Czech Republic is a Central European country. It borders Poland in the north and east, Slovakia in the southeast, Austria in the south and Germany in the southwest, west and north. It covers an area of 78 866 km2. The Czech Republic comprises the historic lands of Bohemia and Moravia, commonly referred to as Czech lands. The relief is dominated by the Bohemian massif. The most important river in the country is the Morava. The relief and the climate provide a forest cover consisting of pines and firs that cover about 33% of the territory. Large areas of forest have been opened up for cultivation.
Climate
The climate is temperate continental, with cold winters and relatively hot and rainy summers.
Economy
The Czech economy has been in transition since the early 1990s. Between 1948 and 1989 the communist system dominated the means of production. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from mines, manufactures, trade and construction. After the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the government launched a privatization program. From 1993, with the help of its own currency, it became a market economy. The Czech Republic has an important glass industry. Tourism and wooden sculptures are attractions of the Czech Republic. Tourist activities include summer and winter sports, fishing, hunting and tourist trips to the mountains. The Czech Republic’s main trading partners are Germany, Slovakia, Austria and Russia.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is 10.6.
Population
The population was, in 2006, 10 235 455 residents. The birth and death rates are, respectively, 4.8% and 10.59%. Average life expectancy is 76.22 years. The value of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.861 and the value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is 0.857 (2001). It is estimated that, in 2025, the population will decrease to about 9.6 million residents.
The western region of the country has traditionally been inhabited by Slavic peoples from Central Europe. Czechs are the majority (81%), but Moravians (13%) consider themselves a separate group. The main religions are Catholicism (39%) and Protestantism (4%). The official language, Czech, is part of the Slavic language group.
History
The first peoples to inhabit the region were the Celts. Between the 5th and 7th centuries the Slavs took over the region and the Czechs in the 9th century became the lords of Central Bohemia. Moravia was colonized by successive waves of Celts and Germanic tribes. The Slavs who lived in the Morava River area were called Moravians. After long disputes, Moravia was incorporated into Bohemia and ruled by its kings. Bohemia was reduced to provincial status in 1867 when it became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Nationalism grew in Bohemia and political parties began to develop. With the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the end of the First World War, the independent Czechoslovak Republic was born in 1918. Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia were united in the nation of Czechoslovakia from 1919 to 1992.
The country is divided into eight regions, which in turn are subdivided into municipalities. In the nineties the separatism between Czechs and Slovaks within Czechoslovakia began to become evident. In the 1992 elections, Slovakians from the Slovak Democracy Movement, led by Vladimir Meciar, won a majority of seats in parliament. President Vaclav Havel resigned after having submitted a proposal for the creation of a federal government, which was rejected. It was then agreed that they would split into two states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The union with Slovakia was peacefully dissolved and became the Czech Republic on January 1, 1993 with Václav Klaus of the Civic Democratic Party in the place of prime minister. Havel became President of the Republic. In June 1993 the country was admitted to the United Nations and applied for membership to become a member state of the European Union. A new currency was introduced. In January 1994, the Czech Republic became part of the “partnership for peace” program of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is a prelude to the formal entry into this alliance, which came about formally in March 1999. Accession to the European Union was accepted, and on 1 May 2004, the Czech Republic formally joined the European Union at a ceremony held in Dublin. For Czech Republic democracy and rights, please check intershippingrates.
Countryaah.com: Offers a full list of airports in the country of Czech Republic, sorted by city location and acronyms.
Abbreviationfinder.org: Provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the country name of Czech Republic. Listed by popularity.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Czech Republic
Browse a collection of country, political and shaded relief maps of this European country. Check out the maps showing economic activity, land use and population density.
