Czech Republic

Česká republika

	Prague
	10 510 566 (2014)
	78 867 km² 30 451 mi²
	1 602 m 5 256 ft Snezka

At the close of World War I, the Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, having rejected a federal system, the new country's predominantly Czech leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the increasingly strident demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Slovaks, the Sudeten Germans, and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). On the eve of World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the territory that today comprises the Czech Republic, and Slovakia became an independent state allied with Germany. After the war, a reunited but truncated Czechoslovakia (less Ruthenia) fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize communist rule and create "socialism with a human face," ushering in a period of repression known as "normalization." The peaceful "Velvet Revolution" swept the Communist Party from power at the end of 1989 and inaugurated a return to democratic rule and a market economy. On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a nonviolent "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.

temperate
cool summers
cold, cloudy, humid winters

Europe
Eastern Europe

Central Europe, between Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria

landlocked
strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe
Moravian Gate is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in central Europe

Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains
Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country

Snezka
1 602 m
5 256 ft

Labe (Elbe) River
115 m
377 ft

Snezka	Mount Everest

hard coal
soft coal
kaolin
clay
graphite
timber
arable land

Flooding

air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks
acid rain damaging forests
efforts to bring industry up to EU code should improve domestic pollution

78 867 km²
30 451 mi²


77 247 km² 29 825 mi²	1 620 km² 625 mi²


0.26 %	0.18 %	0.77 %	0.32 %	0.44 %	1.03 %	0.56 %	0.02 %

2143 km
1332 mi

Austria 402 km/250 mi
Germany 704 km/437 mi
Poland 796 km/495 mi
Slovakia 241 km/150 mi

0 km/0 mi

34.40 %

40.70 %

54.60 %

wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit
pigs, poultry

motor vehicles
metallurgy
machinery and equipment
glass
armaments

10 510 566	-0.04%	50.9 %	49.1 %
	0-14 14.8 %	15-64 67.6 %	65+ 17.5 %
	133.27 / km² 345.17 / mi²	73.02% 7 674 710	27% 2 835 856
	75.40 yrs	81.30 Years	78.40 Years


0.95 %	0.24 %	1.42 %	1.99 %	2.71 %	27.87 %		0.14 %

Czech (official) 95.4%
Slovak 1.6%
Other 3%

Roman Catholic 10.4%
Protestant (includes Czech Brethren and Hussite) 1.1%
Other and unspecified 54%
None 34.5%

Czech 64.3%
Moravian 5%
Slovak 1.4%
Other 1.8%
Unspecified 27.5%

Czech Republic
Česká republika

Czech Republic

République tchèque

República Checa

Repubblica Ceca

チェコ

Parliamentary democracy

Bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (81 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in two rounds if needed; members serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

Two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side	"Kde domov muj?" (Where is My Home?)	Double-tailed lion National colors: white, red, blue
President Milos ZEMAN (since 8 March 2013)	1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia) note - although 1 January is the day the Czech Republic came into being, the Czechs commemorate 28 October 1918, the day the former Czechoslovakia declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as their independence day Czechoslovak Founding Day, 28 October (1918)	Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Prague 50 05 N, 14 28 E UTC+1 PRAGUE 1.314 million Brno 380000

13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto)
Jihocesky (South Bohemia), Jihomoravsky (South Moravia), Karlovarsky (Karlovy Vary), Kralovehradecky (Hradec Kralove), Liberecky (Liberec), Moravskoslezsky (Moravia-Silesia), Olomoucky (Olomouc), Pardubicky (Pardubice), Plzensky (Pilsen), Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky (Central Bohemia), Ustecky (Usti), Vysocina (Highlands), Zlinsky (Zlin)

128 (2013)

6.8
beds/1,000 population (2011)

3.71
physicians/1,000 population (2010)

Supreme Court (organized into Civil Law and Commercial Division, and Criminal Division each with a court chief justice, vice justice, and several judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 15 justices); Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 28 judges)

18 years of age
universal

Army of the Czech Republic (Armada Ceske Republiky)
General Staff (Generalni Stab; includes Land Forces (Pozemni Sily) and Air Forces (Vzdusne Sily)) (2015)

The Czech Republic is a stable and prosperous market economy closely integrated with the EU, especially since the country's EU accession in 2004. The auto industry is the largest single industry, and, together with its upstream suppliers, accounts for nearly 24% of Czech manufacturing. The Czech Republic produced more than a million cars for the first time in 2010, over 80% of which were exported. While the conservative, inward-looking Czech financial system has remained relatively healthy, the small, open, export-driven Czech economy remains sensitive to changes in the economic performance of its main export markets, especially Germany. When Western Europe and Germany fell into recession in late 2008, demand for Czech goods plunged, leading to double digit drops in industrial production and exports. As a result, real GDP fell sharply in 2009. The economy slowly recovered in the second half of 2009 and registered weak growth in the next two years. In 2012 and 2013, however, the economy fell into a recession again, due both to a slump in external demand in the EU and to the governments austerity measures, returning to weak growth in 2014. Foreign and domestic businesses alike voice concerns about corruption, especially in public procurement. Other long term challenges include dealing with a rapidly aging population, funding an unsustainable pension and health care system, and diversifying away from manufacturing and toward a more high-tech, services-based, knowledge economy.

319 599 488 597.1
$USD

30 407.4
$USD

+1.98
%


machinery and transport equipment, raw materials and fuels, chemicals	Germany 30.2% Poland 8.5% Slovakia 6.8% China 6.2% Netherlands 5.7% Austria 4.2%	machinery and transport equipment, raw materials, fuel, chemicals	Germany 32.4% Slovakia 8.4% Poland 6% UK 5.1% France 5.1% Austria 4.4%

koruny (CZK) per US dollar 20.758 (2014 est.)		0.4% (2014 est.)

130 661 km 81 189 mi	9 622 km 5 979 mi	664 km 413 mi (principally on Elbe, Vltava, Oder, and other navigable rivers, lakes, and canals)
18 per 100 people country code - 420 satellite earth stations - 6 (2 Intersputnik - Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions, 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar) (2011)	130.03 / 100	79.71 / 100 .cz

roughly 130 TV broadcasters operating some 350 channels with 4 publicly operated and the remainder in private hands
16 TV stations have national coverage with 4 being publicly operated
cable and satellite TV subscription services are available
63 radio broadcasters are registered operating roughly 80 radio stations with 15 stations publicly operated
10 radio stations provide national coverage with the remainder local or regional (2008)