The Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked sovereign country located in Central Europe

Central Europe

Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

 and a member state of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

. The country has borders with Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 to the north, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 to the west, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 to the south, and Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

 to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 , a major tourist

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

 destination. The country is composed of the historic regions of Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 and Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

, as well as parts of Silesia

Czech Silesia

Czech Silesia is an unofficial name of one of the three Czech lands and a section of the Silesian historical region. It is located in the north-east of the Czech Republic, predominantly in the Moravian-Silesian Region, with a section in the northern Olomouc Region...

.

The Czech lands

Czech lands

Czech lands is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. Today, those three historic provinces compose the Czech Republic. The Czech lands had been settled by the Celts , then later by various Germanic tribes until the beginning of 7th...

 were under Habsburg

Habsburg

The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

 rule from 1526, later becoming part of the Austrian Empire

Austrian Empire

The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

 and Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

. The independent republic of Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 was created in 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. After the Munich Agreement

Munich Agreement

The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...

, German occupation of Czechoslovakia

German occupation of Czechoslovakia

German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...

 and the consequent disillusion with the Western response

Western betrayal

Western betrayal, also called Yalta betrayal, refers to a range of critical views concerning the foreign policies of several Western countries between approximately 1919 and 1968 regarding Eastern Europe and Central Europe...

 and liberation of major part of Czechoslovakia by the Red Army

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, the Communist party gained the majority in 1946 elections. Following a coup in 1948, Czechoslovakia became a Communist-ruled state. Prague Spring

Prague Spring

The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...

 of 1968, an attempt at reformation of the Communist regime, ended by invasion of armies of Warsaw Pact

Warsaw Pact

The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...

 countries which didn't leave until after the 1989 Velvet Revolution

Velvet Revolution

The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...

. On January 1, 1993 the country peacefully split

Dissolution of Czechoslovakia

The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on 1 January 1993, was an event that saw the self-determined separation of the federal state of Czechoslovakia. The Czech Republic and Slovakia, entities which had arisen in 1969 within the framework of Czechoslovak federalisation, became...

 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

.

The Czech Republic made economic reforms such as massive privatization

Privatization

Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...

 and flat tax

Flat tax

A flat tax is a tax system with a constant marginal tax rate. Typically the term flat tax is applied in the context of an individual or corporate income that will be taxed at one marginal rate...

. Annual gross domestic product

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....

 growth has recently been around 6%. The country is the first former member of the Comecon

Comecon

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance , 1949–1991, was an economic organisation under hegemony of Soviet Union comprising the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with a number of communist states elsewhere in the world...

 to achieve the status of a developed country

Developed country

A developed country is a country that has a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue...

 (2006) according to the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

. The Czech Republic also ranks best compared to the former Comecon countries in the Human Development Index

Human Development Index

The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...

.

The Czech Republic is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary

Parliamentary system

A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....

 representative democracy

Representative democracy

Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...

. President

President

A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 Václav Klaus

Václav Klaus

Václav Klaus is the second President of the Czech Republic and a former Prime Minister .An economist, he is co-founder of the Civic Democratic Party, the Czech Republic's largest center-right political party. Klaus is a eurosceptic, but he reluctantly endorsed the Lisbon treaty as president of...

 is the current head of state. The Prime Minister is the head of government

Head of government

Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...

 (currently Jan Fischer

Jan Fischer (politician)

Jan Fischer was Prime Minister of the caretaker government of Czech Republic in 2009−2010. A lifelong statistician, he was previously the president of the Czech Statistical Office since April 2003.- Personal life and education :...

). The Parliament has two chambers — the Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic

The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is situated in palaces in Malá Strana, Prague....

 and the Senate

Senate of the Czech Republic

The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic , usually referred to as Senát, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic...

. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 in 2004. It is also a member of the OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade...

, the Council of Europe

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

 and the Visegrád Group

Visegrád Group

The Visegrád Group, also called the Visegrád Four or V4, is an alliance of four Central European states – Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – for the purposes of cooperation and furthering their European integration...

.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Czech Republic:

General reference

• Pronunciation
  International Phonetic Alphabet
  The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
  
  : ˈtʃɛk rɪˈpʌblɪk
• Common English country name: The Czech Republic
  Czech Republic
  The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
  
  
• Official English country name: The Czech Republic
  Czech Republic
  The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
  
  
• Common endonym(s):
• Official endonym(s):
• Adjectival(s): Czech
• Demonym(s): Czechs
  Czech people
  Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
  
  
• Etymology
  Etymology
  Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
  
  : Name of the Czech Republic
• International rankings of the Czech Republic
  International rankings of the Czech Republic
  - International rankings :* Global Peace Index 2009: Ranks 11th out of 144 countries* Education - "Science performance" Index 2009: High positions in rankings* Human Development Index 2007: Ranks 32nd out of 178 countries...
  
  
• ISO country codes: CZ, CZE, 203
• ISO region codes: See ISO 3166-2:CZ
  ISO 3166-2:CZ
  ISO 3166-2:CZ is the entry for the Czech Republic in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.Currently for the Czech Republic,...
  
  
• Internet
  Internet
  The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
  
   country code top-level domain
  Country code top-level domain
  A country code top-level domain is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, a sovereign state, or a dependent territory....
  
  : .cz
  .cz
  .cz is the country code top-level domain for the Czech Republic. It is administered by CZ.NIC. Registrations must be ordered via accredited domain name registrars.Before the split in 1993 former Czechoslovakia used domain .cs....
  
  

Geography of the Czech Republic

• The Czech Republic is: a landlocked country
• Location:
  • Northern Hemisphere
    Northern Hemisphere
    The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
    
     and Eastern Hemisphere
    Eastern Hemisphere
    The Eastern Hemisphere, also Eastern hemisphere or eastern hemisphere, is a geographical term for the half of the Earth that is east of the Prime Meridian and west of 180° longitude. It is also used to refer to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia, vis-à-vis the Western Hemisphere, which includes...
    
    
  • Eurasia
    Eurasia
    Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
    
    
    • Europe
      Europe
      Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
      
      
      • Central Europe
        Central Europe
        Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
        
        
      • Eastern Europe
        Eastern Europe
        Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
        
        
  • Time zone
    Time zone
    A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
    
    : Central European Time
    Central European Time
    Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...
    
     (UTC+01), Central European Summer Time
    Central European Summer Time
    Central European Summer Time is one of the names of the Daylight saving time offset using the UTC offset of UTC+02:00, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in most European countries. During the winter, Central European Time is used...
    
     (UTC+02)
  • Extreme points of the Czech Republic
    Extreme points of the Czech Republic
    This is a list of the extreme points of the Czech Republic: the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.- Latitude and longitude :* North : Severní, part of Lobendava municipality, Ústí nad Labem Region...
    
    
    • High: Sněžka 1602 m (5,256 ft)
    • Low: Elbe
      Elbe
      The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
      
       115 m (377 ft)
  • Land boundaries: 1,989 km

 Germany 815 km

 Poland 615 km

 Austria 362 km

 Slovakia 197 km

• • Coastline: none
• Population of the Czech Republic:
• Area of the Czech Republic:
• Atlas of the Czech Republic

Environment of the Czech Republic

• Climate of the Czech Republic
• Environmental issues in the Czech Republic
• Ecoregions in the Czech Republic
• Renewable energy in the Czech Republic
• Geology of the Czech Republic
• Protected areas of the Czech Republic
  • Biosphere reserves in the Czech Republic
  • National parks of the Czech Republic
• Wildlife of the Czech Republic
  • Flora of the Czech Republic
  • Fauna of the Czech Republic
    Fauna of the Czech Republic
    -Number of species in the Czech Republic:Approximate number of animal species in the Czech Republic is about 40 000 species.* Protozoa - yes * Porifera - yes* Cnidaria / Hydrozoa - 4* Platyhelminthes...
    
    
    • Birds of the Czech Republic
    • Mammals of the Czech Republic

Natural geographic features of the Czech Republic

• Glaciers of the Czech Republic
• Lakes of the Czech Republic
• Mountains of the Czech Republic
  • Volcanoes in the Czech Republic
• Rivers of the Czech Republic
  • Waterfalls of the Czech Republic
• Valleys of the Czech Republic
• World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic

Ecoregions of the Czech Republic

Main article: Ecoregions in the Czech Republic

Administrative divisions of the Czech Republic

• Regions of the Czech Republic
  Regions of the Czech Republic
  According to Czech Law no. 129/2000 , which replaced paragraph 1/1993 of the Czech Constitution on Vyšší územně správních celcích , the Czech Republic has consisted of thirteen regions and one capital city with regional status since 1 January 2000...
  
  
  • Districts of the Czech Republic
    Districts of the Czech Republic
    In 1960, Czechoslovakia was re-divided into districts often without regard to traditional division and local relationships. In the area of the Czech Republic, there were 75 districts; a 76th Jeseník District was split in the 1990s from Šumperk District. Three consisted only of statutory cities In...
    
    

Municipalities of the Czech Republic

• Capital of the Czech Republic: Prague
• Cities of the Czech Republic

Government and politics of the Czech Republic

Main article: Government of the Czech Republic and Politics of the Czech Republic

Politics of the Czech Republic

Politically, the Czech Republic is a multi-party parliamentary representative democratic republic. According to the Constitution of the Czech Republic, the President is the head of state while the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising supreme executive power...

• Form of government
  Form of government
  A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized. Synonyms include "regime type" and "system of government".-Empirical and conceptual problems:...
  
  : parliamentary
  Parliamentary system
  A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
  
   representative democratic
  Representative democracy
  Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
  
   republic
  Republic
  A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
  
  
• Capital of the Czech Republic: Prague

• Elections in the Czech Republic
  Elections in the Czech Republic
  Elections in the Czech Republic gives information on election and election results in the Czech Republic.The Czech Republic elects on national level a legislature. The Parliament has two chambers...
  
  
  • (specific elections)
• Political parties in the Czech Republic
• Political scandals of the Czech Republic
• Taxation in the Czech Republic

Executive branch of the government of the Czech Republic

• Head of state
  Head of State
  A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
  
  : President of the Czech Republic
  President of the Czech Republic
  The President of the Czech Republic is the head of state of the Czech Republic. Unlike his counterparts in Austria and Hungary, who are generally considered figureheads, the Czech President has a considerable role in political affairs...
  
  ,
• Head of government
  Head of government
  Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
  
  : Prime Minister of the Czech Republic,
• Cabinet of the Czech Republic
  Cabinet of the Czech Republic
  Cabinet of the Czech Republic is the supreme executive body in the Czech Republic. Its position is defined in the Constitution of the Czech Republic.-Composition:The Cabinet is constituted by a Prime Minister and 14 Ministers with a portfolio...
  
  

Legislative branch of the government of the Czech Republic

• Parliament of the Czech Republic
  Parliament of the Czech Republic
  The Parliament of the Czech Republic is the legislative body of the Czech Republic, based in Prague. It consists of two chambers, both elected in direct elections:* the Lower House: Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic...
  
   (bicameral)
  • Upper house
    Upper house
    An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...
    
    : Senate of the Czech Republic
    Senate of the Czech Republic
    The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic , usually referred to as Senát, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic...
    
    
  • Lower house
    Lower house
    A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
    
    : Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Judicial branch of the government of the Czech Republic

• Supreme Court of the Czech Republic
  Supreme Court of the Czech Republic
  The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic is the court of highest appeal for almost all legal cases heard in the Czech Republic. As set forth in the Constitution of the Czech Republic, however, cases of constitutionality, administrative law and political jurisdiction are heard by other courts...
  
  

Foreign relations of the Czech Republic

• Diplomatic missions in the Czech Republic
• Diplomatic missions of the Czech Republic

International organization membership

The Czech Republic is a member of:

• Australia Group
  Australia Group
  The Australia Group is an informal group of countries established in 1985 to help member countries to identify those of their exports which need to be controlled so as not to contribute to the spread of chemical and biological weapons .The group, initially consisting of 15 members, held its first...
  
  
• Bank for International Settlements
  Bank for International Settlements
  The Bank for International Settlements is an intergovernmental organization of central banks which "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks." It is not accountable to any national government...
  
   (BIS)
• Black Sea Economic Cooperation Zone (BSEC) (observer)
• Central European Initiative
  Central European Initiative
  The Central European Initiative is a forum of regional cooperation in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, counting 18 member states. It was formed in Budapest in 1989.-History:...
  
   (CEI)
• Council of Europe
  Council of Europe
  The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
  
   (CE)
• Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
  Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
  The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council , a NATO institution, is a multilateral forum created to improve relations between NATO and non-NATO countries in Europe and those parts of Asia on the European periphery. The member states meet to cooperate and consult on a range of political and security issues...
  
   (EAPC)
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  Founded in 1991, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development uses the tools of investment to help build market economies and democracies in 30 countries from central Europe to central Asia. Its mission was to support the formerly communist countries in the process of establishing their...
  
   (EBRD)
• European Investment Bank
  European Investment Bank
  The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. A policy-driven bank, the EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially European integration and the development of economically weak regions...
  
   (EIB)
• European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
• European Space Agency
  European Space Agency
  The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
  
   (ESA) (cooperating state)
• European Union
  European Union
  The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
  
   (EU)
• Food and Agriculture Organization
  Food and Agriculture Organization
  The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...
  
   (FAO)
• International Atomic Energy Agency
  International Atomic Energy Agency
  The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...
  
   (IAEA)
• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is one of five institutions that compose the World Bank Group. The IBRD is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by World War II. Now, its mission has expanded to fight...
  
   (IBRD)
• International Chamber of Commerce
  International Chamber of Commerce
  The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its hundreds of thousands of member companies in over 130 countries have interests spanning every sector of private enterprise....
  
   (ICC)
• International Civil Aviation Organization
  International Civil Aviation Organization
  The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
  
   (ICAO)
• International Criminal Court
  International Criminal Court
  The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
  
   (ICCt) (signatory)
• International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)
• International Development Association
  International Development Association
  The International Development Association , is the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries. It complements the World Bank's other lending arm — the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development — which serves middle-income countries with capital investment and...
  
   (IDA)
• International Energy Agency
  International Energy Agency
  The International Energy Agency is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis...
  
   (IEA)
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
  International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
  The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is a humanitarian institution that is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement along with the ICRC and 186 distinct National Societies...
  
   (IFRCS)
• International Finance Corporation
  International Finance Corporation
  The International Finance Corporation promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries.IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States....
  
   (IFC)
• International Labour Organization
  International Labour Organization
  The International Labour Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its secretariat — the people who are employed by it throughout the world — is known as the...
  
   (ILO)
• International Maritime Organization
  International Maritime Organization
  The International Maritime Organization , formerly known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization , was established in Geneva in 1948, and came into force ten years later, meeting for the first time in 1959...
  
   (IMO)
• International Mobile Satellite Organization
  International Mobile Satellite Organization
  The International Mobile Satellite Organization is the intergovernmental organization that oversees certain public satellite safety and security communication services provided via the Inmarsat satellites...
  
   (IMSO)
• International Monetary Fund
  International Monetary Fund
  The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
  
   (IMF)
• International Olympic Committee
  International Olympic Committee
  The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
  
   (IOC)
• International Organization for Migration
  International Organization for Migration
  The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
  
   (IOM)
• International Organization for Standardization
  International Organization for Standardization
  The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
  
   (ISO)
• International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
  International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
  The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human...
  
   (ICRM)
• International Telecommunication Union
  International Telecommunication Union
  The International Telecommunication Union is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies...
  
   (ITU)
• International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
  International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
  The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization is an intergovernmental organisation charged with overseeing the public service obligations of Intelsat.-External links:*...
  
   (ITSO)

• International Trade Union Confederation
  International Trade Union Confederation
  The International Trade Union Confederation is the world's largest trade union federation. It was formed on November 1, 2006 out of the merger of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World Confederation of Labour...
  
   (ITUC)
• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
  Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
  The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency is a member organization of the World Bank Group that offers political risk insurance. It was established to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries. MIGA was founded in 1988 with a capital base of $1 billion and is headquartered in...
  
   (MIGA)
• Nonaligned Movement (NAM) (guest)
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• Nuclear Energy Agency
  Nuclear Energy Agency
  The Nuclear Energy Agency is an intergovernmental multinational agency that is organized under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development...
  
   (NEA)
• Nuclear Suppliers Group
  Nuclear Suppliers Group
  Nuclear Suppliers Group is a multinational body concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development and by improving safeguards and protection on existing materials.- History :It was founded in...
  
   (NSG)
• Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) (observer)
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
• Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
• Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
• Organization of American States
  Organization of American States
  The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
  
   (OAS) (observer)
• Permanent Court of Arbitration
  Permanent Court of Arbitration
  The Permanent Court of Arbitration , is an international organization based in The Hague in the Netherlands.-History:The court was established in 1899 as one of the acts of the first Hague Peace Conference, which makes it the oldest institution for international dispute resolution.The creation of...
  
   (PCA)
• Schengen Convention
• United Nations
  United Nations
  The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
  
   (UN)
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
  United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
  The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues....
  
   (UNCTAD)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization
  United Nations Industrial Development Organization
  The United Nations Industrial Development Organization , French/Spanish acronym ONUDI, is a specialized agency in the United Nations system, headquartered in Vienna, Austria...
  
   (UNIDO)
• United Nations Mission in Liberia
  United Nations Mission in Liberia
  The United Nations Mission in Liberia is a peace-keeping force established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War....
  
   (UNMIL)
• United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia
  United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia
  The United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 858 in August 1993 to verify compliance with a 27 July 1993 ceasefire agreement between the Republic of Georgia and forces in Abkhazia with special attention given to the situation in the...
  
   (UNOMIG)
• United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)
• Universal Postal Union
  Universal Postal Union
  The Universal Postal Union is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration , the Postal Operations Council and the...
  
   (UPU)
• Western European Union
  Western European Union
  The Western European Union was an international organisation tasked with implementing the Modified Treaty of Brussels , an amended version of the original 1948 Treaty of Brussels...
  
   (WEU) (associate)
• World Confederation of Labour
  World Confederation of Labour
  The World Confederation of Labour was an international labour organization founded in 1920 and based in Europe. Totalitarian governments of the 1930s repressed the federation and imprisoned many of its leaders, limiting operations until the end of World War II...
  
   (WCL)
• World Customs Organization
  World Customs Organization
  The World Customs Organization is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. With its worldwide membership, the WCO is recognized as the voice of the global customs community...
  
   (WCO)
• World Federation of Trade Unions
  World Federation of Trade Unions
  The World Federation of Trade Unions was established in 1945 to replace the International Federation of Trade Unions. Its mission was to bring together trade unions across the world in a single international organization, much like the United Nations...
  
   (WFTU)
• World Health Organization
  World Health Organization
  The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
  
   (WHO)
• World Intellectual Property Organization
  World Intellectual Property Organization
  The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world"....
  
   (WIPO)
• World Meteorological Organization
  World Meteorological Organization
  The World Meteorological Organization is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 189 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization , which was founded in 1873...
  
   (WMO)
• World Tourism Organization
  World Tourism Organization
  The World Tourism Organization , based in Madrid, Spain, is a United Nations agency dealing with questions relating to tourism. It compiles the World Tourism rankings. The World Tourism Organization is a significant global body, concerned with the collection and collation of statistical information...
  
   (UNWTO)
• World Trade Organization
  World Trade Organization
  The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
  
   (WTO)
• Zangger Committee
  Zangger Committee
  The Zangger Committee, also known as the Nuclear Exporters Committee, sprang from Article III.2 of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons which entered into force on March 5, 1970...
  
   (ZC)

Law and order in the Czech Republic

Main article: Law of the Czech Republic

• Capital punishment in the Czech Republic
  Capital punishment in the Czech Republic
  Capital punishment was legal and used in Czechoslovakia until abolition in 1990. The last exeution was carried out in 1989...
  
  
• Constitution of the Czech Republic
  Constitution of the Czech Republic
  The current Constitution of the Czech Republic was adopted on December 16, 1992. It replaced the constitution of Czechoslovakia , which split into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic by act of parliament on January 1, 1993, through the so-called Velvet Divorce.The document is organized into...
  
  
• Crime in the Czech Republic
  Crime in the Czech Republic
  Crime in the Czech Republic is combated by the Czech Police and other agencies.-General:In 2009, there were approximately 330,000 crimes committed in the Czech Republic. The number of murders fell from 202 in 2008 to 181 in 2009. The U.S...
  
  
• Human rights in the Czech Republic
  • LGBT rights in the Czech Republic
  • Freedom of religion in the Czech Republic
• Law enforcement in the Czech Republic
  Law enforcement in the Czech Republic
  Policing in the Czech Republic is the responsibility of the Police of the Czech Republic.- Organisation :Among the departments in the force are the order police service, the criminal police service, the traffic police service, the administration activity service, the Safety service, the service for...
  
  

Military of the Czech Republic

Main article: Military of the Czech Republic

Military of the Czech Republic

The Army of the Czech Republic comprise the land forces, the Czech Air Force and support units. From the late 1940s to 1989, the extensive Czechoslovak Armed Forces formed one of the pillars of the Warsaw Pact military alliance...

• Command
  • Commander-in-chief
    Commander-in-Chief
    A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
    
    :
    • Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic
• Forces
  • Army of the Czech Republic
  • Navy of the Czech Republic
  • Air Force of the Czech Republic
  • Special forces of the Czech Republic
• Military history of the Czech Republic
• Military ranks of the Czech Republic

History of the Czech Republic

Main article: History of the Czech Republic, Timeline of the history of the Czech Republic, and Current events of the Czech Republic

• Economic history of the Czech Republic
• Military history of the Czech Republic

Culture of the Czech Republic

Main article: Culture of the Czech Republic

Culture of the Czech Republic

This article is about the culture of the Czech Republic.-Festivities and traditions:Czech people celebrate Christmas every year, beginning with a dinner on 24 December. The tables for this dinner can only be set for an even number of guests, because an odd number will bring bad luck...

• Architecture of the Czech Republic
• Cuisine of the Czech Republic
• Ethnic minorities in the Czech Republic
• Festivals in the Czech Republic
• Humor in the Czech Republic
• Languages of the Czech Republic
• Media in the Czech Republic
• National symbols of the Czech Republic
  • Coat of arms of the Czech Republic
    Coat of arms of the Czech Republic
    The coat of arms of the Czech Republic displays the three historical regions—the Czech lands—which make up the nation:The arms of Bohemia show a silver double-tailed lion on a red background1. The Bohemian Lion is repeated in the lower-left-hand side of the coat of arms...
    
    
  • Flag of the Czech Republic
    Flag of the Czech Republic
    The national flag of the Czech Republic is the same as the flag of the former Czechoslovakia. Upon the dissolution of Czechoslovakia the Czech Republic kept the Czechoslovak flag while the Slovak Republic adopted its own flag....
    
    
  • National anthem of the Czech Republic
• People of the Czech Republic
• Prostitution in the Czech Republic
  Prostitution in the Czech Republic
  Prostitution in the Czech Republic is not illegal, but organized prostitution is prohibited. The enforcement of these laws, however, can be lax...
  
  
• Public holidays in the Czech Republic
  Public holidays in the Czech Republic
  Public holidays in the Czech RepublicDateEnglish NameCzech NameRemarks1 January Restoration Day of the Independent Czech State; New Year's DayDen obnovy samostatného českého státu; Nový rokThe independent Czech Republic was created in 1993, after dissolution of Czechoslovakia.March, AprilEaster...
  
  
• Records of the Czech Republic
• Religion in the Czech Republic
  • Buddhism in the Czech Republic
    Buddhism in the Czech Republic
    With a rough estimate of fifty thousand Buddhists, Buddhism is practiced by around 0.5% of the Czech population. The World Buddhist Directory lists 70 Buddhist places in the Czech Republic....
    
    
  • Christianity in the Czech Republic
  • Hinduism in the Czech Republic
    Hinduism in the Czech Republic
    The Czech Hindu Religion Society was founded on November 25, 2002 and is based in Střílky, Czech Republic. Currently the Society has approximately 300 members.Other organizations: ISKCON , Ananda Marga....
    
    
  • Islam in the Czech Republic
    Islam in the Czech Republic
    The estimated number of Muslims today in the Czech Republic is over 10,000. The number rose sharply during the 1990s and has remained stable since.-History:...
    
    
  • Judaism in the Czech Republic
  • Sikhism in the Czech Republic
• World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic

Art in the Czech Republic

• Art in the Czech Republic
• Cinema of the Czech Republic
  Cinema of the Czech Republic
  The Czech Republic was a seedbed for many acclaimed film directors.Three Czech/Czechoslovak movies that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film were The Shop on Main Street by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos in 1965, Closely Watched Trains by Jiří Menzel in 1967 and...
  
  
• Literature of the Czech Republic
• Music of the Czech Republic
  Music of the Czech Republic
  - Traditional and Classical :The traditional music of Bohemia and Moravia has been well documented and influenced the work of composers like Leoš Janáček, Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, and Bohuslav Martinů. Janáček made his recordings at an auspicious time...
  
  
• Television in the Czech Republic
  Television in the Czech Republic
  Television was introduced in Czechoslovakia in 1953.Experimental projects with DVB-T started in 2000. Finally on 21 October 2005, multiplex A was launched with 3 channels of Česká televize and one of TV Nova and radio channels of Český rozhlas....
  
  
• Theatre of the Czech Republic
  Theatre of the Czech Republic
  Theatre of the Czech Republic has rich tradition in all genres, including drama, opera, ballet and dance, puppet theatre, black light theatre etc.-History:...
  
  

Sports in the Czech Republic

Main article: Sports in the Czech Republic

• Football in the Czech Republic
  Football in the Czech Republic
  This article discusses the structure of football leagues in the Czech Republic. These leagues are organised by The Football Association of the Czech Republic .-League system:...
  
  
• Czech Republic at the Olympics
  Czech Republic at the Olympics
  The Czech Republic first participated at the Olympic Games as an independent nation in 1994, and has competed in every Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games since then...
  
  

Economy and infrastructure of the Czech Republic

Main article: Economy of the Czech Republic

Economy of the Czech Republic

Of the emerging democracies in central and eastern Europe, the Czech Republic has one of the most developed industrialized economies. It is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe...

• Economic rank, by nominal GDP (2007): 39th (thirty-ninth)

• Agriculture in the Czech Republic
• Banking in the Czech Republic
  • National Bank of the Czech Republic
• Communications in the Czech Republic
  Communications in the Czech Republic
  Telephones - main lines in use:2.888 million Telephones - mobile cellular:13.075 million Telephone system:domestic:...
  
  
  • Internet in the Czech Republic
    Internet in the Czech Republic
    -Wi-Fi:Because ADSL was very expensive for the average worker in its early days, an enormous number of wireless ISPs came to an existence offering reasonable priced monthly-plans since 2003. By the beginning of 2008, there was over 800 mostly local WISPs that had enormous market share of the...
    
    
• Companies of the Czech Republic

• Currency of the Czech Republic
  Currency
  In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
  
  : Koruna
  Czech koruna
  The Czech koruna or Czech crown has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 8 February 1993 when, together with its Slovak counterpart, it replaced the Czechoslovak koruna at par....
  
  
  • ISO 4217
    ISO 4217
    ISO 4217 is a standard published by the International Standards Organization, which delineates currency designators, country codes , and references to minor units in three tables:* Table A.1 – Current currency & funds code list...
    
    : CZK

• Economic history of the Czech Republic
• Energy in the Czech Republic
  Energy in the Czech Republic
  Energy in the Czech Republic describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in the Czech Republic.-Overview:Primary energy consumption per million people in 2008 was 50 TWh compared to other countries : Canada 93 , USA 87 , UK 40 , Greece 31 TWh and Poland 30 .- Coal :OKD is...
  
  
  • Energy policy of the Czech Republic
  • Oil industry in the Czech Republic
• Mining in the Czech Republic
• Czech Republic Stock Exchange
• Tourism in the Czech Republic
  Tourism in the Czech Republic
  The Czech Republic, and in particular the capital Prague, has become one of the major tourist destinations in Europe. Other highly-visited destinations include Karlštejn Castle, Kutná Hora, Český Krumlov, and Lednice.-Nightlife:...
  
  
• Transport in the Czech Republic
  Transport in the Czech Republic
  -Railways:The Czech Republic has a total railway length of . The vast majority is standard gauge. Electrified railways generally have voltages of 3 kV DC or 25 kV AC. of track is narrow gauge. The most prominent Czech railway company is the state-owned České dráhy . Prague has an underground...
  
  
• Transportation in the Czech Republic
  • Airports in the Czech Republic
  • Rail transport in the Czech Republic
  • Roads in the Czech Republic
• Water supply and sanitation in the Czech Republic

Health in the Czech Republic

• Health care in the Czech Republic

See also

• Index of Czech Republic-related articles
• List of Czech Republic-related topics
• List of international rankings
• Member state of the European Union
  Member State of the European Union
  A member state of the European Union is a state that is party to treaties of the European Union and has thereby undertaken the privileges and obligations that EU membership entails. Unlike membership of an international organisation, being an EU member state places a country under binding laws in...
  
  
• Member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• Member state of the United Nations
• Outline of Europe
• Outline of geography
  Outline of geography
  The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to geography:Geography – science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth.- Geography is :...
  
  

External links

• Czech Republic
• Expats Radio Online Free online radio from the centre of Europe specifically for expatriates

Government

• Governmental website
• Presidential website
• Portal of the Public Administration

Parliament

• Chamber of Deputies
• Senate

News

• Czech News Agency news
• Czech Republic Newspapers
• Prague Daily Monitor
• The Prague Tribune
• Radio Prague

Statistics

• Economic & Social Data Ranking

Aktualne.cz CzechNews

Photos

• Photos of the Czech republic

Travelling

• CzechTourism
• Czech Republic at Wikitravel