Map of Czech Republic Legend: DefinitionDefinition Field ListingField Listing Rank OrderRank Order Introduction Czech Republic Top of Page Background: DefinitionField Listing 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 Czech Republic Top of Page Location: DefinitionField Listing Central Europe, southeast of Germany Geographic DefinitionField Listing coordinates: 49 45 N, 15 30 E Map references: DefinitionField Listing Europe Area: DefinitionField ListingRank Order total: 78,866 sq km land: 77,276 sq km water: 1,590 sq km Area - DefinitionField Listing comparative: slightly smaller than South Carolina Land boundaries: DefinitionField Listing total: 2,290.2 km border countries: Austria 466.3 km, Germany 810.3 km, Poland 761.8 km, Slovakia 251.8 km Coastline: DefinitionField Listing 0 km (landlocked) Maritime claims: DefinitionField Listing none (landlocked) Climate: DefinitionField Listing temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters Terrain: DefinitionField Listing 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 DefinitionField Listing extremes: lowest point: Elbe River 115 m highest point: Snezka 1,602 m Natural DefinitionField Listing resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber Land use: DefinitionField Listing arable land: 38.82% permanent crops: 3% other: 58.18% (2005) Irrigated land: DefinitionField Listing 240 sq km (2003) Natural hazards: DefinitionField Listing flooding Environment - DefinitionField Listing 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 - DefinitionField Listing international party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air agreements: Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements Geography - note: DefinitionField Listing 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 Czech Republic Top of Page Population: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 10,235,455 (July 2006 est.) Age structure: DefinitionField Listing 0-14 years: 14.4% (male 755,098/female 714,703) 15-64 years: 71.2% (male 3,656,021/female 3,629,036) 65 years and over: 14.5% (male 576,264/female 904,333) (2006 est.) Median age: DefinitionField Listing total: 39.3 years male: 37.5 years female: 41.1 years (2006 est.) Population growth DefinitionField Listing rate: -0.06% (2006 est.) Birth rate: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 9.02 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) Death rate: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 10.59 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) Net migration DefinitionField Listing rate: 0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) Sex ratio: DefinitionField Listing at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.64 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2006 est.) Infant mortality DefinitionField ListingRank Order rate: total: 3.89 deaths/1,000 live births male: 4.24 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) Life expectancy DefinitionField ListingRank Order at birth: total population: 76.22 years male: 72.94 years female: 79.69 years (2006 est.) Total fertility DefinitionField ListingRank Order rate: 1.21 children born/woman (2006 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult DefinitionField ListingRank Order prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.) HIV/AIDS - people DefinitionField ListingRank Order living with 2,500 (2001 est.) HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS - DefinitionField ListingRank Order deaths: less than 10 (2001 est.) Nationality: DefinitionField Listing noun: Czech(s) adjective: Czech Ethnic groups: DefinitionField Listing Czech 90.4%, Moravian 3.7%, Slovak 1.9%, other 4% (2001 census) Religions: DefinitionField Listing Roman Catholic 26.8%, Protestant 2.1%, other 3.3%, unspecified 8.8%, unaffiliated 59% (2001 census) Languages: DefinitionField Listing Czech Literacy: DefinitionField Listing definition: NA total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.) Government Czech Republic Top of Page Country name: DefinitionField Listing conventional long form: Czech Republic conventional short form: Czech Republic local long form: Ceska Republika local short form: Cesko Government type: DefinitionField Listing parliamentary democracy Capital: DefinitionField Listing name: Prague geographic coordinates: 40 55 N, 21 00 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October Administrative DefinitionField Listing 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: DefinitionField Listing 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia) National holiday: DefinitionField Listing Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918) Constitution: DefinitionField Listing ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993 Legal system: DefinitionField Listing 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: DefinitionField Listing 18 years of age; universal Executive branch: DefinitionField Listing chief of state: President Vaclav KLAUS (since 7 March 2003) head of government: Prime Minister Mirek TOPOLANEK (since 9 January 2007), Deputy Prime Minister Petr NECAS (since 9 January 2007), Deputy Prime Minister Jiri CUNEK (since 9 January 2007), Deputy Prime Minister Martin BURSIK (since 9 January 2007), and Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr VONDRA (since 9 January 2007) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last successful election held 28 February 2003 (after earlier elections held 15 and 24 January 2003 were inconclusive; next election to be held January 2008); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Vaclav KLAUS elected president on 28 February 2003; Vaclav KLAUS 142 votes, Jan SOKOL 124 votes (third round; combined votes of both chambers of parliament) Legislative DefinitionField Listing 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: Senate - last held in two rounds 20-21 and 27-28 October 2006 (next to be held October 2008); Chamber of Deputies - last held 2-3 June 2006 (next to be held by June 2010) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ODS 41, CSSD 12, KDU-CSL 10, others 15, independents 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - ODS 35.4%, CSSD 32.3%, KSCM 12.8%, KDU-CSL 7.2%, Greens 6.3%, other 6%; seats by party - ODS 81, CSSD 74, KSCM 26, KDU-CSL 13, Greens 6 Judicial branch: DefinitionField Listing Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term Political parties DefinitionField Listing and leaders: Association of Independent Candidates-European Democrats or SNK-ED [Jana Hybaskova, chairman]; Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Jiri CUNEK, chairman]; Civic Democratic Alliance or ODA [Jirina NOVAKOVA, chairwoman]; Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Mirek TOPOLANEK, chairman]; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP, chairman]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Jiri PAROUBEK, chairman]; Freedom Union-Democratic Union or US-DEU [Jan HADRAVA, chairman]; Green Party [Martin BURSIK, chairman]; Independent Democrats (NEZDEM) [Vladimir ZELEZNY, chairman]; Party of Open Society (SOS) [Pavel NOVACEK, chairman]; Path of Change [Jiri LOBKOWITZ, chairman] Political DefinitionField Listing pressure groups Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS [Milan STECH] and leaders: International DefinitionField Listing organization ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, participation: CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC Diplomatic DefinitionField Listing representation in chief of mission: Ambassador Petr KOLAR the US: chancery: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 274-9100 FAX: [1] (202) 966-8540 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York Diplomatic DefinitionField Listing representation chief of mission: Ambassador Richard W. GRABER from the US: embassy: Trziste 15, 11801 Prague 1 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [420] 257 022 000 FAX: [420] 257 022 809 Flag description: DefinitionField Listing 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 Czech Republic Top of Page Economy - DefinitionField Listing overview: The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in 2000-05 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. The current account deficit has declined to around 3% of GDP as demand for Czech products in the European Union has increased. 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 took 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 DefinitionField ListingRank Order power parity): $221.4 billion (2006 est.) GDP (official DefinitionField Listing exchange rate): $118.9 billion (2006 est.) GDP - real growth DefinitionField ListingRank Order rate: 6.2% (2006 est.) GDP - per capita DefinitionField ListingRank Order (PPP): $21,600 (2006 est.) GDP - composition DefinitionField Listing by sector: agriculture: 2.8% industry: 37.8% services: 59.4% (2006 est.) Labor force: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 5.31 million (2006 est.) Labor force - by DefinitionField Listing occupation: agriculture: 4.1% industry: 37.6% services: 58.3% (2003) Unemployment DefinitionField ListingRank Order rate: 8.4% (2006 est.) Population below DefinitionField Listing poverty line: NA% Household income lowest 10%: 4.3% or consumption by highest 10%: 22.4% (1996) percentage share: Distribution of DefinitionField Listing family income - 27.3 (2003) Gini index: Inflation rate DefinitionField ListingRank Order (consumer 2.7% (2006 est.) prices): Investment (gross DefinitionField ListingRank Order fixed): 26.2% of GDP (2006 est.) Budget: DefinitionField Listing revenues: $57.88 billion expenditures: $62.53 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) Public debt: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 29.1% of GDP (2006 est.) Agriculture - DefinitionField Listing products: wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry Industries: DefinitionField Listing metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments Industrial DefinitionField ListingRank Order production growth 9.5% (2006 est.) rate: Electricity - DefinitionField ListingRank Order production: 79.14 billion kWh (2004) Electricity - DefinitionField ListingRank Order consumption: 58.8 billion kWh (2004) Electricity - DefinitionField Listing exports: 24.6 billion kWh (2004) Electricity - DefinitionField Listing imports: 9.8 billion kWh (2004) Oil - production: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 15,240 bbl/day (2005) Oil - DefinitionField ListingRank Order consumption: 203,100 bbl/day (2004 est.) Oil - exports: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 26,670 bbl/day (2001) Oil - imports: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 182,000 bbl/day (2004) Oil - proved DefinitionField ListingRank Order reserves: 17.25 million bbl (1 January 2002) Natural gas - DefinitionField ListingRank Order production: 216 million cu m (2004 est.) Natural gas - DefinitionField ListingRank Order consumption: 9.6 billion cu m (2004 est.) Natural gas - DefinitionField ListingRank Order exports: 88 million cu m (2004 est.) Natural gas - DefinitionField ListingRank Order imports: 8.815 billion cu m (2004 est.) Natural gas - DefinitionField ListingRank Order proved reserves: 3.964 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) Current account DefinitionField ListingRank Order balance: $-4.352 billion (2006 est.) Exports: DefinitionField ListingRank Order $89.34 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) Exports - DefinitionField Listing commodities: machinery and transport equipment 52%, chemicals 5%, raw materials and fuel 9% (2003) Exports - DefinitionField Listing partners: Germany 33.5%, Slovakia 8.7%, Austria 5.5%, Poland 5.5%, France 5.3%, UK 4.6%, Italy 4.3% (2005) Imports: DefinitionField ListingRank Order $87.7 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) Imports - DefinitionField Listing commodities: machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003) Imports - DefinitionField Listing partners: Germany 30%, Russia 5.7%, Slovakia 5.4%, China 5.1%, Poland 5%, Italy 4.8%, France 4.5%, Netherlands 4% (2005) Reserves of DefinitionField ListingRank Order foreign exchange $30.99 billion (2006 est.) and gold: Debt - external: DefinitionField ListingRank Order $50.2 billion (30 June 2006 est.) Economic aid - DefinitionField Listing recipient: $2.4 billion in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004-06) Currency (code): DefinitionField Listing Czech koruna (CZK) Exchange rates: DefinitionField Listing koruny per US dollar - 22.3072 (2006), 23.957 (2005), 25.7 (2004), 28.209 (2003), 32.739 (2002) Fiscal year: DefinitionField Listing calendar year Communications Czech Republic Top of Page Telephones - main DefinitionField ListingRank Order lines in use: 3,217,300 (2005) Telephones - DefinitionField ListingRank Order mobile cellular: 11.776 million (2005) Telephone system: DefinitionField Listing general assessment: privatization and modernization of the Czech telecommunication system got a late start but is advancing steadily; growth in the use of mobile cellular telephones is particularly vigorous domestic: 86% of exchanges now digital; existing copper subscriber systems now being enhanced with Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) equipment to accommodate Internet and other digital signals; trunk systems include fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay international: country code - 420; satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar Radio broadcast DefinitionField Listing stations: AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000) Television DefinitionField Listing broadcast 150 (plus 1,434 repeaters) (2000) stations: Internet country DefinitionField Listing code: .cz Internet hosts: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 1,267,265 (2006) Internet users: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 5.1 million (2005) Transportation Czech Republic Top of Page Airports: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 121 (2006) Airports - with DefinitionField Listing paved runways: total: 46 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 19 (2006) Airports - with DefinitionField Listing unpaved runways: total: 75 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 25 under 914 m: 49 (2006) Heliports: DefinitionField Listing 2 (2006) Pipelines: DefinitionField Listing gas 7,010 km; oil 547 km; refined products 94 km (2006) Railways: DefinitionField ListingRank Order total: 9,572 km standard gauge: 9,473 km 1.435-m gauge (2,951 km electrified) narrow gauge: 99 km 0.760-m gauge (2005) Roadways: DefinitionField ListingRank Order total: 127,747 km paved: 127,747 km (including 518 km of expressways) (2003) Waterways: DefinitionField ListingRank Order 664 km (principally on Elbe as well as Vltava and Oder rivers) (2005) Merchant marine: DefinitionField ListingRank Order registered in other countries: 1 (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1) (2006) Ports and DefinitionField Listing terminals: Decin, Prague, Usti nad Labem Military Czech Republic Top of Page Military DefinitionField Listing branches: Army of the Czech Republic (ACR): Joint Forces Command (includes air forces), Support and Training Forces Command (2006) Military service DefinitionField Listing age and 18-50 years of age for voluntary military service; on-going obligation: transformation of military service into a fully professional, all-volunteer force no longer dependent on conscription began in January 2004 and is scheduled to be completed by 2007 (2005) Manpower DefinitionField Listing available for males age 18-49: 2,414,728 military service: females age 18-49: 2,329,412 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for DefinitionField Listing military service: males age 18-49: 1,996,631 females age 18-49: 1,923,508 (2005 est.) Manpower reaching DefinitionField Listing military service males age 18-49: 66,583 age annually: females age 18-49: 63,363 (2005 est.) Military DefinitionField ListingRank Order expenditures - 1.81% FY05 percent of GDP: Transnational Issues Czech Republic Top of Page Disputes - DefinitionField Listing 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 from Czechoslovakia after World War II; Austrian anti-nuclear activists have revived blockades of the Czech-Austrian border to protest operation of the Temelin nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic Illicit drugs: DefinitionField Listing 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 This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007