Czech Republic

This article is about the European country. For otheruses, see Czech Republic (disambiguation).

TheCzech Republic ( i/tk rpblk/ CHEK-r-PUB-lik;[10] Czech: esk republika [tska rpublka]), isa landlocked country in Central Europe bordered byGermany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to theeast and Poland to the northeast. The capital and largestcity, Prague, has over 1.2 million residents. The CzechRepublic includes the historical territories of Bohemia,Moravia, and Czech Silesia.The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century asthe Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Em-pire. After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre ofpower transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under thePemyslids. In 1004, the duchy was formally recognizedas part of the Holy Roman Empire,[11][12] becoming theKingdom of Bohemia in 1212, and reaching its greatestterritorial extent in the 14th century. The King of Bo-hemia ruled not only Bohemia itself, but also other lands,which together formed the so-called Crown of Bohemia,and he had a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Em-peror. In the Hussite wars of the 15th century drivenby the Bohemian Reformation, the kingdom faced eco-nomic embargoes and defeated ve crusades proclaimedby the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and orga-nized mainly by the emperor and princes of the Holy Ro-man Empire.Following the Battle ofMohcs in 1526, the whole Crownof Bohemia was gradually integrated into the HabsburgMonarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria and theKingdom of Hungary. The Protestant Bohemian Re-volt (161820) against the Catholic Habsburgs led tothe Thirty Years War, after which the monarchy con-solidated its rule, reimposed Catholicism, and adopteda policy of gradual Germanization. With the dissolu-tion of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the BohemianKingdom became part of the Austrian Empire and theCzech language experienced its revival as a consequenceof widespread romantic nationalism. In the 19th century,the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of themonarchy and were subsequently the core of the Republicof Czechoslovakia, which was formed in 1918 followingthe collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire afterWorldWar I.Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World WarII, and was liberated in 1945 by Soviet and Americanforces. Most of the German-speaking inhabitants were

expelled after the war and thus the country lost its size-able minority and its bilingual character. The CommunistParty of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Fol-lowing the 1948 coup d'tat, Czechoslovakia became asingle-party communist state under Soviet inuence. In1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culmi-nated in a reformmovement known as the Prague Spring,which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia re-mained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, whenthe communist regime collapsed and a multiparty par-liamentary republic was formed. On 1 January 1993,Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituentstates becoming the independent states of the Czech Re-public and Slovakia.The Czech Republic is a developed country[13] with anadvanced,[14] high income economy[15] and high livingstandards.[16][17][18] The UNDP ranks the country 15th ininequality-adjusted human development.[19] The CzechRepublic also ranks as the 11th most peaceful country,while achieving strong performance in democratic gov-ernance. It is a member of the United Nations, theEuropean Union, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE and theCouncil of Europe.[20]

1 Etymology

Main article: Name of the Czech Republic

The traditional English name Bohemia derives fromLatin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii".The current name comes from the endonym ech, bor-rowed through Polish and spelled accordingly.[21][22] Thename comes from the Slavic tribe (Czechs, Czech: e-chov) and, according to legend, their leader ech, whobrought them to Bohemia, to settle on pMountain. Theetymology of the word ech can be traced back to theProto-Slavic root *el-, meaning member of the peo-ple; kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech wordlovk (a person).[23]

The country has been traditionally divided into threelands, namely Bohemia (echy) in the west, Moravia(Morava) in the southeast, and Czech Silesia (Slezsko; thesmaller, south-eastern part of historical Silesia, most ofwhich is located within modern Poland) in the northeast.Known as the lands of the Bohemian Crown since the 14thcentury, a number of other names for the country havebeen used, including Czech/Bohemian lands, Bohemian

1

2 2 HISTORY

Crown, and the lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas.When the country regained its independence after thedissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918, thenew name of Czechoslovakia was coined to reect theunion of the Czech and Slovak nations within the onecountry.Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the endof 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itselfwithout a common single-word name in English. In 1993,the Czech Minister of Foreign Aairs Jozef Zieleniecsuggested referring to the new country in less formal con-texts as Czechland, singling it out as a traditional nameof the dominion of the Czechs.[24] He also oered thealternative Czechia /tki/ (esko Czech pronunciation:[tsko] in Czech); while the Czech form has gained us-age, the English version is still rare.[25] The current Czechpresident Milo Zeman uses the name Czechia in his o-cial speeches and promotes its wider use.[26][27][28] Never-theless, in ocial documents and the full names of gov-ernment institutions the term Czech Republic is alwaysused.

2 HistoryMain article: History of the Czech lands

Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples, showingexpansion of the core territory into the Czech lands bythe 270s BC

Great Moravia (pictured 9th century) was the rst WestSlavic state in Central Europe.[29]Historical aliations

Samos Empire 631658Great Moravia 830s900s

Duchy of Bohemia 880s1198Kingdom of Bohemia 11981918

part of the Holy Roman Empire 10021806

part of the Austrian Empire 18041867

part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 18671918

Czechoslovakia 19181939Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (protectorate

of Nazi Germany) 19391945Czechoslovakia 19451992Czech Republic 1993 present

2.1 PrehistoryArchaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric humansettlements in the area, dating back to the Paleolithic era.The gurine Venus of Doln Vstonice, together with afew others from nearby locations, found here is the oldestknown ceramic article in the world.In the classical era, from the 3rd century BC Celtic mi-grations, the Boii and later in the 1st century, Germanictribes of Marcomanni and Quadi settled there. Theirking Maroboduus is the rst documented ruler of Bo-hemia. During the Migration Period around the 5th cen-tury, many Germanic tribes moved westwards and south-wards out of Central Europe.Slavic people from the Black Sea-Carpathian region set-tled in the area (a movement that was also stimulated bythe onslaught of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Eu-rope: Huns, Avars, Bulgars and Magyars). In the sixthcentury they moved westwards into Bohemia, Moraviaand some of present day Austria and Germany. Duringthe 7th century, the Frankish merchant Samo, support-ing the Slavs ghting against nearby settled Avars, be-came the ruler of the rst known Slav state in CentralEurope, the Samos Empire. The Moravian principalityGreat Moravia arose in the 8th century and reached itszenith in the 9th, when it held o the inuence of theFranks and won the protection of the Pope.

2.2 BohemiaThe Duchy of Bohemia emerged in the late 9th cen-tury, when it was unied by the Pemyslid dynasty. In10th century Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia conqueredMoravia, Silesia and expanded farther to the east. TheKingdom of Bohemia was, as the only kingdom in theHoly Roman Empire, a signicant regional power duringthe Middle Ages. It was part of the Empire from 1002till 1806, with the exception of the years 14401526. In

2.2 Bohemia 3

Pemysl Ottokar II, King of Bohemia (12531278) and Duke ofAustria (12511278)

1212, King Pemysl Ottokar I (bearing the title kingsince 1198) extracted the Golden Bull of Sicily (a formaledict) from the emperor, conrming Ottokar and his de-scendants royal status; the Duchy of Bohemia was raisedto a Kingdom. The bull declared that the King of Bo-hemia would be exempt from all future obligations to theHoly Roman Empire except for participation in imperialcouncils. German immigrants settled in the Bohemianperiphery in the 13th century. Germans populated townsand mining districts and, in some cases, formed Germancolonies in the interior of Bohemia. In 1235, theMongolslaunched an invasion of Europe. After the Battle of Leg-nica, the Mongols carried their raids into Moravia. TheMongols subsequently invaded and defeated Hungary.[30]

Coat of arms of Kingdom of Bohemia emerged in the13th century

Crown of Saint Wenceslas is the 4th oldest in Europe

Crown of Bohemia under Emperor Charles IV

Holy Roman Empire in 1600. It included the Czechlands from 1004 to 1806, and Prague was the imperialseat in 13461437 and 15831611.

King Pemysl Ottokar II earned the nickname Iron andGolden King because of his military power and wealth.He acquired Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, thusspreading the Bohemian territory to the Adriatic Sea. Hemet his death at the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278 ina war with his rival, King Rudolph I of Germany.[31] Ot-tokars son Wenceslaus II acquired the Polish crown in1300 for himself and the Hungarian crown for his son.He built a great empire stretching from the Danube riverto the Baltic Sea. In 1306, the last king of Pemyslid linewas murdered in mysterious circumstances in Olomoucwhile he was resting. After a series of dynastic wars, theHouse of Luxembourg gained the Bohemian throne.[32]

The 14th century, in particular, the reign of the Czechking Charles IV (13161378), who also became the Kingof Italy, King of the Romans and Holy Roman Emperor,is considered the Golden Age of Czech history. Of par-ticular signicance was the founding of Charles Univer-sity in Prague in 1348, Charles Bridge, Charles Square.Much of Prague Castle and the cathedral of Saint Vitusin Gothic style were completed during his reign. He uni-ed Brandenburg (until 1415), Lusatia (until 1635), andSilesia (until 1742) under the Czech crown. The BlackDeath, which had raged in Europe from 1347 to 1352,decimated the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1380,[33] killingabout 10% of the population.[34]

4 2 HISTORY

By the end of the 14th century started the process of theso-called Bohemian (Czech) Reformation. The religiousand social reformer Jan Hus formed a reform movementlater named after him. AlthoughHus was named a hereticand burnt in Constance in 1415, his followers secededfrom the Catholic Church and in the HussiteWars (14191434) defeated ve crusades organized against them bythe Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund. Petr Chelickcontinued with the Hussite Reformation movement. Dur-ing the next two centuries, 90% of the inhabitants becameadherents of the Hussite Christian movement.After 1526 Bohemia came increasingly under Habsburgcontrol as the Habsburgs became rst the elected and thenin 1627 the hereditary rulers of Bohemia. The AustrianHabsburgs of the 16th century, the founders of the centralEuropean Habsburg Monarchy, were buried in Prague.Between 15831611 Prague was the ocial seat of theHoly Roman Emperor Rudolf II and his court.The Defenestration of Prague and subsequent revoltagainst the Habsburgs in 1618 marked the start of theThirty Years War, which quickly spread throughout Cen-tral Europe. In 1620, the rebellion in Bohemia wascrushed at the Battle of White Mountain, and the ties be-tween Bohemia and the Habsburgs hereditary lands inAustria were strengthened. The leaders of the BohemianRevolt were executed in 1621. The nobility and the mid-dle class Protestants had to either convert to Catholicismor leave the country.[35]

The Defenestration of Prague sparked the Thirty Years War

The following period, from 1620 to the late 18th cen-tury, has often been called colloquially the Dark Age.The population of the Czech lands declined by a thirdthrough the expulsion of Czech Protestants as well as dueto the war, disease and famine.[36] The Habsburgs prohib-ited all Christian confessions other than Catholicism.[37]The owering of Baroque culture shows the ambiguity ofthis historical period. Ottoman Turks and Tatars invadedMoravia in 1663.[38] In 16791680 the Czech lands faceda devastating plague and an uprising of serfs.[39]

The reigns of Maria Theresa of Austria and her sonJoseph II, Holy Roman Emperor and co-regent from

1765, were characterized by enlightened absolutism. In1742, most of Silesia (except the southernmost area), atthat time the possession of the Bohemian crown, wasseized by King Frederick II of Prussia in the SilesianWars. In 1757 the Prussians invaded Bohemia and afterthe Battle of Prague (1757) occupied the city. More thanone quarter of Prague was destroyed and St. Vitus Cathe-dral also suered heavy damage. However, soon after,at the Battle of Koln Frederick was defeated and hadto leave Prague and retreat from Bohemia. In 1770 and1771 Great Famine killed about one tenth of the Czechpopulation, or 250,000 inhabitants, and radicalised thecountryside leading to peasant uprisings.[40] Serfdom wasabolished (in two steps) between 1781 and 1848.The fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 led to degra-dation of the political status of the Kingdom of Bohemia.Bohemia lost its position of an electorate of the Holy Ro-man Empire as well as its own political representationin the Imperial Diet.[41] Bohemian lands became part ofthe Austrian Empire and later of AustriaHungary. TheRevolution of 1848 in Prague, striving for liberal reformsand autonomy of the Bohemian Crown within the Aus-trian Empire, was suppressed. In 1866 Austria was de-feated by Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War. The Aus-trian Empire needed to redene itself to maintain unity inthe face of nationalism. At rst it seemed that some con-cessions would be made also to Bohemia, but in the endthe Emperor Franz Joseph I eected a compromise withHungary only. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of1867 and the never realized coronation of Franz Joseph asKing of Bohemia led to a huge disappointment of Czechpoliticians.[42] The Bohemian Crown lands became partof the so-called Cisleithania (ocially The Kingdomsand Lands represented in the Imperial Council"). Therst elections under universal male surage were held in1907. The last King of Bohemia was Blessed Charles ofAustria who ruled in 19161918.

2.3 Czechoslovakia

Main article: History of Czechoslovakia

An estimated 1.4 million Czech soldiers fought in WorldWar I, of whom some 150,000 died. Although the ma-jority of Czech soldiers fought for the Austro-HungarianEmpire, more than 90,000 Czech volunteers formed theCzechoslovak Legions in France, Italy and Russia, wherethey fought against the Central Powers and later againstBolshevik troops.[43] In 1918, during the collapse of theHabsburg Empire at the end ofWorldWar I, the indepen-dent republic of Czechoslovakia, which joined the win-ning Allied powers, was created. This new country in-corporated the Bohemian Crown (Bohemia, Moravia andSilesia) and parts of the Kingdom of Hungary (Slovakiaand the Carpathian Ruthenia) with signicant German,Hungarian, Polish and Ruthenian speaking minorities.[44]

2.3 Czechoslovakia 5

Czechoslovak declaration of independence rally in Prague onWenceslas Square, 28 October 1918

In 1929 compared to 1913, the gross domestic productincreased by 52% and industrial production by 41%. In1938 Czechoslovakia held a 10th place in the world in-dustrial production.[45]

Tom Garrigue Masaryk (left), rst president ofCzechoslovakia, and Edvard Bene (right), presidentbefore and after World War II.

Although Czechoslovakia was a unitary state, it providedwhat were at the time rather extensive rights to its minori-ties and remained the only democracy in this part of Eu-rope in the interwar period. The eects of the Great De-pression including high unemployment and massive pro-paganda from Nazi Germany, however, resulted in dis-content and strong support among ethnic Germans for abreak from Czechoslovakia.

Adolf Hitler took advantage of this opportunity and, us-ing Konrad Henlein's separatist Sudeten German Party,gained the largely German speaking Sudetenland (andits substantial Maginot Line-like border fortications)through the 1938 Munich Agreement (signed by NaziGermany, France, Britain and Italy). Czechoslovakia wasnot invited to the conference and felt betrayed by theUnited Kingdom and France, so Czechs and Slovaks callthe Munich Agreement the Munich Betrayal because themilitary alliance Czechoslovakia had with France proveduseless.

Third Reich Poland

Hungary

5

6 41

2

3

Slovakia

The Munich Agreement between Germany, France, Italy and theUnited Kingdom resulted in German occupation of Czechoslo-vakia

Despite themobilization of 1.2million-strong Czechoslo-vak army and the Franco-Czech military alliance, Polandannexed the Zaolzie area around esk Tn; Hungarygained parts of Slovakia and the Subcarpathian Rus as aresult of the First Vienna Award in November 1938. Theremainders of Slovakia and the Subcarpathian Rus gainedgreater autonomy, with the state renamed to Czecho-Slovakia. After Nazi Germany threatened to annex partof Slovakia, allowing the remaining regions to be parti-tioned by Hungary and Poland, Slovakia chose to main-tain its national and territorial integrity, seceding fromCzecho-Slovakia in March 1939, and allying itself, as de-manded by Germany, with Hitlers coalition.[46]

The remaining Czech territory was occupied byGermany, which transformed it into the so-calledProtectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The protectoratewas proclaimed part of the Third Reich, and the presi-dent and prime minister were subordinated to the NaziGermanys Reichsprotektor. Subcarpathian Rus declaredindependence as the Republic of Carpatho-Ukraine on15 March 1939 but was invaded by Hungary the sameday and formally annexed the next day. Approximately345,000 Czechoslovak citizens, including 277,000 Jews,were killed or executed while hundreds of thousandsof others were sent to prisons and Nazi concentrationcamps or used as forced labour. Up to two-thirds ofthe citizens were in groups targeted by the Nazis fordeportation or death.[47] One concentration camp waslocated within the Czech territory at Terezn, north of

6 2 HISTORY

Prague.

Prague liberated by Red Army in May 1945

There was Czech resistance to Nazi occupation, both athome and abroad, most notably with the assassination ofNazi German leader Reinhard Heydrich by Czechoslo-vakian soldiers Jozef Gabk and Jan Kubi in aPrague suburb on 27 May 1942. On 9 June 1942Hitler ordered bloody reprisals against the Czechs asa response to the Czech anti-Nazi resistance. TheCzechoslovak government-in-exile and its army foughtagainst the Germans and were acknowledged by the Al-lies; Czech/Czechoslovak troops fought from the very be-ginning of the war in Poland, France, the UK, NorthAfrica, the Middle East and the Soviet Union. The Ger-man occupation ended on 9May 1945, with the arrival ofthe Soviet and American armies and the Prague uprising.An estimated 140,000 Soviet soldiers died in liberatingCzechoslovakia from German rule.[48]

In 19451946, almost the entire German-speaking mi-nority in Czechoslovakia, about 3 million people, wereexpelled to Germany and Austria. During this time, thou-sands of Germans were held in prisons and detentioncamps or used as forced labour. In the summer of 1945,there were several massacres. The only Germans not ex-pelled were some 250,000 who had been active in theresistance against the Nazi Germans or were consideredeconomically important, though many of these emigratedlater. Following a Soviet-organised referendum, the Sub-carpathian Rus never returned under Czechoslovak rulebut became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Repub-lic, as the Zakarpattia Oblast in 1946.Czechoslovakia uneasily tried to play the role of abridge between the West and East. However, theCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia rapidly increasedin popularity, with a general disillusionment with theWest, because of the pre-war Munich Agreement, anda favourable popular attitude towards the Soviet Union,because of the Soviets role in liberating Czechoslovakiafrom German rule. In the 1946 elections, the Commu-nists gained 38%[49] of the votes and became the largestparty in the Czechoslovak parliament. They formed acoalition government with other parties of the NationalFront and moved quickly to consolidate power. A signif-

icant change came in 1948 with coup d'tat by the Com-munist Party. The Communist Peoples Militias securedcontrol of key locations in Prague, and a single party gov-ernment was formed.

The Prague Spring political liberalization of the communistregime was stopped by the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion ofCzechoslovakia

For the next 41 years, Czechoslovakia was a Communiststate within the Eastern Bloc. This period is character-ized by lagging behind the West in almost every aspectof social and economic development. The countrys GDPper capita fell from the level of neighboring Austria belowthat of Greece or Portugal in the 1980s. The Communistgovernment completely nationalized the means of pro-duction and established a command economy. The econ-omy grew rapidly during the 1950s but slowed down inthe 1960s and 1970s and stagnated in the 1980s. The po-litical climate was highly repressive during the 1950s, in-cluding numerous show trials and hundreds of thousandsof political prisoners, but became more open and toler-ant in the late 1960s, culminating in Alexander Dubek'sleadership in the 1968 Prague Spring, which tried to cre-ate socialism with a human face and perhaps even in-troduce political pluralism. This was forcibly ended byinvasion by all Warsaw Pact member countries with theexception of Romania and Albania on 21 August 1968.The invasion was followed by a harsh program of"Normalization" in the late 1960s and the 1970s. Un-til 1989, the political establishment relied on censorshipof the opposition. Dissidents published Charter 77 in1977, and the rst of a new wave of protests were seenin 1988. Between 1948 and 1989 more than 250,000Czechs and Slovaks were sent to prison, and over 400,000emigrated.[50]

2.4 Velvet Revolution and independenceMain articles: Velvet Revolution and Dissolution ofCzechoslovakiaIn November 1989, Czechoslovakia returned to a lib-eral democracy through the peaceful "Velvet Revolution".However, Slovak national aspirations strengthened and

3.1 Foreign relations 7

Vclav Havel, the main gure of the Velvet Revolution and later1st Czech president honoring wounded in protests.

on 1 January 1993, the country peacefully split into theindependent Czech Republic and Slovakia. Both coun-tries went through economic reforms and privatisations,with the intention of creating a market economy. Thisprocess was largely successful; in 2006 the Czech Re-public was recognised by the World Bank as a de-veloped country,[13] and in 2009 the Human Develop-ment Index ranked it as a nation of Very High HumanDevelopment.[51]

From 1991, the Czech Republic, originally as part ofCzechoslovakia and since 1993 in its own right, has beena member of the Visegrd Group and from 1995, theOECD. The Czech Republic joined NATO on 12 March1999 and the European Union on 1 May 2004. On 21December 2007 the Czech Republic joined the SchengenArea.

3 Government and politicsMain articles: Government of the Czech Republic andPolitics of the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a pluralist multi-partyparliamentary representative democracy, with thePrime Minister as the head of government. TheParliament (Parlament esk republiky) is bicameral,with the Chamber of Deputies (Czech: Poslanecksnmovna) (200 members) and the Senate (Czech:Sent) (81 members).[52]

The president is a formal head of state with limitedand specic powers, most importantly to return billsto the parliament, appoint members to the board ofthe Czech National Bank, nominate constitutional courtjudges for the Senates approval and dissolve the Cham-ber of Deputies under certain special and unusual cir-cumstances. He also appoints the prime minister, as wellthe other members of the cabinet on a proposal by theprime minister. From 1993 until 2012, the President ofthe Czech Republic was selected by a joint session of the

parliament for a ve-year term, with no more than twoconsecutive terms. Since 2013 the presidential electionis direct. [53] Milo Zeman was the rst directly electedCzech President.The Government of the Czech Republic's exercise of ex-ecutive power derives from the Constitution. The mem-bers of the government are the Prime Minister, Deputyministers and other ministers. The Government is re-sponsible to the Chamber of Deputies.[54]

The PrimeMinister is the head of government and wieldsconsiderable powers, such as the right to set the agenda formost foreign and domestic policy and choose governmentministers.[55] The current Prime Minister of the CzechRepublic is Bohuslav Sobotka, serving since 17 January2014 as 11th Prime Minister.The members of the Chamber of Deputies are electedfor a four-year term by proportional representation, witha 5% election threshold. There are 14 voting districts,identical to the countrys administrative regions. TheChamber of Deputies, the successor to the Czech Na-tional Council, has the powers and responsibilities of thenow defunct federal parliament of the former Czechoslo-vakia.

The political system of the Czech Republic

The members of the Senate are elected in single-seatconstituencies by two-round runo voting for a six-yearterm, with one-third elected every even year in the au-tumn. The rst election was in 1996, for diering terms.This arrangement is modeled on the U.S. Senate, but eachconstituency is roughly the same size and the voting sys-tem used is a two-round runo. The Senate is unpopularamong the public and suers from low election turnout.

3.1 Foreign relationsMain article: Foreign relations of the Czech RepublicSee also: Ministry of Foreign Aairs of the Czech Re-publicThe Czech Republic has an established structure of for-eign relations. Its member of the United Nations, theEuropean Union, NATO, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Council of Europe and is anobserver to the Organization of American States.[56] Allcountries with diplomatic relations with the Czech Re-public have embassy located in Prague, and some of themhave consulates across the country.

8 3 GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Countries with Embassies of the Czech Republic.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aairs haveprimary roles in setting foreign policy. Membership inthe European Union is central to the Czech Republicsforeign policy. The Czech Republic held the Presidencyof the Council of the European Union for the rst half of2009.The Czech Republic has strong ties with Slovakia, Polandand Hungary as member of Visegrad Group,[57] as wellas with Germany,[58] Israel,[59] United States[60] andEuropean Union and their members.Czech ocials have supported dissenters in Burma,Belarus, Moldova and Cuba.[61]

Czech soldier in Afghanistan

3.2 Military

Main article: Military of the Czech Republic

The Czech armed forces consist of the Army, Air Forceand of specialized support units. The President of theCzech Republic is Commander-in-chief of the armedforces. In 2004 the army transformed itself into a fullyprofessional organization and compulsory military ser-vice was abolished. The country has been a member ofNATO since 12 March 1999. Defense spending is ap-proximately 1.04% of the GDP (2015).[62] Currently, asa member of NATO, the Czech military are participat-ing in ISAF and KFOR operations and have soldiers inAfghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland

and Israel.[63] Main equipment includes: multi-role ght-ers JAS 39 Gripen, combat aircraft Aero L-159 Alca,modernized attack helicopters Mi-35, armored vehiclesPandur II, OT-64, OT-90, BVP-2 and Czech modernizedtanks T-72 (T-72M4CZ).

3.3 Administrative divisions

See also: Regions of the Czech Republic and List ofdistricts of the Czech Republic

Since 2000, the Czech Republic has been divided intothirteen regions (Czech: kraje, singular kraj) and the cap-ital city of Prague. Every region has its own elected re-gional assembly (krajsk zastupitelstvo) and hejtman (aregional governor). In Prague, the assembly and presi-dential powers are executed by the city council and themayor.The older seventy-six districts (okresy, singular okres) in-cluding three statutory cities (without Prague, whichhad special status) lost most of their importance in1999 in an administrative reform; they remain as ter-ritorial divisions and seats of various branches of stateadministration.[64]

Map of the Czech Republic with traditional regions and currentadministrative regions

Map with districts

a Capital city.b Oce location.

4.1 Climate 9

4 GeographySee also: Geography of the Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic lies mostly between latitudes 48

Satellite image of the Czech Republic

and 51 N (a small area lies north of 51), and longitudes12 and 19 E.The Czech landscape is exceedingly varied. Bohemia, tothe west, consists of a basin drained by the Elbe (Czech:Labe) and the Vltava rivers, surrounded by mostly lowmountains, such as the Krkonoe range of the Sudetes.The highest point in the country, Snka at 1,602 m(5,256 ft), is located here. Moravia, the eastern part ofthe country, is also quite hilly. It is drained mainly by theMorava River, but it also contains the source of the OderRiver (Czech: Odra).

Podyj National Park is one of four national parks.

Water from the landlocked Czech Republic ows to threedierent seas: the North Sea, Baltic Sea and BlackSea. The Czech Republic also leases the Moldauhafen,a 30,000-square-metre (7.4-acre) lot in the middle ofthe Hamburg Docks, which was awarded to Czechoslo-vakia by Article 363 of the Treaty of Versailles, to allowthe landlocked country a place where goods transporteddown river could be transferred to seagoing ships. Theterritory reverts to Germany in 2028.Phytogeographically, the Czech Republic belongs to theCentral European province of the Circumboreal Region,within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the World

Wide Fund for Nature, the territory of the Czech Re-public can be subdivided into four ecoregions: the Cen-tral European mixed forests, Pannonian mixed forests,Western European broadleaf forests and Carpathianmontane conifer forests.There are four national parks in the Czech Republic. Theoldest is Krkonoe National Park (Biosphere Reserve),umava National Park (Biosphere Reserve), Podyj Na-tional Park, Bohemian Switzerland.The three historical lands of the Czech Republic (for-merly the core countries of the Lands of the BohemianCrown) correspond almost prefectly with the river basinsof the Elbe (Czech: Labe) and the Vltava basin for Bo-hemia, the Morava one for Moravia, and the Oder riverbasin for Czech Silesia (in terms of the Czech territory).

4.1 Climate

Moravian-Silesian Beskids

The Czech Republic has a temperate continental climate,with warm summers and cold, cloudy and snowy winters.The temperature dierence between summer and win-ter is relatively high, due to the landlocked geographicalposition.[66]

Within the Czech Republic, temperatures vary greatly,depending on the elevation. In general, at higher al-titudes, the temperatures decrease and precipitation in-creases. The wettest area in the Czech Republic is foundaround Bl Potok in Jizera Mountains and the driest re-gion is the Louny District to the northwest of Prague.Another important factor is the distribution of the moun-tains; therefore, the climate is quite varied.

Rolling hills of Krlick Snnk

At the highest peak of Snka (1,602 m or 5,256 ft), theaverage temperature is only 0.4 C (31 F), whereas in

10 5 ECONOMY

the lowlands of the South Moravian Region, the averagetemperature is as high as 10 C (50 F). The countryscapital, Prague, has a similar average temperature, al-though this is inuenced by urban factors.The coldest month is usually January, followed by Febru-ary and December. During these months, there is usu-ally snow in the mountains and sometimes in the majorcities and lowlands. During March, April and May, thetemperature usually increases rapidly, especially duringApril, when the temperature and weather tends to varywidely during the day. Spring is also characterized byhigh water levels in the rivers, due to melting snow withoccasional ooding.The warmest month of the year is July, followed by Au-gust and June. On average, summer temperatures areabout 20 C (68 F) 30 C (86 F) higher than duringwinter. Summer is also characterized by rain and storms.

Krkonoe National Park

Autumn generally begins in September, which is still rel-atively warm and dry. During October, temperaturesusually fall below 15 C (59 F) or 10 C (50 F) anddeciduous trees begin to shed their leaves. By the end ofNovember, temperatures usually range around the freez-ing point.The coldest temperature ever measured was inLitvnovice near esk Budjovice in 1929, at 42.2C (44.0 F) and the hottest measured, was at 40.4 C(104.7 F) in Dobichovice in 2012.[67]

Most rain falls during the summer. Sporadic rainfall isrelatively constant throughout the year (in Prague, the av-erage number of days per month experiencing at least 0.1mm of rain varies from 12 in September and October to16 in November) but concentrated heavy rainfall (dayswith more than 10 mm per day) are more frequent in themonths of May to August (average around two such daysper month).[68]

4.2 Environment

See also: Protected areas of the Czech Republic

Czech Republic ranks as fth most environmentally con-scious country in the world in Environmental Perfor-mance Index.[69]

Map of Protected areas of the Czech Republic: NationalParks (grey) and Protected Landscape Areas (green).

Eurasian eagle-owl is a protected predator.

Eurasian lynx was reintroduced and protected afterextensive hunting in the past.

5 EconomyMain article: Economy of the Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic possesses a developed,[70] high-income[71] economy with a per capita GDP rate that is84% of the European Union average.[72] One of the moststable and prosperous of the post-Communist states, theCzech Republic saw growth of over 6% annually in thethree years before the outbreak of the recent global eco-nomic crisis. Growth has been led by exports to the Euro-pean Union, especially Germany, and foreign investment,

5.1 Energy 11

The Czech Republic is part of the EU single market and theSchengen Area.

koda Auto is one of the largest car manufacturers in CentralEurope. In 2014, it sold a record number of 1,037,000 cars andsaid it aimed to double sales by 2018. (image of koda Superb)

while domestic demand is reviving.Most of the economy has been privatised, including thebanks and telecommunications. A 2009 survey in coop-eration with the Czech Economic Association found thatthe majority of Czech economists favour continued lib-eralization in most sectors of the economy.[73]

The country has been a member of the Schengen Areasince 1 May 2004, having abolished border controls,completely opening its borders with all of its neighbours(Germany, Austria, Poland and Slovakia) on 21 Decem-ber 2007.[74] The Czech Republic became a member ofthe World Trade Organisation on 1 January 1995.Czech Republic would become the 49th largest economyin the world by 2050 with a GDP of US$ $342 billion.[75]

Monetary policy is conducted by the Czech Na-tional Bank, whose independence is guaranteed by the

Constitution.[76] The ocial currency is the Czech crown,and it had been oating until 7. 11. 2013, when thecentral bank temporarily pegged the exchange rate at 27crowns per euro in order to ght deation.[77] When itjoined EU, the Czech Republic obligated itself to adoptthe euro, but the date of adoption has not been deter-mined.The Programme for International Student Assessment,coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks the Czech ed-ucation system as the 15th best in the world, higher thanthe OECD average.[78] The Czech Republic is ranked24th in the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom.

Treemap of exports from the Czech Republic in 2013, by producttype

Leading Czech transportation companies include kodaAuto (automobiles), koda Transportation (tramways,trolleybuses, metro), Tatra (the third oldest car makerin the world), Karosa (buses), Aero Vodochody (air-planes) and Jawa Motors (motorcycles). http://www.worlddiplomacy.org states that Elections in 2013brought a new government for the Czech republic. Al-though starting o 2013 rather weakly, the economy re-bounded strongly in the coming quarters and most re-cently (Q1,2015) the economy has enjoyed the fastestGDP increase in the entire EU, clocking at 2.8% com-pared with Q4,2014, or 3.9% year-on-year.[79]

On August 2015, Czech GDP growth was 4.4%, givingthe Czech economy the highest growth rate in Europe.[80]

Unemployment rate is at 4.9%, giving the Czech Repub-lic the second lowest unemployment rate in the EuropeanUnion after Germany.[81]

5.1 Energy

Main article: Energy in the Czech RepublicProduction of Czech electricity exceeds consumption byabout 10 TWh per year, which are exported. Nuclearpower presently provides about 30 percent of the totalpower needs, its share is projected to increase to 40 per-cent. In 2005, 65.4 percent of electricity was produced

12 5 ECONOMY

Dukovany Nuclear Power Station

by steam and combustion power plants (mostly coal); 30percent by nuclear plants; and 4.6 percent from renew-able sources, including hydropower. The largest Czechpower resource is Temeln Nuclear Power Station, an-other nuclear power plant is in Dukovany.The Czech Republic is reducing its dependence onhighly polluting low-grade brown coal as a source of en-ergy. Natural gas is procured from Russian Gazprom,roughly three-fourths of domestic consumption and fromNorwegian companies, which make up most of the re-maining one-fourth. Russian gas is imported via Ukraine(Druzhba pipeline), Norwegian gas is transported throughGermany. Gas consumption (approx. 100 TWh in 20032005) is almost double electricity consumption. SouthMoravia has small oil and gas deposits.

5.2 Transportation infrastructure

Main article: Transport in the Czech RepublicVclav Havel Airport in Prague is the main international

The Czech railway network is largely electried and is among thedensest in Europe.

airport in the country. In 2010, it handled 11.6 mil-lion passengers, which makes it the fth busiest airportin Central and Eastern Europe. In total, the Czech Re-public has 46 airports with paved runways, six of whichprovide international air services in Brno, Karlovy Vary,

Monov (near Ostrava), Pardubice, Prague and Kunovice(near Uhersk Hradit).esk drhy (the Czech Railways) is the main railwayoperator in the Czech Republic, with about 180 millionpassengers carried yearly. Its cargo division, D Cargo,is the fth largest railway cargo operator in the Euro-pean Union. With 9,505 km (5,906.13 mi) of tracks, theCzech Republic has one of the densest railway networksin Europe.[82] Of that number, 2,926 km (1,818.13 mi) iselectried, 7,617 km (4,732.98 mi) are single-line tracksand 1,866 km (1,159.48 mi) are double and multiple-linetracks.[83] In 2006 the new Italian tilting trains PendolinoDClass 680 entered service. They have reached a speedof 237 km/h setting a new Czech railway speed record.Russia, via pipelines through Ukraine and to a lesser ex-tent, Norway, via pipelines through Germany, supply theCzech Republic with liquid and natural gas.The road network in the Czech Republic is 55,653 km(34,581.17 mi) long.[84] There are 738,4 km of motor-ways and 439,1 km of expressways.[85] The speed limit is50 km/h within towns, 90 km/h outside of towns and 130km/h on expressways.

5.3 CommunicationsMain article: Internet in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic ranks in the top 10 countries world-wide with the fastest average internet speed.[86] TheCzech Republic has the most Wi-Fi subscribers in theEuropean Union.[87][88] By the beginning of 2008, therewere over 800 mostly local WISPs,[89][90] with about350,000 subscribers in 2007. Plans based on eitherGPRS, EDGE, UMTS or CDMA2000 are being of-fered by all three mobile phone operators (T-Mobile,Telefnica O2, Vodafone) and internet provider U:fon.Government-owned esk Telecom slowed down broad-band penetration. At the beginning of 2004, local-loopunbundling began and alternative operators started to of-fer ADSL and also SDSL. This and later privatisation ofesk Telecom helped drive down prices.On 1 July 2006, esk Telecom was acquired by glob-alized company (Spain owned) Telefnica group andadopted new name Telefnica O2 Czech Republic. Asof June 2014, VDSL and ADSL2+ are oered in manyvariants, with download speeds of up to 40 Mbit/s andupload speeds of up to 2Mbit/s. Cable internet is gainingpopularity with its higher download speeds ranging from2 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s.

5.4 Science and technologyThe Czech lands have a long and rich scientic tradition.The research based on cooperation between universities,Academy of Sciences and specialised research centers

5.5 Tourism 13

Otto Wichterle, inventor of the contact lens

brings new inventions and impulses in this area. Impor-tant inventions include the modern contact lens, the sep-aration of modern blood types, and the production ofSemtex plastic explosive. In March 1978, Czechoslo-vakian Vladimr Remek was the rst person outside ofthe Soviet Union and the United States to go into space.Prominent scientists who lived and worked in historicallyCzech lands include:

John Amos Comenius (15921670), teacher, edu-cator and the founder of modern education.[91]

Jan Marek Marci (15951667), mathematician,physicist and imperial physician, one of the foundersof spectroscopy.[92]

Vclav Prokop Divi (16981765), inventor of therst grounded lightning rod.

Bernard Bolzano (17811848), noted mathemati-cian, logician, philosopher, and pacist.

Jan Evangelista Purkyn (17871869), anatomistand physiologist responsible for the discovery ofPurkinje cells, Purkinje bres and sweat glands, aswell as Purkinje images and the Purkinje shift.

Josef Ressel (17931857), inventor of the screwpropeller and modern compass.[91]

Jakub Krytof Rad (17991871), inventor of sugarcubes.

Gregor Mendel (18221884), often called the "fa-ther of genetics", is famed for his research concern-ing the inheritance of genetic traits.[91]

Jakub Husnk (18371916), improved the processof photolithography.

Karel Kl (18411926), painter and photographer,inventor of the photogravure.

Frantiek Kik (18471941), electrical engineer,inventor of the arc lamp.

Jan Jansk (18731921), serologist and neurologist,discovered the ABO blood groups.

Bedich Hrozn (18791952), deciphered theHittite language.[91]

Josef apek (18871945) and Karel apek (18901938), brothers who originated the word robot.

Frantiek Burian and Arnold Jirsek, founded therst plastic surgery in 1927.[93]

Jaroslav Heyrovsk (18901967), inventor ofpolarography, electroanalytical chemistry andrecipient of the Nobel Prize.[91]

OldichHomuta, inventor of Remoska oven in 1957. Otto Wichterle (19131998) and Drahoslav Lm(19252003), Czech chemists responsible for theinvention of the modern contact lens and silon(synthetic ber).[94]

Stanislav Brebera (19252012), inventor of theplastic explosive Semtex in 1966.[95]

Ladislav Mare, inventor of the rst machine pro-ducing nanobres, Nanospider.[96]

Antonn Hol (19362012), scientist and chemist,in 2009 was involved in creation of the most eec-tive drug in the treatment of AIDS.[97]

A number of other scientists are also connected insome way with the Czech lands, including astronomersJohannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe, the founder of thepsychoanalytic school of psychiatry Sigmund Freud,physicists Christian Doppler, Ernst Mach, Nikola Tesla,Albert Einstein, engineer Viktor Kaplan and logicianKurt Gdel.

5.5 TourismMain article: Tourism in the Czech RepublicThe Czech economy gets a substantial income fromtourism. Prague is the fth most visited city in Europeafter London, Paris, Istanbul and Rome.[98] In 2001, thetotal earnings from tourism reached 118 billion CZK,

14 6 DEMOGRAPHICS

Prague is one of the most visited cities in Europe.

making up 5.5% of GNP and 9% of overall export earn-ings. The industry employs more than 110,000 people over 1% of the population.[99] The countrys reputa-tion has suered with guidebooks and tourists reportingovercharging by taxi drivers and pickpocketing problemsmainly in Prague.[100][101] Since 2005, Pragues mayor,Pavel Bm, has worked to improve this reputation bycracking down on petty crime[101] and, aside from theseproblems, Prague is a safe city.[102] Also, the Czech Re-public as a whole generally has a low crime rate.[103] Fortourists, the Czech Republic is considered a safe destina-tion to visit. The low crime rate makes most cities andtowns very safe to walk around.

Medieval castles such as Karltejn are frequent tourist attractions.

There are several centres of tourist activity. Thespa towns, such as Karlovy Vary, Marinsk Lznand Frantikovy Lzn and Jchymov (very highradioactivity), are particularly popular relaxing holidaydestinations. Architectural heritage is another object ofvisitors interest it includes many castles and chateauxfrom dierent historical epoques, namely Karltejn Cas-tle, esk Krumlov and the LedniceValtice area. Thereare 12 cathedrals and 15 churches elevated to the rankof basilica by the Pope, calm monasteries, many modernand ancient churches for example Pilgrimage Church ofSaint John of Nepomuk is one of those inscribed on theWorld Heritage List. Away from the towns, areas such as

esk rj, umava and the Krkonoe Mountains attractvisitors seeking outdoor pursuits.The country is also known for its various museums.Puppetry and marionette exhibitions are very popular,with a number of puppet festivals throughout the country.Aquapalace Praha in estlice near Prague, is the biggestwater park in central Europe.[104]

The Czech Republic has a number of beer festivals, in-cluding: Czech Beer Festival (the biggest Czech beer fes-tival, it is usually 17 days long and held every year in Mayin Prague), Pilsner Fest (every year in August in Plze),The "Olomouck pivn festival" (in Olomouc) or festi-val "Slavnosti piva v eskch Budjovicch" (in eskBudjovice).

6 DemographicsMain article: Demographics of the Czech Republic

According to preliminary results of the 2011 census,the majority of the inhabitants of the Czech Repub-lic are Czechs (63.7%), followed by Moravians (4.9%),Slovaks (1.4%), Poles (0.4%), Germans (0.2%) andSilesians (0.1%). As the 'nationality' was an op-tional item, a substantial number of people left thiseld blank (26.0%).[108] According to some estimates,there are about 250,000 Romani people in the CzechRepublic.[109][110]

There were 437,581 foreigners residing in the coun-try in September 2013, according to the CzechStatistical Oce,[111] with the largest groups beingUkrainian (106,714), Slovak (89,273), Vietnamese(61,102), Russian (32,828), Polish (19,378), German(18,099), Bulgarian (8,837), American (6,695), Roma-nian (6,425), Moldovan (5,860), Chinese (5,427), British(5,413), Mongolian (5,308), Kazakh (4,850), Belarusian(4,562).[111]

The Jewish population of Bohemia andMoravia, 118,000according to the 1930 census, was virtually annihilatedby the Nazi Germans during the Holocaust.[112] Therewere approximately 4,000 Jews in the Czech Republic in2005.[113] The former Czech prime minister, Jan Fischer,is of Jewish origin and faith.[114]

The total fertility rate (TFR) in 2013 was estimated at1.29 children born/woman, which is below the replace-ment rate of 2.1, and one of the lowest in the world.[115]In 2014, 46.7% of births were to unmarried women.[116]The life expectancy in 2013 was estimated at 77.56 years(74.29 years male, 81.01 years female).[115] Immigra-tion increased the population by almost 1% in 2007.About 77,000 people immigrate to the Czech Republicannually.[117] Vietnamese immigrants began settling inthe Czech Republic during the Communist period, whenthey were invited as guest workers by the Czechoslovak

7.1 Art 15

government.[118] In 2009, there were about 70,000 Viet-namese in the Czech Republic.[119] Most decide to stay inthe country permanently.[120]

At the turn of the 20th century, Chicago was the city withthe third largest Czech population,[121] after Prague andVienna.[122] According to the 2010 US census, there are1,533,826Americans of full or partial Czech descent.[123]

6.1 Religion

Main article: Religion in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has one of the least religious popu-lations in the world, being the country with the third mostatheistic population by percentage, behind only Chinaand Japan.[125] Historically, the Czech people have beencharacterised as tolerant and even indierent towardsreligion.[126] According to the 2011 census, 34% of thepopulation stated they had no religion, 10.3%was RomanCatholic, 0.8%was Protestant (0.5% Czech Brethren and0.4% Hussite), and 9% followed other forms of reli-gion both denominational or not (of which 863 peopleanswered they are Pagan). 45% of the population didnot answer the question about religion.[124] From 1991to 2001 and further to 2011 the adherence to RomanCatholicism decreased from 39% to 27% and then to10%; Protestantism similarly declined from 3.7% to 2%and then to 0.8%.[127]

According to a Eurobarometer Poll in 2010,[128] 16% ofCzech citizens responded that they believe there is aGod (the lowest rate among the countries of the Euro-pean Union),[129] whereas 44% answered that they be-lieve there is some sort of spirit or life force and 37%said that they do not believe there is any sort of spirit,God or life force.

6.2 Education

Main article: Education in the Czech Republic

Education in The Czech Republic is compulsory for 9years.

7 Culture

Main article: Culture of the Czech Republic

7.1 Art

Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter (1896) by ArtNouveau artist Alphonse Mucha

The Czech Republic is known worldwide for its individ-ually made, mouth blown and decorated art glass andcrystal. One of the best Czech painters and decorativeartists was Alphonse Mucha (18601939) mainly knownfor art nouveau posters and his cycle of 20 large canvasesnamed the Slav Epic, which depicts the history of Czechsand other Slavs. As of 2012, the Slav Epic can be seenin Veletrn Palace of National Gallery in Prague, which

16 7 CULTURE

manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Repub-lic.Other notable Czech artists include:

Max vabinsk (18731962) painter, illustrator,abstract art

Emil Filla (18821953) painter, cubism Josef apek (18871945) painter, cubism Bohumil Kubita (18841918) painter, cubism Vclav pla (18851945) painter, cubism Frantiek Kupka (18711954) painter, abstract art Jan Zrzav (18901977) painter, graphic artist, il-lustrator

Karel Teige (19001951) painter, illustrator,surrealism

Toyen (19021980) painter, illustrator, surrealism Ji Anderle (1936) graphic artist

7.2 Architecture

Main articles: Czech Gothic architecture, Czech Renais-sance architecture and Czech Baroque architecture

The earliest preserved stone buildings in Bohemia andMoravia date back to the time of the Christianization inthe 9th and 10th century. Since the Middle Ages theCzech lands have been using the same architectural styleslike most of Western and Central Europe. The oldest stillstanding churches were built in the Romanesque style.During the 13th century it was replaced by the Gothicstyle. In the 14th century Emperor Charles IV invited tohis court in Prague talented architects from France andGermany, Matthias of Arras and Peter Parler. During theMiddle Ages, many fortied castles were built by the kingand aristocracy, as well as many monasteries. During theHussite wars, many of them were damaged or destroyed.

Royal Summer Palace in Prague considered the purest Renais-sance architecture outside Italy[130]

The Renaissance style penetrated the Bohemian Crown inthe late 15th century when the older Gothic style startedto be slowly mixed with Renaissance elements (architectsMatj Rejsek, Benedikt Rejt). An outstanding exampleof the pure Renaissance architecture in Bohemia is theRoyal Summer Palace, which was situated in a newly es-tablished garden of Prague Castle. Evidence of the gen-eral reception of the Renaissance in Bohemia, involvinga massive inux of Italian architects, can be found in spa-cious chateaux with elegant arcade courtyards and geo-metrically arranged gardens.[131] Emphasis was placed oncomfort, and buildings that were built for entertainmentpurposes also appeared.[132]

St. Nicholas Church in Prague, a magnicent exemplar of theBohemian Baroque

In the 17th century, the Baroque style spread through-out the Crown of Bohemia. Very outstanding are the ar-chitectural projects of the Czech nobleman and imperialgeneralissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein from the 1620s.His architects Andrea Spezza and Giovanni Pieroni re-ected the most recent Italian production and were veryinnovative at the same time. Czech Baroque architec-ture is considered to be a unique part of the Europeancultural heritage thanks to its extensiveness and extraor-dinariness. In the rst third of the 18th century the Bo-hemian lands were one of the leading artistic centers ofthe Baroque style. In Bohemia there was completed thedevelopment of the Radical Baroque style created in Italyby Francesco Borromini and Guarino Guarini in a veryoriginal way.[133] Leading architects of the BohemianBaroque were Jean-Baptiste Mathey, Frantiek Maxmil-in Kaka, Christoph Dientzenhofer, and his son KilianIgnaz Dientzenhofer.In the 18th century Bohemia produced an architecturalpeculiarity the Baroque Gothic style, a synthesis of theGothic and Baroque styles. This was not a simple returnto Gothic details, but rather an original Baroque transfor-mation. The main representative and originator of thisstyle was Jan Blaej Santini-Aichel, who used this stylein renovating medieval monastic buildings.[131]

7.3 Literature 17

Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk by Santini

During the 19th century, the revival architectural styleswere very popular in the Bohemian monarchy. Manychurches were restored to their presumed medieval ap-pearance and there were constructed many new build-ings in the Neo-Romanesque, Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance styles. At the turn of the 19th and 20th cen-turies the new art style appeared in the Czech lands ArtNouveau. The best-known representatives of Czech ArtNouveau architecture were Osvald Polvka, who designedtheMunicipal House in Prague, Josef Fanta, the architectof the Prague Main Railway Station, and Jan Kotra.Bohemia contributed an unusual style to the worlds ar-chitectural heritage when Czech architects attempted totranspose the Cubism of painting and sculpture into ar-chitecture. During the rst years of the independentCzechoslovakia (after 1918), a specically Czech ar-chitectural style, called Rondo-Cubism, came into exis-tence. Together with the pre-war Czech Cubist architec-ture it is unparalleled elsewhere in the world. The rstCzechoslovak president T. G. Masaryk invited the promi-nent Slovene architect Joe Plenik to Prague, where hemodernized the Castle and built some other buildings.Between World Wars I and II, Functionalism, with itssober, progressive forms, took over as the main architec-tural style in the newly established Czechoslovak Repub-lic. In the city of Brno, one of the most impressive func-tionalist works has been preserved Villa Tugendhat, de-signed by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.[131]The most signicant Czech architects of this era wereAdolf Loos and Josef Gor.After the World War II and the Communist coup in 1948the art in Czechoslovakia came under the strong Sovietinuence. Hotel International in Prague is a brilliant ex-ample of the so-called Socialist realism, the Stalinisticart style of the 1950s. Czechoslovak avant-garde artisticmovement known as the Brussels style (called after theBrussels Worlds Fair Expo 58) became popular in thetime of political liberalization of Czechoslovakia in the1960s.Even today, the Czech Republic is not shying away from

Dancing House in Prague

the most modern trends of international architecture.This fact is attested to by a number of projects by world-renowned architects (Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, RicardoBoll, and John Pawson). There are also contemporaryCzech architects whose works can be found all over theworld (Eva Jiin, Jan Kaplick).[131]

7.3 LiteratureMain article: Czech literatureCzech literature is the literature written by Czechs,

Franz Kafka

mostly in the Czech language, although other languageslike Old Church Slavonic, Latin or German have beenalso used, such as by author Franz Kafka, whowhile

18 7 CULTURE

bilingual in Czech andGerman[134][135]wrote his worksin German, during the era of Austrian rule.Inuential Czech authors who wrote in Latin in-clude Cosmas of Prague ( 1125), Peter of Zittau (1339), John Hus ( 1415), Bohuslav Hasitejnsk zLobkovic (14611510), Jan Dubravius (14861553),Tade Hjek (15251600), Johannes Vodnianus Cam-panus (15721622), and Bohuslav Balbn (16211688).In the late 13th century the royal court in Prague was oneof the centers of German Minnesang. The most famousCzech medieval German-language work is the Plough-man of Bohemia (Der Ackermann aus Bhmen), writtenaround 1401 by Johannes von Tepl. The heyday of CzechGerman-language literature can be seen in the rst half ofthe 20th century, which is represented by the well-knownnames of Franz Kafka, Max Brod, Franz Werfel, RainerMaria Rilke, Egon Erwin Kisch, and others.The Bible translations played an important role in the de-velopment of Czech literature and standard Czech lan-guage. The oldest Czech translation of the Psalms orig-inated in the late 13th century and the rst Czech trans-lation of the whole Bible was nished around 1360. Therst complete printed Czech Bible was published in 1488(Prague Bible). The rst complete Czech Bible trans-lation from original languages was published between157993 and is known as the Bible of Kralice.Czech-language literature can be divided into severalmain time periods: the Middle Ages (Chronicle of Dal-imil); the Hussite period (Tom ttn ze ttnho, JanHus, Petr Chelick); the Renaissance humanism (Henrythe Younger of Podbrady, Luke of Prague, WenceslausHajek, Jan Blahoslav, Daniel Adam z Veleslavna); theBaroque period (John Amos Comenius, Adam VclavMichna z Otradovic, Bedich Bridel, Jan Frantiek Beck-ovsk); the Enlightenment and Czech reawakening inthe 19th century (Vclav Matj Kramerius, Karel HynekMcha, Karel Jaromr Erben, Karel Havlek Borovsk,Boena Nmcov, Jan Neruda, Alois Jirsek); the avant-garde of the interwar period (Karel apek, JaroslavHaek, Vtzslav Nezval, Jaroslav Seifert, BohuslavReynek); the years under Communism and the PragueSpring (Josef kvoreck, Bohumil Hrabal, Milan Kun-dera, Arnot Lustig, Vclav Havel); and the literatureof the post-Communist Czech Republic (Ivan MartinJirous).Jaroslav Seifert was the only Czech writer awarded theNobel Prize in Literature. A famous antiwar comedynovel The Good Soldier vejk by Jaroslav Haek is themost translated Czech book in history. It was depicted byKarel Stekl in two color lms The Good Soldier Schweikin 1956 and 1957.Czech literature and culture played amajor role on at leasttwo occasions, when Czechs lived under oppression andpolitical activity was suppressed. On both of these oc-casions, in the early 19th century and then again in the1960s, the Czechs used their cultural and literary eort

to strive for political freedom, establishing a condent,politically aware nation.

7.4 Media

Since the Czech Republic is a democratic republic, jour-nalists and media are free to write about everything, ex-cept supporting nazism, racism and violating the Czechlaw. The country was ranked as the 13th most free pressin the World Freedom Index by Reporters Without Bor-ders in 2014.[136]

The most trustful media in the Czech Republic are publicservices. Czech Television, the only national public tele-vision service, owns the 24-hour news channel T24.[137]Other public services are Czech Radio and the CzechNews Agency (TK). Privately owned television servicessuch as TV Nova, Prima Family and TV Barrandov arealso very popular, with TV Nova being the most popularchannel in the Czech Republic.Newspapers are quite popular in the Czech Republic. Thebest-selling daily national newspapers are Blesk (aver-age 1.15M daily readers), Mlad fronta DNES (average752,000 daily readers) and Daily (average 72,000 dailyreaders).[138]

7.5 Music

Main articles: Music of the Czech Lands and Moraviantraditional music

Music in the Czech lands has its roots in more than 1,000-year-old sacred music. The rst surviving referencesLord, Have Mercy on Us come from the end of the 10thcentury and in the traditional folk music of Bohemia,Moravia and Silesia and in the long-term high-cultureclassical music tradition. Since the early eras of articialmusic, Czech musicians and composers have often beeninuenced by genuine folk music (such as polka whichoriginated in Bohemia). Notable Czech composers in-clude Antonn Dvok, Bedich Smetana, Gustav Mahler(he was born and grew up in the Czech lands), AdamMichna, Jan Dismas Zelenka, Josef Mysliveek, LeoJanek, Josef Suk, Bohuslav Martin, Erwin Schulhoand Petr Eben.

7.6 Theatre

Main article: Theatre of the Czech Republic

Theatre of the Czech Republic has rich tradition withroots in the Middle Ages. In the 19th century, the the-atre played an important role in the national awakeningmovement and later, in the 20th century it became a partof the modern European theatre art.

7.9 Cuisine 19

Antonn Dvok

7.7 FilmMain article: Cinema of the Czech Republic

The Barrandov Studios in Prague are the largest lm stu-dios in country and one of the largest in Europe. TheCzech Republic has many popular lm locations.[139]Filmmakers have come to Prague to shoot scenery nolonger found in Berlin, Paris and Vienna. The city ofKarlovy Vary was used as a location for the 2006 JamesBond lm Casino Royale.[140] Czech Lion is the high-est award for Czech lm achievement. The internationalKarlovy Vary lm festival is one of the oldest in the world.

7.8 Video gamesMain article: Video gaming in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is home to several globally suc-cessful video game developers, including Illusion Soft-works (2K Czech), Bohemia Interactive, Keen SoftwareHouse, Amanita Design and Madnger Games. TheCzech video game development scene has a long history,and a number of Czech games were produced for theZX Spectrum, PMD 85 and Atari systems in the 1980s.In the early 2000s, a number of Czech games achieved

international acclaim, including Hidden & Dangerous,Operation Flashpoint, Vietcong and Maa. Today, themost globally successful Czech games include ARMA,DayZ, Space Engineers, Machinarium, Shadowgun andBLACKHOLE. The CzechGame of the Year Awards areheld annually at the Anilm festival in Tebo.

7.9 CuisineMain article: Czech cuisineCzech cuisine is marked by a strong emphasis on meat

A mug of Budweiser Budvar

Svkov na smetan served with sirlion, dumplings (knedlky),whipped cream and cranberries[141]

dishes. Pork is quite common; beef and chicken are also

20 7 CULTURE

popular. Goose, duck, rabbit and wild game are served.Fish is rare, with the occasional exception of fresh troutand carp, which is served at Christmas.Czech beer has a long and important history. The rstbrewery is known to have existed in 993 and the CzechRepublic has the highest beer consumption per capita inthe world. The famous "pilsner style beer" (pils) origi-nated in the western Bohemian city of Plze, where worldfamous Pilsner Urquell is still being produced. Furthersouth the town of esk Budjovice, known as Budweisin German, lent its name to its beer, eventually knownas Budweiser Budvar. Apart from these and other majorbrands, the Czech Republic also boasts a growing numberof top quality small breweries and mini-breweries seek-ing to continue the age-old tradition of quality and taste,whose output matches the best in the world.Tourism is slowly growing around the SouthernMoravianregion too, which has been producing wine since theMid-dle Ages; about 94% of vineyards in the Czech RepublicareMoravian. Aside from slivovitz, Czech beer and wine,the Czechs also produce two unique liquors, Fernet Stockand Becherovka. Kofola is a non-alcoholic domestic colasoft drink which competes with Coca Cola and Pepsi inpopularity.Some popular Czech dishes include:

Vepo knedlo zelo: roast pork with bread dumplingsand stewed cabbage

Svkov na smetan: roast sirloin of beef withsteamed dumplings and cream of vegetable sauce

Rajsk (omka): beef in tomato sauce, traditionallyserved with dumplings

Koprovka: beef in dill sauce, traditionally servedwith dumplings

Peen kachna: roast duck with bread or potatodumplings and braised red cabbage

Gul: a variety of beef and pork goulash stews,served with dumplings or bread

Smaen sr: fried cheese, typically served withpotatoes or french fries and tartar sauce

Bramborky: potato pancakes, traditionally servedwith sour cabbage

There is also a large variety of local sausages, wurst,pts, and smoked and cured meats. Czech desserts in-clude a wide variety of whipped cream, chocolate, andfruit pastries and tarts, crepes, creme desserts and cheese,poppy seed lled and other types of traditional cakes suchas buchty, kole and trdl.

Ice hockey is one of the most popular sports in the Czech Republicand the Czech national team is one of the worlds best teams

7.10 Sports

Main article: Sport in the Czech Republic

Sports play a part in the life of many Czechs, who aregenerally loyal supporters of their favorite teams or in-dividuals. The two leading sports in the Czech Repub-lic are ice hockey and football. Tennis is also a verypopular sport in the Czech Republic. The many othersports with professional leagues and structures includebasketball, volleyball, team handball, track and eld ath-letics and oorball. The Czech ice hockey team won thegold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and has wonsix gold medals at the World Championships, includingthree straight from 1999 to 2001. In total the country haswon 14 gold medals in summer (plus 49 as Czechoslo-vakia) and ve gold medals (plus two as Czechoslovakia)in winter Olympic history.Sport is a source of strong waves of patriotism, usuallyrising several days or weeks before an event. The eventsconsidered the most important by Czech fans are: theIce Hockey World Championships, Olympic Ice hockeytournament, UEFA European Football Championship,UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup and quali-cation matches for such events.[142] In general, any in-ternational match of the Czech ice hockey or footballnational team draws attention, especially when playedagainst a traditional rival.The Czech Republic also has great inuence in tennis,with such players as Ivan Lendl, 8 times Grand Slamsingles champion, 2010 Wimbledon Championships Mens Singles nalist Tom Berdych, 2011 and 2014Wimbledon Championships Womens Singles cham-pion Petra Kvitov, 1998 Wimbledon Womens Singlestitle Jana Novotn, 2015 French Open Womens Sin-gles nalist Lucie Safarova, 2011 Wimbledon Champi-onships Womens Doubles champion Kvta Peschkeand 18 time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova.One of the most popular Czech sport is hiking, mainly in

21

the Czech mountains. The word tourist in the Czechlanguage also means a trekker or hiker. For beginners,thanks to the more than 100 years long tradition, there isa unique system of waymarking, one of the best in Eu-rope. There is a network of around 40,000 km of per-fectly marked short and long distance trails crossing thewhole country and all the Czech mountains not only inthe umava Mountains, but also in the Vysoina, Krunhory, Jizersk hory, Beskydy, Jesenky, Orlick hory andGiant Mountains Krkonoe.

8 See also List of Czech Republic-related topics Outline of the Czech Republic

9 ReferencesNotes

[1] Czech language. Czech Republic Ocial website.Ministry of Foreign Aairs of the Czech Republic. Re-trieved 14 November 2011.

[2] Citizens belonging to minorities, which traditionally andon a long-term basis live within the territory of the CzechRepublic, enjoy the right to use their language in commu-nication with authorities and in courts of law (for the listof recognized minorities see National Minorities Policy ofthe Government of the Czech Republic, Belorussian andVietnamese since 4 July 2013, see eskom nov ocilnnrodnostn meniny. Vietnamce a Blorusy). Article 25of the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and BasicFreedoms ensures the right of the national and ethnic mi-norities to education and communication with the author-ities in their own language. Act No. 500/2004 Coll. (TheAdministrative Rule) in its paragraph 16 (4) (ProceduralLanguage) ensures that a citizen of the Czech Republicwho belongs to a national or an ethnic minority, whichtraditionally and on a long-term basis lives within the ter-ritory of the Czech Republic, has the right to address anadministrative agency and proceed before it in the lan-guage of the minority. If the administrative agency has noemployee with knowledge of the language, the agency isbound to obtain a translator at the agencys own expense.According to Act No. 273/2001 (Concerning the Rightsof Members of Minorities) paragraph 9 (The right to uselanguage of a national minority in dealing with authoritiesand in front of the courts of law) the same also applies tomembers of national minorities in the courts of law.

[3] The Slovak language may be considered an ocial lan-guage in the Czech Republic under certain circumstances,as dened by several laws e.g. law 500/2004, 337/1992.Source: http://portal.gov.cz. Cited: Napklad Sprvnd (zkon . 500/2004 Sb.) stanovuje: V zen se

jedn a psemnosti se vyhotovuj v eskm jazyce. ast-nci zen mohou jednat a psemnosti mohou bt ped-kldny i v jazyce slovenskm ... (16, odstavec 1).Zkon o sprv dan a poplatk (337/1992 Sb.) "ednjazyk: Ped sprvcem dan se jedn v jazyce eskmnebo slovenskm. Veker psemn podn se pedkl-daj v etin nebo sloventin ... ( 3, odstavec 1). http://portal.gov.cz

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Angi, Jnos (1997). A nyugati szlv llamok[=Western Slavic states]". In Psn, Lszl; Papp,Imre; Brny, Attila; Orosz, Istvn; Angi, Jnos.Eurpa a korai kzpkorban ["Europe in the EarlyMiddle Ages"]. Multiplex Media Debrecen Uni-versity Press. pp. 358365. ISBN 963-04-9196-6.

10 Further reading Hochman, Ji. Historical dictionary of the Czech

State (1998)

25

11 External links Czech Republic entry at The World Factbook Czech Republic information from the United StatesDepartment of State

Portals to the World from the United States Libraryof Congress

Czech Republic at UCB Libraries GovPubs Czech Republic at DMOZ Czech Republic prole from the BBC News Wikimedia Atlas of the Czech Republic Geographic data related to Czech Republic atOpenStreetMap

Key Development Forecasts for the Czech Republicfrom International Futures

Czech Republic History of Celts History of Czech Economic and Political Align-ments Viewed as a Transition

Government

Governmental website Presidential website Portal of the Public Administration Senate Chief of State and Cabinet Members

News

The Prague Post CzechNews Czech News Agency News Prague Daily Monitor Radio Prague

Statistics

Czech Statistical Oce

Trade

World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Czech Re-public

Travel

Czech Tourism ocial travel site of the Czech Re-public

Czech tourist club ocial webpage

Coordinates: 4945N 1530E / 49.750N 15.500E

26 12 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

12 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses12.1 Text

Czech Republic Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic?oldid=676876166 Contributors: Dreamyshade, Brion VIBBER,Zundark, The Anome, Tarquin, Koyaanis Qatsi, AstroNomer~enwiki, Taw, Jeronimo, -- April, Scipius, Danny, Tim Shell, MarekF~enwiki,Hhanke, SimonP, Panairjdde~enwiki, Camembert, Mintguy, R Lowry, Hephaestos, Olivier, Vkem~enwiki, Edward, Patrick, Infrogma-tion, JohnOwens, Tim Starling, Gabbe, Menchi, Bohuslavroztocil, Wapcaplet, Mic, Ixfd64, Zanimum, Sannse, Prasenberg, Gaz~enwiki,Looxix~enwiki, Mdebets, Ahoerstemeier, Arwel Parry, Docu, TUF-KAT, Darkwind, , Jiang, Kaihsu, Cherkash, GCarty, Rl,John K, Jonik, Mxn, Johan Magnus, BRG, Raven in Orbit, Empetl, Norwikian, Ananaso, Timwi, Rob.derosa, Bemoeial, Daniel Quinlan,WhisperToMe, Wik, Tpbradbury, Munford, Maximus Rex, Grendelkhan, Morwen, Itai, Ed g2s, Joy, Bjarki S, Fvw, Zanthalon, Jerzy, Pro-teus, Qertis, Frish, Jni, Phil Boswell, Sjorford, Yenik~enwiki, Robbot, Juro, Vardion, Ke4roh, Caroig, ChrisO~enwiki, Chrism, Fredrik,Altenmann, Romanm, Naddy, Samrolken, Dukeofomnium, Gidonb, Hippietrail, Timrollpickering, Caknuck, Bkell, Mervyn, UtherSRG,Saforrest, Ddstretch, David Edgar, Gerv, Guy Peters, Katarzyna, Adam78, Lysy, David Gerard, Vjrott, DocWatson42, Pmaguire, Jao,Nikodemos, Meursault2004, Cool Hand Luke, Obli, Matt Borak, Tsca, Everyking, Mellum, Jgritz, Cantus, Rick Block,