The Czech Republic
Geography
area: 78,864 sq. km
population: 10,290,000
density: 131 people to one sq. km
capital city: Prague
other towns: Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň, Olomouc, České Budějovice …
neighbours: Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Austria
mountains: Šumava Range, the Czech Forest, the Ore Mountains, the Jizerské Mountains, the Giant Mountains, the Eagle Mountains, Bohemian-Moravian Highland, Jeseník Mountain Range, Beskydy
rivers: the Vltava, the Elbe, the Oder, the Morava
climate is moderate, continental
lakes: Černé, Čertovo
artificial lakes: Rožmberk, Svět, Nesyt
mineral springs and spas (Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně, Františkovy Lázně, Jánské Lázně, Poděbrady, Luhačovice, Teplice nad Bečvou)
History
Celtic and Slavonic tribes
Sámo’s Empire – founded in 623 – tribe union; 631 – the battle of Wogatisburg; the fall in 658
Great Moravian Empire – 863 – the missionaries Konstantin and Methodius came from Salonika
Přemyslid family – died by the sword
1212 – Gold Bull of Sicily => hereditary king’s title
Holy Roman Empire, Charles IV. (university, archbishop, stone bridge), Wenceslas IV.
Hussite movement
Jagiellonian and Hapsburg dynasty
1620 – the Battle on the White Mountain => germanization and re-catholicization
19th century – national revival
WWI, the Czechoslovak Republic, German occupation, WWII, communism, Prague Spring, Velvet revolution, splitting of the federation
Economy
engineering industry (Prague, Plzeň, Brno), car industry (Mladá Boleslav, Kopřivnice), chemical industry (Litvínov, Neratovice, Pardubice, Ustí nad Labem), textile industry (Liberec, Prostějov), glass industry + cut glass and china – Karlovy Vary, Plzeň
agriculture: wheat, sugar beet, maize, grapes, hops, fruits, cattle breeding, fish breeding
Political system
three parts: Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia
democratic state, 14 regions
Parliament: Chamber of Deputies and Senate
elections: public, secret, democratic, equal, direct, universal
President: commander-in-chief of army, right of suspensive veto, declare amnesty, general election …
the Prime minister, the premier, the vice-premier, the ministers (Interior, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice, Industry and Commerce, Agriculture, Finance, Transport, Labor and Social Affairs, Education, Culture, Health)
Constitutional Court, region and district courts
the Social Democratic Party, the Green Party, the Civic Democratic Party, the Civic Democratic Union, the Czech-Moravian Communist Party