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 predominantly Czech leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the increasingly strident demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Slovaks, the Sudeten Germans, and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). On the eve of World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the territory that today comprises the Czech Republic, and Slovakia became an independent state allied with 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 rule and create "socialism with a human face," ushering in a period of repression known as "normalization." The peaceful "Velvet Revolution" swept the Communist Party from power at the end of 1989 and inaugurated a return to democratic rule and a market economy. On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a nonviolent "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, arable land

arable land 41%; permanent crops 1%; permanent pasture 12.8%

385.3 sq km (2007)

13.15 cu km (2011)

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 64.3%, Moravian 5%, Slovak 1.4%, other 1.8%, unspecified 27.5% (2011 est.)

Czech (official) 95.4%, Slovak 1.6%, other 3% (2011 census)

Roman Catholic 10.4%, Protestant (includes Czech Brethren and Hussite) 1.1%, other and unspecified 54%, none 34.5% (2011 est.)

10,644,842 (July 2015 est.)

0.16% (2015 est.)

9.63 births/1,000 population (2015 est.)

10.34 deaths/1,000 population (2015 est.)

2.33 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2015 est.)

PRAGUE (capital) 1.314 million (2015)

1.44 children born/woman (2015 est.)

86.3%

7.2% of GDP (2013)

3.71 physicians/1,000 population (2010)

6.8 beds/1,000 population (2011)

urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 100% of population

urban: 0% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0% of population (2015 est.)

urban: 99.1% of population

rural: 99.2% of population

total: 99.1% of population

urban: 0.9% of population

rural: 0.8% of population

total: 0.9% of population (2015 est.)

0.05% (2013 est.)

3,400 (2013 est.)

fewer than 100 (2013 est.)

29.1% (2014)

2% (2007)

4.5% of GDP (2011)

parliamentary democracy

13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky (South Bohemia), Jihomoravsky (South Moravia), Karlovarsky (Karlovy Vary), Kralovehradecky (Hradec Kralove), Liberecky (Liberec), Moravskoslezsky (Moravia-Silesia), Olomoucky (Olomouc), Pardubicky (Pardubice), Plzensky (Pilsen), Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky (Central Bohemia), Ustecky (Usti), Vysocina (Highlands), Zlinsky (Zlin)

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 commemorate 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)

previous 1960; latest ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993; amended several times, last in 2013 (2013)

new civil code enacted in 2014, replacing civil code of 1964 - based on former Austro-Hungarian civil codes and socialist theory - and reintroducing former Czech legal terminology

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

Citizens for Budejovice or HOPB [Juraj THOMA]

Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Petr FIALA]

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP]

Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Bohuslav SOBOTKA]

Dawn of Direct Democracy or Usvit [Tomio OKAMURA]

Green Party or SZ [Jana DRAPALOVA]

Mayors and Independents or STAN [Martin PUTA]

Mayors for Liberec Region or SLK [Marek PIETER]

Movement of Dissatisfied Citizens or ANO [Andrej BABIS]

North Bohemians or S.cz [Bronislav SCHWARZ]

Party of Civic Rights or SPO [Jan VELEBA]

Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 or TOP 09 [Karel SCHWARZENBERG]

Free Citizens Party or Svobodni [Petr MACH]

Liberal Reform Party or Ostravak [Eva SCHWARZOVA]

Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS [Josef STREDULA]

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

The Czech Republic is a stable and prosperous market economy closely integrated with the EU, especially since the country's EU accession in 2004. The auto industry is 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. 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 sharply in 2009. The economy slowly recovered in the second half of 2009 and registered weak growth in the next two years. In 2012 and 2013, however, the economy fell into a recession again, due both to a slump in external demand in the EU and to the government’s austerity measures, returning to weak growth in 2014. 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.

$314.6 billion (2014 est.)

$308.3 billion (2013 est.)

$310.5 billion (2012 est.)

$205.7 billion (2014 est.)

2% (2014 est.)

-0.7% (2013 est.)

-0.8% (2012 est.)

$29,900 (2014 est.)

$29,300 (2013 est.)

$29,500 (2012 est.)

25.9% of GDP (2014 est.)

24.5% of GDP (2013 est.)

24.8% of GDP (2012 est.)

(2014 est.)

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

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

4% (2014 est.)

5.416 million (2014 est.)

7.9% (2014 est.)

7.7% (2013 est.)

8.6% (2012 est.)

24.9 (2012)

25.4 (1996)

41% of GDP (2014 est.)

-1.7% of GDP (2014 est.)

43.5% of GDP (2014 est.)

45.7% of GDP (2013 est.)

calendar year

0.4% (2014 est.)

1.4% (2013 est.)

0.05% (31 December 2013)

0.05% (31 December 2012)

4.7% (31 December 2014 est.)

4.97% (31 December 2013 est.)

$126.8 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$126.4 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$152.9 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$155.7 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$131.9 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$137.6 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$54.92 billion (30 December 3013 est.)

$59.88 billion (28 December 2012)

$53.2 billion (30 December 2011 est.)

$1.266 billion (2014 est.)

-$2.853 billion (2013 est.)

$147.3 billion (2014 est.)

$135.6 billion (2013 est.)

machinery and transport equipment, raw materials, fuel, chemicals

Germany 31.7%, Slovakia 9%, Poland 6%, France 5%, UK 4.9%, Austria 4.6% (2013)

$135.1 billion (2014 est.)

$126 billion (2013 est.)

machinery and transport equipment, raw materials and fuels, chemicals

Germany 30.3%, Poland 8.2%, Slovakia 7.2%, China 5.8%, Netherlands 5.5%, Russia 5.1%, Austria 4.2% (2013)

$59.15 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$56.22 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$116.1 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$114.3 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$140.5 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$136 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$22.38 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$21.38 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

koruny (CZK) per US dollar -

20.63 (2014 est.)

19.571 (2013 est.)

19.59 (2012 est.)

17.696 (2011 est.)

19.098 (2010 est.)

81.71 billion kWh (2012 est.)

70.45 billion kWh (2012 est.)

27.46 billion kWh (2013 est.)

10.57 billion kWh (2013 est.)

20.52 million kW (2012 est.)

63.6% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

19.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

5.2% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

11.5% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

7,000 bbl/day (2013 est.)

422.9 bbl/day (2012 est.)

140,800 bbl/day (2012 est.)

15 million bbl (1 January 2014 est.)

166,300 bbl/day (2012 est.)

187,800 bbl/day (2013 est.)

35,720 bbl/day (2012 est.)

60,820 bbl/day (2010 est.)

252 million cu m (2013 est.)

8.477 billion cu m (2013 est.)

8 million cu m (2013 est.)

8.479 billion cu m (2013 est.)

4.276 billion cu m (1 January 2014 est.)

91.15 million Mt (2012 est.)

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)

AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000)

71 (2008)

.cz

128 (2013)

61 (2013)

1 (2013)

gas 7,160 km; oil 536 km; refined products 94 km (2013)

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

Army of the Czech Republic (Armada Ceske Republiky): General Staff (Generalni Stab; includes Land Forces (Pozemni Sily) and Air Forces (Vzdusne Sily)) (2015)

18-28 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription (2012)

1.04% of GDP (2015)

1.08% of GDP (2014)

1.06% of GDP (2013)

1.13% of GDP (2012)

1.15% of GDP (2011)

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)