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 Czech part of the country 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

slightly smaller than South Carolina

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

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.)

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.)

3.625 physicians/1,000 population (2008)

7.18 beds/1,000 population (2008)

urban: 99% of population

rural: 97% of population

total: 98% of population

urban: 1% of population

rural: 3% of population

total: 2% of population

less than 0.1% (2009 est.)

fewer than 100 (2009 est.)

parliamentary democracy

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

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

in 2014, a new civil code will replace the existing civil law system, which is based on former Austro-Hungarian civil codes and socialist theory and has been amended 40 times since the Communist regime fell in 1989

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 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 Pirate Party [Ivan BARTOS]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Bohuslav SOBOTKA]; Green Party [Ondrej LISKA]; Liberal Democrats or LIDEM [Karolina PEAKE]; North Bohemians; Ostravak Movement; 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 (national committees), 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 (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, 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

The Czech Republic is a stable and prosperous market economy closely integrated with the EU, especially since the country's 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, slowly recovered with positive quarter-on-quarter growth starting in the second half of 2009 and continuing throughout 2011. In 2012, however, the economy fell into a recession due to a slump in external demand. 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.

$286.7 billion (2012 est.)

$289.6 billion (2011 est.)

$284.9 billion (2010 est.)

$193.5 billion (2012 est.)

5.545 million (2012 est.)

24.4% of GDP (2012 est.)

41.9% of GDP (2012 est.)

-3.2% of GDP (2012 est.)

43.9% of GDP (2012 est.)

41.2% of GDP (2011 est.)

0.75% (31 December 2011 est.)

0.75% (31 December 2010)

5.9% (31 December 2012 est.)

5.72% (31 December 2011 est.)

$114 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$107.8 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$151.7 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$141.4 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$139.9 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$129.9 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$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

-$3.596 billion (2012 est.)

-$6.348 billion (2011 est.)

$134.1 billion (2012 est.)

$138.5 billion (2011 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% (2011)

$129 billion (2012 est.)

$133.2 billion (2011 est.)

machinery and transport equipment, raw materials and fuels, chemicals

Germany 29.6%, China 7.6%, Poland 7.1%, Slovakia 7%, Netherlands 5.7%, Russia 4.8%, Austria 4.4% (2011)

$35.26 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$40.29 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$90.18 billion (2012 est.)

$93.91 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$129.2 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$125.2 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$16.47 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$15.47 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

koruny (CZK) per US dollar -

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.)

2.289 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)

4.148 million (2012)

6.681 million (2009)

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)