Czech Republic

Czech Republic 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.

Czech Republic Information

• Population: 10,246,178 (July 2004 est.)
• Nationality: noun: Czech(s) adjective: Czech
• Location:: Central Europe, southeast of Germany
• Religions:: Roman Catholic 39.2%, Protestant 4.6%, Orthodox 3%, other 13.4%, atheist 39.8%
• Ethnic Groups:: Czech 81.2%, Moravian 13.2%, Slovak 3.1%, Polish 0.6%, German 0.5%, Silesian 0.4%, Roma 0.3%, Hungarian 0.2%, other 0.5% (1991)
• Land Boundaries:: total: 1,881 km border countries: Austria 362 km, Germany 646 km, Poland 658 km, Slovakia 215 km
• Area: total: 78,866 sq km water: 1,590 sq km land: 77,276 sq km
• Coast Line: 0 km (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
• Maritime Claims: none (landlocked)
• Land Use: arable land: 39.8% permanent crops: 3.05% other: 57.15% (2001)
• Environmental 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
• Natural Resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber
• Highways: total: 55,408 km paved: 55,408 km (including 499 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (2000)
• Railways: total: 9,520 km standard gauge: 9,421 km 1.435-m gauge (2,893 km electrified) narrow gauge: 99 km 0.760-m gauge (2003)
• Ports & Harbours: Decin, Prague, Usti nad Labem
• Airports: 120 (2003 est.)