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 leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). On the eve of World War II, the Czech part of the country was forcibly annexed to the Third Reich, and the Slovaks declared independence as an ally of Nazi 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 Party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression known as "normalization." With the collapse of Soviet-backed authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its democracy 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, Slovakia, 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

390 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

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

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

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

10,177,300 (July 2012 est.)

-0.134% (2012 est.)

8.62 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

10.94 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

PRAGUE (capital) 1.162 million (2009)

5 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

1.27 children born/woman (2012 est.)

7.6% of GDP (2009)

3.625 physicians/1,000 population (2008)

7.18 beds/1,000 population (2008)

less than 0.1% (2009 est.)

2,000 (2009 est.)

fewer than 100 (2009 est.)

15.1% (2002)

2.1% (2002)

4.2% of GDP (2007)

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); note - although 1 January is the day the Czech Republic came into being, the Czechs generally consider 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)

ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993; amended several times

civil law system based on former Austro-Hungarian civil codes and socialist theory; note - Czech parliament has modernized many elements of legal system

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (81 seats; members 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; judges are appointed by the president for an unlimited term; Constitutional Court; 15 judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate for a 10-year term; Supreme Administrative Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term; judges are appointed by the president for an unlimited term

Association of Independent Candidates-European Democrats or SNK-ED [Zdenka MARKOVA]; Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Pavel BELOBRADEK]; Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Petr NECAS]; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Bohuslav SOBOTKA]; Green Party [Ondrej LISKA]; Public Affairs or VV [Radek JOHN]; Tradice Odpovednost Prosperita 09 or TOP 09 [Karel SCHWARZENBERG]

Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS [Jaroslav ZAVADIL]

Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, 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

double-tailed lion

The Czech Republic is a stable and prosperous market economy, which harmonized its laws and regulations with those of the EU prior to its EU accession in 2004. 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 4.7% in 2009, with most of the decline occurring during the first quarter. Real GDP, however, has slowly recovered with positive quarter-on-quarter growth starting in the second half of 2009 and continuing throughout 2011. The auto industry remains 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. 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.

$288.6 billion (2011 est.)

$283.9 billion (2010 est.)

$276.3 billion (2009 est.)

$215.3 billion (2011 est.)

1.7% (2011 est.)

2.7% (2010 est.)

-4.7% (2009 est.)

$27,400 (2011 est.)

$27,000 (2010 est.)

$26,400 (2009 est.)

5.41 million (2011 est.)

8.5% (2011 est.)

9% (2010 est.)

9% (2010 est.)

31 (2009)

25.4 (1996)

23.9% of GDP (2011 est.)

23.9% of GDP (2011 est.)

-3.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

40.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

37.9% of GDP (2010 est.)

1.9% (2011 est.)

1.5% (2010 est.)

0.75% (31 December 2011 est.)

0.75% (31 December 2010)

5.72% (31 December 2011 est.)

5.889% (31 December 2010 est.)

$107.8 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$107.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$142.3 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$144.4 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$142.5 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$122.9 billion (31 December 2010)

$53.2 billion (31 December 2011)

$73.1 billion (31 December 2010)

$70.26 billion (31 December 2009)

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

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

6.9% (2011 est.)

-$6.348 billion (2011 est.)

-$5.993 billion (2010 est.)

$138.5 billion (2011 est.)

$116.7 billion (2010 est.)

machinery and transport equipment, raw materials and fuel, chemicals

Germany 32.4%, Slovakia 9%, Poland 6.3%, France 5.5%, Austria 4.6%, UK 4.6%, Italy 4.2% (2010 est.)

$133.2 billion (2011 est.)

$113.9 billion (2010 est.)

machinery and transport equipment, raw materials and fuels, chemicals

Germany 29.7%, China 7.6%, Poland 7.1%, Slovakia 7%, Netherlands 5.7%, Russia 4.8%, Austria 4.4% (2010 est.)

$40.29 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$42.49 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$101.6 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$95.4 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$134.4 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$129.9 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$16.82 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$15.52 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

koruny (CZK) per US dollar -

17.696 (2011 est.)

19.098 (2010 est.)

19.063 (2009)

17.064 (2008)

20.53 (2007)

calendar year

80.44 billion kWh (2010 est.)

58.88 billion kWh (2009 est.)

21.59 billion kWh (2010 est.)

6.642 billion kWh (2010 est.)

18.32 million kW (2009 est.)

60% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

20.9% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

5.7% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

7.1% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

9,162 bbl/day (2011 est.)

420 bbl/day (2009 est.)

143,700 bbl/day (2009 est.)

15 million bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

167,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

199,000 bbl/day (2011 est.)

25,060 bbl/day (2009 est.)

65,560 bbl/day (2009 est.)

185 million cu m (2011 est.)

8.944 billion cu m (2011 est.)

167 million cu m (2011 est.)

9.319 billion cu m (2011 est.)

3.964 billion cu m (1 January 2011 est.)

90.83 million Mt (2010 est.)

2.202 million (2011)

12.81 million (2011)

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)

.cz

4.14 million (2010)

6.681 million (2009)

128 (2012)

1 (2012)

gas 7,010 km; oil 547 km; refined products 94 km (2010)

664 km (principally on Elbe, Vltava, Oder, and other navigable rivers, lakes, and canals) (2010)

Decin, Prague, Usti nad Labem

Army of the Czech Republic (Armada Ceske Republiky): Joint Forces Command (Spolocene Sily; includes Land Forces (Pozemni Sily) and Air Forces (Vzdusne Sily))

18-28 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription (2010)

1.15% 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)