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Country Guide

Czech Republic Facts

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Geography

Location:
Central Europe, between Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria


Geographic coordinates:
49 45 N, 15 30 E


Map references:
Europe


Area:
total:78,867 sq kmcountry comparison to the world: 116
land:77,247 sq km
water:1,620 sq km


Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than South Carolina


Land boundaries:
total:2,046 km
border countries:Austria 402 km, Germany 704 km, Poland 699 km, Slovakia 241 km


Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)


Maritime claims:
lowest point:Labe (Elbe) River 115 m
highest point:Snezka 1,602 m


Natural resources:
hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber


Land use:
arable land:40.12%
permanent crops:0.96%
other:58.92% (2011)


    Irrigated land:
385.3 sq km (2007)


Total renewable water resources:
13.15 cu km (2011)


Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
13.15 cu km (2011)

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


Environment - international agreements:
party to:Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified:none of the selected agreements


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

People and Society

Nationality:
noun: Czech(s)
adjective:Czech


Ethnic groups:
Czech 64.3%, Moravian 5%, Slovak 1.4%, other 1.8%, unspecified 27.5% (2011 est.)


Languages:
Czech 95.4%, Slovak 1.6%, other 3% (2011 census)


Religions:
Roman Catholic 10.4%, Protestant (includes Czech Brethren and Hussite) 1.1%, other and unspecified 54%, none 34.5% (2011 est.)


Population:
10,627,448 (July 2014 est.)country comparison to the world: 83


Age structure:
0-14 years:14.9% (male 812,503/female 769,849)
15-24 years:10.6% (male 576,304/female 547,765)
25-54 years:43.6% (male 2,377,962/female 2,256,989)
55-64 years:13.4% (male 687,155/female 735,277)
65 years and over:17.6% (male 766,402/female 1,097,242) (2014 est.)


Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio:47.7 %
youth dependency ratio:22.4 %
elderly dependency ratio:25.4 %
potential support ratio:3.9 (2014 est.)


Median age:
total:40.9 years
male:39.6 years
female:42.3 years (2014 est.)


Population growth rate:
0.17% (2014 est.)country comparison to the world: 182


Birth rate:
9.79 births/1,000 population (2014 est.)country comparison to the world: 199


Death rate:
10.29 deaths/1,000 population (2014 est.)country comparison to the world: 45


Net migration rate:
2.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2014 est.)country comparison to the world: 46


Urbanization:
urban population:73.4% of total population (2011)
rate of urbanization:0.24% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)


Major urban areas - population:
PRAGUE (capital) 1.276 million (2011)


Sex ratio:
at birth:1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years:1.06 male(s)/female
15-24 years:1.05 male(s)/female
25-54 years:1.05 male(s)/female
55-64 years:0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over:0.67 male(s)/female
total population:0.95 male(s)/female (2014 est.)


Mother's mean age at first birth:
27.8 (2011 est.)


Maternal mortality rate:
5 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)


Infant mortality rate:
total:2.63 deaths/1,000 live birthscountry comparison to the world: 218
male:2.76 deaths/1,000 live births
female:2.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2014 est.)


    Life expectancy at birth:
total population:78.31 yearscountry comparison to the world: 55
male:75.34 years
female:81.45 years (2014 est.)


Total fertility rate:
1.43 children born/woman (2014 est.)country comparison to the world: 201


Contraceptive prevalence rate:
86.3%


Health expenditures:
7.4% of GDP (2011)


Physicians density:
3.71 physicians/1,000 population (2010)


Hospital bed density:
7 beds/1,000 population (2010)


Drinking water source:
improved:
urban: 99.9% of population
rural: 99.6% of population
total: 99.8% of population
unimproved:
urban: 0.1% of population
rural: 0.4% of population
total: 0.2% of population (2012 est.)


Sanitation facility access:
improved:
urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
unimproved:
urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2012 est.)


HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2009 est.)country comparison to the world: 135


HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
2,000 (2009 est.)country comparison to the world: 139


HIV/AIDS - deaths:
fewer than 100 (2009 est.)country comparison to the world: 132


Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
32.7% (2008)country comparison to the world: 21


Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
2% (2007)country comparison to the world: 122


Education expenditures:
4.2% of GDP (2010)country comparison to the world: 106

Literacy:
definition:NA
total population:99%
male:99%
female:99% (2011 est.)


School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total:16 years
male:16 years
female:17 years (2011)


Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
total:19.5%country comparison to the world: 62
male:19.9%
female:19% (2012)

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Czech Republic
conventional short form:Czech Republic
local long form:Ceska republika
local short form:Cesko


Government type:
parliamentary democracy


Capital:
name:Prague
geographic coordinates:50 05 N, 14 28 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


Administrative divisions:
13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky (South Bohemia), Jihomoravsky (South Moravia), Karlovarsky (Karlovy Vary), Kralovehradecky (Hradec Kralove), Liberecky (Liberec), Moravskoslezsky (Moravia-Silesia), Olomoucky (Olomouc), Pardubicky (Pardubice), Plzensky (Pilsen), Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky (Central Bohemia), Ustecky (Usti), Vysocina (Highlands), Zlinsky (Zlin)


Independence:
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


National holiday:
Czechoslovak Founding Day, 28 October (1918)


Constitution:
previous 1960; latest ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993; amended several times, last in 2013 (2013)


Legal system:
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


International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction


Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal


Executive branch:
chief of state:President Milos ZEMAN (since 8 March 2013)
head of government:Prime Minister Bohuslav SOBOTKA (since 17 January 2014); First Deputy Prime Minister Andrej BABIS and Deputy Prime Minister Pavel BELOBRADEK (both since 29 January 2014)
cabinet:Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections:constitutional amendment passed in 2012 introduced presidential election by popular vote instead of by Parliament; president elected for a five-year term (may not serve more than two consecutive terms); elections last held on 11-12 January 2013 with a runoff on 25-26 January 2013 (next to be held in January 2018); prime minister appointed by the president
election results:Milos ZEMAN elected president; percent of popular vote - Milos ZEMAN 54.8%, Karel SCHWARZENBERG 45.2%


Legislative branch:
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)
elections:Senate - last held in two rounds on 12-13 and 19-20 October 2012 (next to be held in October 2014); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 25-26 October 2013 (next to be held in 2017)
election results:Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - CSSD 48, ODS 15, KDU-CSL 4, TOP 09 4, North Bohemians 2, KSCM 2, Green 1, Ostravak 1, Pirate 1, independent 3; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - CSSD 20.5%, ANO 2011 18.7%, KSCM 14.9%, TOP 09 12%, ODS 7.7%, Usvit 6.9%, KDU-CSL 6.8% other 12.5%; seats by party - CSSD 50, ANO 2011 47, KSCM 33, TOP 09 26, ODS 16, Usvit 14, KDU-CSL 14


Judicial branch:
highest court(s):Supreme Court (organized into Civil Law and Commercial Division, and Criminal Division each with a court chief justice, vice justice, and several judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 15 justices); Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 28 judges)
judge selection and term of office:Supreme Court judges proposed by the Chamber of Deputies and appointed by the president; judges appointed for life; Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate; judges appointed for 10-year, renewable terms; Supreme Administrative Court judges selected by the president of the Court; judge term NA
subordinate courts:High Court; superior, regional, and district courts


    Political parties and leaders:
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 FIALA]
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP]
Czech Pirate Party [Ivan BARTOS]
Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Bohuslav SOBOTKA]
Dawn of Direct Democracy or Usvit [Tomio OKAMURA]
Green Party [Ondrej LISKA]
Liberal Democrats or LIDEM [Dagmar NAVRATILOVA]
Liberal Environmental Party or LES [Martin BURSYK]
Movement of Dissatisfied Citizens or ANO [Andrej BABIS]
North Bohemians
Ostravak Movement
Public Affairs or VV [Radek JOHN]
Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 or TOP 09 [Karel SCHWARZENBERG]


Political pressure groups and leaders:
Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS [Jaroslav ZAVADIL]


International organization participation:
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


Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission:Ambassador Petr GANDALOVIC (since 23 May 2011)
chancery:3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:[1] (202) 274-9100
FAX:[1] (202) 966-8540
consulate(s) general:Chicago, Los Angeles, New York


Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:Ambassador Norman L. EISEN (since 14 January 2011)
embassy:Trziste 15, 118 01 Prague 1 - Mala Strana
mailing address:use embassy street address
telephone:[420] 257 022 000
FAX:[420] 257 022 809


Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side


National symbol(s):
double-tailed lion


National anthem:
name:'Kde domov muj?' (Where is My Home?)

lyrics/music:Josef Kajetan TYL/Frantisek Jan SKROUP
note:adopted 1993; the anthem is a verse from the former Czechoslovak anthem originally written as part of the opera 'Fidlovacka'

Economy

Economy - overview:
The Czech Republic is a stable and prosperous market economy closely integrated with the EU, especially since the country's EU accession in 2004. The auto industry is 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. 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 sharply in 2009. The economy slowly recovered in the second half of 2009 and registered weak growth in the next two years. In 2012, however, the economy fell into a recession again, due both to a slump in external demand and to the government’s austerity measures. The country pulled out of recession in the second half of 2013, and most analysts expect modest, but steady, growth through 2014. 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.


GDP (pur LookForAttorney.com | Country Guide of Turkmenistan