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.

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

49 45 N, 15 30 E

Europe

slightly smaller than South Carolina

0 km (landlocked)

none (landlocked)

temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters

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

hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber

240 sq km (2003)

16 cu km (2005)

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

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

10,211,904 (July 2009 est.)

-0.094% (2009 est.)

8.83 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

10.74 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

1.24 children born/woman (2009 est.)

less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

1,500 (2007 est.)

fewer than 10 (2001 est.)

Czech 90.4%, Moravian 3.7%, Slovak 1.9%, other 4% (2001 census)

Roman Catholic 26.8%, Protestant 2.1%, other 3.3%, unspecified 8.8%, unaffiliated 59% (2001 census)

Czech 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (2001 census)

4.4% of GDP (2004)

parliamentary democracy

13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky (South Bohemia), Jihomoravsky (South Moravia), Karlovarsky, Kralovehradecky, Liberecky, Moravskoslezsky (Moravia-Silesia), Olomoucky, Pardubicky, Plzensky (Pilsen), Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky (Central Bohemia), Ustecky, Vysocina, Zlinsky

1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)

Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918)

ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993; amended 1997, 2000, 2001 (twice), 2002

civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; 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

18 years of age; universal

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)

Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term

Association of Independent Candidates-European Democrats or SNK-ED [Helmut DOHNALEK]; Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Jiri CUNEK]; Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Mirek TOPOLANEK]; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Jiri PAROUBEK]; Free Citizens' Party or SSO [Petr MACH]; Green Party [Martin BURSIK]; Independent Democrats (NEZDEM) [Vladimir ZELEZNY]; Party of Open Society (SOS) [Pavel NOVACEK]; Path of Change [Jiri LOBKOWITZ]; Union of Freedom-Democratic Union or US-DEU [Jan CERNY]

Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS [Milan STECH]

ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side

The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Maintaining an open investment climate has been a key element of the Czech Republic's transition from a communist, centrally planned economy to a functioning market economy. As a member of the European Union, with an advantageous location in the center of Europe, a relatively low cost structure, and a well-qualified labor force, the Czech Republic is an attractive destination for foreign investment. Prior to its EU accession in 2004, the Czech government harmonized its laws and regulations with those of the European Union. The government plans to meet the criteria for joining the euro area around 2012. The small, open, export-driven Czech economy grew by over 6% annually from 2005-2007 and the strong growth continued throughout the first three quarters of 2008. Despite the global financial crisis, the conservative Czech financial system has remained relatively healthy. The rate of Czech economic growth, however, began to fall in the fourth quarter of 2008, mainly due to a significant drop in demand for Czech exports in Western Europe. This trend is expected to continue, with many analysts predicting the Czech economy to contract slightly in 2009.

$266.3 billion (2008 est.)

$257.3 billion (2007)

$242.7 billion (2006)

$217.2 billion (2008 est.)

3.9% (2008 est.)

6% (2007 est.)

6.8% (2006 est.)

$26,100 (2008 est.)

$25,200 (2007 est.)

$23,700 (2006 est.)

5.37 million (2008 est.)

6% (2008)

6.6% (2007 est.)

NA%

26 (2005)

27.8% of GDP (2008 est.)

29.4% of GDP (2008 est.)

3.6% (2008)

2.9% (2007 est.)

2.25% (31 December 2008)

3.5% (31 December 2007)

NA% (31 December 2008)

5.79% (31 December 2007)

$86.55 billion (31 December 2008)

$84.43 billion (31 December 2007)

$58.6 billion (31 December 2008)

$58.77 billion (31 December 2007)

$109.3 billion (31 December 2008)

$103.9 billion (31 December 2007)

$73.42 billion (31 December 2007)

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

motor vehicles, metallurgy, machinery and equipment, glass, armaments

7% (2008 est.)

82.88 billion kWh (2007 est.)

61.52 billion kWh (2006 est.)

26.36 billion kWh (2007 est.)

10.2 billion kWh (2007 est.)

13,530 bbl/day (2007 est.)

207,400 bbl/day (2007 est.)

27,360 bbl/day (2005)

224,600 bbl/day (2005)

15 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

172 million cu m (2007 est.)

8.622 billion cu m (2007 est.)

402 million cu m (2007 est.)

8.628 billion cu m (2007 est.)

3.964 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

$-6.46 billion (2008 est.)

$145.8 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

machinery and transport equipment 52%, raw materials and fuel 9%, chemicals 5% (2003)

Germany 30.7%, Slovakia 8.7%, Poland 5.9%, France 5.4%, UK 5.1%, Italy 4.9%, Austria 4.6% (2007)

$141.4 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003)

Germany 31.8%, Netherlands 6.7%, Slovakia 6.4%, Poland 6.3%, Austria 5.1%, China 5.1%, Russia 4.5%, Italy 4.4%, France 4.1% (2007)

$37 billion (31 December 2008)

$88.74 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$107.6 billion (2008 est.)

$7.721 billion (2008 est.)

koruny (CZK) per US dollar - 17.064 (2008), 20.53 (2007), 22.596 (2006), 23.957 (2005), 25.7 (2004)

2.888 million (2006)

13.075 million (2007)

AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000)

71 (2008)

.cz

2.434 million (2008)

4.4 million (2007)

122 (2008)

1 (2007)

gas 7,010 km; oil 547 km; refined products 94 km (2008)

664 km (principally on Elbe, Vltava, Oder, and other navigable rivers, lakes, and canals) (2008)

Decin, Prague, Usti nad Labem

Army of the Czech Republic (ACR): Joint Forces Command (includes Land Forces and Air Forces), Support and Training Forces Command (2009)

18-28 years of age for voluntary and 19-28 for compulsory military service (2008)

1.46% of GDP (2007 est.)

while threats of international legal action never materialized in 2007, 915,220 Austrians, with the support of the popular Freedom Party, signed a petition in January 2008, demanding that Austria block the Czech Republic's accession to the EU unless Prague closes its controversial Soviet-style nuclear plant in Temelin, bordering Austria

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; significant consumer of ecstasy (2008)