expelled to Germany and Austria. During this time, hundreds of thousands of Germans were held in prisons, detention camps, and used in forced labour. In the summer of 1945, there were several massacres with at least 20,000 deaths. Only 250,000 Germans who had been active in the resistance against the Nazis or were necessary for the economy were allowed to stay, though many of them emigrated later.

Czechoslovakia uneasily tried to play "bridge" between the West and East; however the strengthening Communist Party of Czechoslovakia took over government in February 1948, bringing the country definitely within the Soviet sphere of influence and robbing the people of most freedom; several show trials were held and hundreds of thousand prisoners went through uranium mines. The political liberalization of 1960es culminating in the Prague Spring was forcibly ended on 21 August 1968, when an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize party rule and create "socialism with a human face".

In November 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its political independence through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution". However the Slovak national aspirations strengthened until on January 1, 1993, the country peacefully split in the independent Czech and Slovak republics.

The Czech Republic joined NATO on March 12, 1999 and the European Union on May 1, 2004. From 1991 the Czech Republic, then Czechoslovakia, has been a member of the Visegrad Group.

[edit] Geography

Main article: Geography of the Czech Republic

Map of the Czech Republic

The Czech landscape is quite varied; Bohemia to the west consists of a basin, drained by the Labe (German: Elbe) and Vltava rivers, surrounded by mostly low mountains such as the Sudetes with its part Krkonoše, where one also finds the highest point in the country, the Sněžka at 1,602 metres (5,256 ft). Moravia, the eastern part, is also quite hilly and is drained predominantly by the Morava river, but also contains the source of the Odra (German: Oder) river. Water from the landlocked Czech Republic flows to three different seas: the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Black Sea. The Czech Republic also possesses a 30,000 square metre exclave in the middle of Hamburg docks which was awarded to Czechoslovakia by Article 363 of the Treaty of Versailles to allow the landlocked country a place where goods transported down river could be transferred to seagoing ships; this territory reverts to Germany in 2018.

[edit] Demographics

Main article: Demographics of the Czech Republic

[edit] Population

Population of Czech Lands (Czech Statistic. Ofice)
Year	Total	Change	Year	Total	Change
1857	7,016,531	-	1930	10,674,386	6.6%
1869	7,617,230	8.6%	1950	8,896,133	-16.7%
1880	8,222,013	7.9%	1961	9,571,531	7.6%
1890	8,665,421	5.4%	1970	9,807,697	2.5%
1900	9,372,214	8.2%	1980	10,291,927	4.9%
1910	10,078,637	7.5%	1991	10,302,215	0.1%
1921	10,009,587	-0.7%	2001	10,230,060	-0.7%

The vast majority of the inhabitants of the Czech Republic are Czechs (94.2%, out of which 3.7% claimed Moravian ethnicity and 0.1% Silesian in the 2001 census). Largest minorities are Slovaks (1.9%), Poles (0.5%), Germans (0.4%), and Roma people.

[edit] Religion

The Czech Republic, along with Estonia are nations with the least religious populations in the European Union. According to the 2001 census, 59% of the country is atheist, non-believer or no-organized believer, 26.8% Catholic and ca 2.5% Protestant. [1] According to the 2005 Eurobarometer poll, 30% of Czech respondents don't believe in gods, spirits, or life forces, 50% believe in some sort of spirit or life force, and 19% believe in a god [2].

[edit] Politics

Ceremonial guards outside Prague Castle.

Main articles on politics and government of the Czech Republic can be found at the Politics and government of the Czech Republic series.

[edit] Political system

Czech Republic is a pluriform multi-party parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the Prime Minister is the head of government. The Parliament is bi-cameral, with the Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sněmovna) and the Senate.

[edit] Military

Main article: Military of the Czech Republic

The Czech Armed Forces (Czech: Armáda České republiky) consists of Land and Air Forces and of specialized support units. In 2004 the Czech military completely phased out conscription and transformed into a fully professional military force. The country has been a member of NATO since March 12, 1999. Military spending is around 1.8% of GDP (2006)

[edit] Administrative divisions

Main article: Regions of the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is divided into 13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) with their own assemblies and the capital city (hlavní město) Prague (Praha). It was further subdivided into 77 districts (okresy, sing. okres).

Map of the Czech Republic with regions

(Lic. plate)	Region	Capital	Population (2004 est.)
A	Prague (Praha)	—	1 170 571
S	Central Bohemian Region (Středočeský kraj)	offices located in Prague (Praha)	1 144 071
C	South Bohemian Region (Jihočeský kraj)	České Budějovice	625 712
P	Plzeň Region (Plzeňský kraj)	Plzeň	549 618
K	Karlovy Vary Region (Karlovarský kraj)	Karlovy Vary	304 588
U	Ústí nad Labem Region (Ústecký kraj)	Ústí nad Labem	822 133
L	Liberec Region (Liberecký kraj)	Liberec	427 563
H	Hradec Králové Region (Královéhradecký kraj)	Hradec Králové	547 296
E	Pardubice Region (Pardubický kraj)	Pardubice	505 285
M	Olomouc Region (Olomoucký kraj)	Olomouc	635 126
T	Moravian-Silesian Region (Moravskoslezský kraj)	Ostrava	1 257 554
B	South Moravian Region (Jihomoravský kraj)	Brno	1 123 201
Z	Zlín Region (Zlínský kraj)	Zlín	590 706
J	Vysočina Region (Vysočina)	Jihlava	517 153

[edit] Economy

Main article: Economy of the Czech Republic

[edit] General situation

One of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states, the Czech Republic has been recovering from recession since mid-1999. Growth in 2000-2001 was led by exports to the European Union, especially Germany, and foreign investment, while domestic demand is reviving. The rate of corruption remains one of the highest among OECD countries.

Uncomfortably high fiscal deficit is becoming a problem.

Moves to complete banking, telecommunications, and energy privatization will add to foreign investment, while intensified restructuring among large enterprises and banks and improvements in the financial sector should strengthen output growth.

The country is scheduled to fully implement the Schengen Agreement and therefore abolish the border controls with all of its neighbors (Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovakia) as of 31 December 2007.

The Czech government has expressed a desire to adopt the euro currency in 2010, but its introduction is only in the early planning stages and there are growing doubts whether budget deficit will not force postponement. More likely dates are 2011 or 2012.

[edit] Tourism

Main article: Tourism in the Czech Republic

Prague - Charles Bridge at night

The Czech economy gets a substantial income from tourism: in 2001, the total earnings from tourism reached 118.13 billion CZK, making up 5.5 % of GNP and 9.3 % of overall export earnings. The industry employs more than 110,000 persons - over 1% of the population. [3]

There are several centres of tourist activity: The historic city of Prague is the primary tourist attraction, and the city is also the most common point of entry for tourists visiting other parts of the country [4]. Most other cities in the country attract significant numbers of tourists, but the spa towns such as Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně are particularly popular holiday destinations. Other popular tourist sites are the many castles and chateaux, such as those at Karlštejn, Konopiště and Český Krumlov. Away from the towns, areas as Český Ráj, Šumava and the Krkonoše mountains attract visitors seeking outdoor pursuits.

[edit] Culture

The country is also famous for its love of puppetry and marionettes. The Pilsner style beer originated in Western Bohemian Plzeň.

[edit] International rankings

Human Development Index 2006: Rank 30st out of 177 countries
Index of Economic Freedom 2006: Rank 21st out of 57 countries
Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2006: Rank 5th out of 168 countries
Global Competitiveness Report 2006: Rank 29th out of 125 countries