The Czech Republic

Intro: Total area: 78,866 sq km Population: 10 million Capital: Prague Currency: Czech crown The Czech Republic is known for its fine crystal and beer. The Czechs enjoy a high standard of living compared to other eastern Europeans. Our anthem is called Kde domov muj (Where is my home) created by J. K. Tyl and František Škroup. Our flag is created by three colours, a blue wedge, and a red bottom strike and white top strike.
Geography: The Czech Republic is a land−locked country, meaning it doesn’t have a border with the sea, but is surrounded by other countries (Poland, Germany, Slovakia and Austria). The country is made up of three regions, Bohemia in the west, Moravia to the east and small Silesia in the northeast. The Czech Republic has a landscape of rolling hills, lowlands, and plains bordered by mountains. The highest point is Sněžka (1,602 m). Southern Bohemia is famous for its many man-made ponds. The longest river in the Czech Republic is the Vltava (430 km), which flows into the Elbe (Labe), a major Central European river. Natural beauty spots include national parks in mountains such as Krkonoše, Šumava (with the remains of primeval forests), Czech Paradise (sandstone rock formations in the north) and Moravian Karst (a series of caves and the gorge Macocha). Among the most beautiful historic towns belong Prague, Kutná Hora, Tábor etc. Also many castles, ruins and chateaux can be found in our republic. To the most interesting ones belong the Prague castle, Karlštejn, Křivoklát and Bezděz. On Karlštejn, the crown jewels are kept. We have got 12 sights on the UNESCO list: the Historical Centre of Prague (listed in 1992), The Historical Centre of Český Krumlov (1992), the Historical Centre of Telč (1992), the Pilgrimage Church of Jan Nepomuk in Zelená Hora, close to Žďár nad Sázavou (1994), Kutná Hora (1995), Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape (1996), Holašovice (1998), Kroměříž Castle and Gardens (1998), Litomyšl Castle (1999), Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc (2000), Villa Tugendhat, Brno (2001) and Třebíč (2003). The climate is a mixture of maritime and continental influences, it is temperate with warm summers and cold winters. The warmest places are in southern Moravia,
which is the most fertile part of Czech republic, there are fertile lowlands along river
Dyje.
People:
Czech Republic is home for 10,2 mil. inhabitants. Most of them are Czech origin, so
we can say, that Czech Republic is one nation state. However, there are some big
national minorities – Slovaks, Germans, Vietnamese or Roma population.
Most of people live in cities. The biggest city is the capital Prague with about 1 million
inhabitants. The other big cities are Brno, Plzeň, Ostrava etc.
History:
Beginning in the 4th century B.C., Celtic tribes settled in the region, followed by
Germanic and Slavic tribes. The country began to form in the 9th century with the
creation of Great Moravia. After its fall, the Czech state emerged with help from the
Premyslids.
In 935, Duke Václav was killed by his brother Boleslav in fight for power. This violent
act gave rise to the Wenceslas cult and St. Wenceslas is also the patron saint of the
Czech Republic. The Czech kingdom expanded and experienced booms during the
reign of Přemysl Otakar II (13th century, he had castle in Poděbrady built) and
Charles IV (14th century). Later on, the kingdom was absorbed into Habsburg Empire.
The kingdom of Bohemia was important and powerful in the region, but conflicts like
the Hussite Wars in the 15th century and the 30 Years War (the 17th century) hurt it.
A state in the modern sense of the word was established after collapse the Empire of
Austria−Hungary as a union of Czechs and Slovaks, called Czechoslovakia, in 1918.
WWII was again destructive to the country, which was occupied by the Germans.
After the war ended, Czechoslovakia fell under the influence of the Soviet Union.
The country remained a Communist state until the peaceful revolution in 1989. The
Czechs and Slovaks split, and in 1993, the country we call the Czech Republic was put
on the map. The first president of Czech Republic was Václav Havel.
Politics and economy:
After overthrowing Communism (in the process Velvet Revolution), the country set
up a parliamentary democracy. The parliament consists of two houses; the Chamber
of Deputies and the Senate. The head of state is the president, and it is he who
appoints a prime minister. There are 200 people in the Chamber of Deputies, and
they serve a 4−year term. The 81 Senate members are elected for 6 years. The
president was elected every 5 years by the parliament, nowadays he is elected by
people.
We had to change basic economic system. We transformed from heavy industry to
engineering and electronics production, important position has chemical industry –
petrol and oil products. Czech Republic had large resources of coal especially Ostrava
coal mines and coal mines around Most, Sokolov, Kladno dominated for big coal
production. However, after economic changes these areas were not important, so
many of them were closed and a plenty of people lost their job. In this time are most
important industry branches car building – Škoda automobile in Mladá Boleslav, and
chemical industry in Litvínov, Kralupy nad Vltavou, Neratovice. Engineering industry
is in Plzen, Brno, Liberec and textile industry mainly in Písek, Prostějov or glass
industry with long tradition in Jablonec or here in Poděbrady.