| Czech Republic |
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| Background: Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. |
| Geography and Environmental |
Capital: name: Prague
geographic coordinates: 40 55 N, 21 00 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
| Area Total: 78,866 sq km |
| Area Land: 77,276 sq km |
| Area Water: 1,590 sq km |
| Area Comparative: slightly smaller than South Carolina |
| Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) |
| Climate: temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters |
| Terrain: Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country |
| Elevation Extremes Lowest Point: Elbe River 115 m |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: Snezka 1,602 m |
| Natural Resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber |
| Land Use Arable Land: 38.82% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 3% |
| Land Use Other: 58.18% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 240 sq km (2003) |
| Natural Hazards: flooding |
| Environment Current Issues: air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks; acid rain damaging forests; efforts to bring industry up to EU code should improve domestic pollution |
| Geography Note: 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 |
| Population |
| Population: 10,228,744 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 14.1% (male 738,391/female 698,999) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 71.2% (male 3,657,877/female 3,627,493) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 14.7% (male 588,531/female 917,453) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 39.5 years |
| Median Age Male: 37.9 years |
| Median Age Female: 41.3 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: -0.071% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 8.96 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 10.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.06 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.056 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 1.008 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.641 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 0.951 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 3.86 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 4.21 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 3.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 76.42 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 73.14 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 79.88 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 1.22 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: 2,500 (2001 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: less than 10 (2001 est.) |
| Religions: Roman Catholic 26.8%, Protestant 2.1%, other 3.3%, unspecified 8.8%, unaffiliated 59% (2001 census) |
| Languages: Czech 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (2001 census) |
| Literacy Definition: NA |
| Literacy Total Population: 99% |
| Literacy Male: 99% |
| Literacy Female: 99% (2003 est.) |
| Administrative Divisions: 13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky Kraj, Jihomoravsky Kraj, Karlovarsky Kraj, Kralovehradecky Kraj, Liberecky Kraj, Moravskoslezsky Kraj, Olomoucky Kraj, Pardubicky Kraj, Plzensky Kraj, Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky Kraj, Ustecky Kraj, Vysocina, Zlinsky Kraj |
| Legal System: civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to bring it in line with Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory |
| Economy |
| Overview: The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in 2000-05 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and domestic investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as interest rates drop and the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases. The current account deficit has declined to around 3% of GDP as demand for Czech products in the European Union has increased. Inflation is under control. Recent accession to the EU gives further impetus and direction to structural reform. In early 2004, the government passed increases in the Value Added Tax (VAT) and tightened eligibility for social benefits with the intention to bring the public finance gap down to 4% of GDP by 2006. However, due to significant increases in social spending in the run-up to June 2006 elections, the government is not likely to meet this goal. Negotiations on pension and healthcare reforms are continuing without clear prospects for agreement and implementation. Privatization of the state-owned telecommunications firm Cesky Telecom took place in 2005. Intensified restructuring among large enterprises, improvements in the financial sector, and effective use of available EU funds should strengthen output growth. |
| GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $221.4 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 6.2% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 2.8% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 37.8% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 59.4% (2006 est.) |
| Labor Force: 5.31 million (2006 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 4.1%
industry: 37.6%
services: 58.3% (2003) |
| Unemployment Rate: 8.4% (2006 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: 4.3%
highest 10%: 22.4% (1996) |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 2.7% (2006 est.) |
| Industries: metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: 9.5% (2006 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 79.14 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 76.1% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 2.9% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 20% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 1% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 58.8 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Exports: 24.6 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 9.8 billion kWh (2004) |
| Oil Production: 15,240 bbl/day (2005) |
| Oil Consumption: 203,100 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Proved Reserves: 17.25 million bbl (1 January 2002) |
| Natural Gas Production: 216 million cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 9.6 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Exports: 88 million cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Imports: 8.815 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Proved Reserves: 3.964 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) |
| Exports: $89.34 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: machinery and transport equipment 52%, chemicals 5%, raw materials and fuel 9% (2003) |
| Exports Partners: Germany 33.5%, Slovakia 8.7%, Austria 5.5%, Poland 5.5%, France 5.3%, UK 4.6%, Italy 4.3% (2005) |
| Imports: $87.7 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003) |
| Imports Partners: Germany 30%, Russia 5.7%, Slovakia 5.4%, China 5.1%, Poland 5%, Italy 4.8%, France 4.5%, Netherlands 4% (2005) |
| Debt External: $50.2 billion (30 June 2006 est.) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $2.4 billion in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004-06) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 3,217,300 (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 11.776 million (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: privatization and modernization of the Czech telecommunication system got a late start but is advancing steadily; growth in the use of mobile cellular telephones is particularly vigorous |
| Telephone System Domestic: 86% of exchanges now digital; existing copper subscriber systems now being enhanced with Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) equipment to accommodate Internet and other digital signals; trunk systems include fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay |
| Telephone System International: country code - 420; satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000) |
| Radios: 3,159,134 (December 2000) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 150 (plus 1,434 repeaters) (2000) |
| Televisions: 3,405,834 (December 2000) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: more than 300 (2000) |
| Internet Users: 5.1 million (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Railways Total: 9,572 km |
| Railways Standard Gauge: 9,473 km 1.435-m gauge (2,951 km electrified) |
| Railways Narrow Gauge: 99 km 0.760-m gauge (2005) |
| Waterways: 664 km (principally on Elbe as well as Vltava and Oder rivers) (2005) |
| Airports: 121 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 1.81% (2005 est.) |
| Disputes International: in 2006, Austrian public protests for the Czech Republic to close the Temelin nuclear power plant resulted in an Austrian parliamentary motion threatening international legal action |
| IllicitDrugs: 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 |