Guide to Czech Republic Introduction Background: Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated Czechoslovakia 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 party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a "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.
Geography Location: Central Europe, southeast of Germany
Geographic coordinates: 49 45 N, 15 30 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than South Carolina
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
Terrain: Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 240 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: flooding
Environment - current issues: 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
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: 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
People Population: 10,241,138 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: -0.05% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 9.07 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 10.54 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.2 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 2,500 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 10 (2001 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: Czech 90.4%, Moravian 3.7%, Slovak 1.9%, other 4% (2001 census)
Religions: Roman Catholic 26.8%, Protestant 2.1%, other 3.3%, unspecified 8.8%, unaffiliated 59% (2001 census)
Languages: Czech
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Prague
Administrative divisions: 13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky Kraj, Jihomoravsky Kraj, Karlovarsky Kraj, Kralovehradecky Kraj, Liberecky Kraj, Moravskoslezsky Kraj, Olomoucky Kraj, Pardubicky Kraj, Plzensky Kraj, Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky Kraj, Ustecky Kraj, Vysocina, Zlinsky Kraj
Independence: 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)
National holiday: Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918)
Constitution: ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993
Legal system: civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to bring it in line with Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms; one-third elected every two years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term
Political parties and leaders: Caucus SNK [Josef ZOSER]; Christian and Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Miroslav KALOUSEK, chairman]; Civic Democratic Alliance or ODA [Jirina NOVAKOVA, chairman]; Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Mirek TOPOLANEK, chairman]; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Miroslav GREBENICEK, chairman]; Communist Party of Czechoslovakia or KSC [Miroslav STEPAN, chairman]; Czech National Social Party of CSNS [Jaroslav ROVNY, chairman]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Stanislav GROSS, acting chairman]; European Democrats [Jan KASL]; Freedom Union-Democratic Union or US-DEU [Hana Marvanova, chairwoman]; Open Democracy [Sona PAUKRTOVA, chairwoman]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Bohemian and Moravian Trade Union Confederation [Milan STECH]
International organization participation: ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU (new member), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (member affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side (identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia)
Economy Economy - overview: The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in 2000-04 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and domestic investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as interest rates drop and the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases. Current account deficits of around 5% of GDP are beginning to decline as demand for Czech products in the European Union increases. Inflation is under control. Recent accession to the EU gives further impetus and direction to structural reform. In early 2004 the government passed increases in the Value Added Tax (VAT) and tightened eligibility for social benefits with the intention to bring the public finance gap down to 4% of GDP by 2006, but more difficult pension and healthcare reforms will have to wait until after the next elections. Privatization of the state-owned telecommunications firm Cesky Telecom is scheduled to take place in 2005. Intensified restructuring among large enterprises, improvements in the financial sector, and effective use of available EU funds should strengthen output growth.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $172.2 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3.7% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $16,800 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 5.25 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 4%, industry 38%, services 58% (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate: 10.6% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 25.4 (1996)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.2% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 29% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 33.5% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry
Industries: metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments
Industrial production growth rate: 4.7% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 71.75 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 55.33 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 20.9 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 9.5 billion kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 7,419 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 175,700 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: 26,670 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 192,300 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves: 17.25 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production: 160 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 9.892 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 1 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 9.521 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 3.057 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance: $-5.73 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $66.51 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment 52%, chemicals 5%, raw materials and fuel 9% (2003)
Exports - partners: Germany 36.1%, Slovakia 8.4%, Austria 6%, Poland 5.3%, UK 4.7%, France 4.7%, Italy 4.3%, Netherlands 4.3% (2004)
Imports: $68.19 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003)
Imports - partners: Germany 31.7%, Slovakia 5.4%, Italy 5.3%, China 5.2%, Poland 4.8%, France 4.8%, Russia 4.1% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $32.78 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $36.28 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $2.4 billion in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004-06)
Currency (code): Czech koruna (CZK)
Currency code: CZK
Exchange rates: koruny per US dollar - 25.7 (2004), 28.209 (2003), 32.739 (2002), 38.035 (2001), 38.598 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 3.626 million (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 9,708,700 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000)
Radios: 3,159,134 (December 2000)
Television broadcast stations: 150 (plus 1,434 repeaters) (2000)
Televisions: 3,405,834 (December 2000)
Internet country code: .cz
Internet hosts: 295,677 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): more than 300 (2000)
Internet users: 2.7 million (2003)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 664 km (on Elbe, Vltava, and Oder rivers) (2004)
Pipelines: gas 7,020 km; oil 547 km; refined products 94 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Decin, Prague, Usti nad Labem
Merchant marine: registered in other countries
Airports: 120 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Heliports: 2 (2004 est.)
Military Military branches: Army of the Czech Republic (ACR)
Military service age and obligation: 18-50 years of age for voluntary military service; military service transformed into a fully professional, all-volunteer force no longer dependent on conscription beginning in January 2004 (2005)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $2.17 billion (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.02% (2004)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: in February 2005, the ICJ refused to rule on the restitution of Liechtenstein's land and property assets in the Czech Republic confiscated in 1945 as German property; individual Sudeten Germans seek restitution for property confiscated in connection with their expulsion after World War II
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and minor transit point for Latin American cocaine to Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for local and regional markets; susceptible to money laundering related to drug trafficking, organized crime
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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