THE CZECH REPUBLIC

.:: THE CZECH REPUBLIC ::.

Over the map
The Czech Republic is situated in the centre of Europe and sometimes it is called the heart of Europe. It has a population of 10 million people and covers an area of about 80,000 sq. km.
The Czech borders are the oldest ones in the Europe. We border with Germany on the west with a nature border made by the Ore Mountains, the Czech Forest and Šumava range. The border with Poland is made by the Jizerské Mountains, the Giant Mountains the Eagle Mountains and the Jeseník Mountain range. The border with Austria is made by the Dyje river and the border with Slovakia is made by the Morava river and White Karpat hills.

The Czech Republic consists of three lands: Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. A natural border between Moravia and Bohemia is made by the Bohemian-Moravian Highland. The biggest mountain in the Czech Republic is Sněžka (1602m) in the Giant Mountains and the longest river is the Vltava. Other important rivers are the Labe, Jizera, Ohře, Svitava, Svratka, Dyje, Morava and Oder. In southern Moravia fertile lowlands can be found. The warmest areas are in Southern Moravia and the coldest areas are in the Giant Mountains.

There are many spots of natural beauty in the Czech Republic, as well as areas totally spoiled by industries. South Bohemia is particularly rich in ponds. The most beautiful natural places are the Czech Paradise, “rock town” in Prachov rocks, the Děčín walls, Czech Switzerland, the Boubín virgin forests, Macocha abyss and so on. We have also some protected areas, some of them are really very nice (for example one of the protected areas is the region near river Dyje) and National parks.

System of government
The head of the Czech Republic is the President. The present President is Václav Havel. He is elected for five years. Parliament and the government have the main power.
The government is composed of the premier, the vice-premier and the ministers. There are many ministries, headed by ministers, eg. Interior, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice, Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, Finance, Transport, Labour and Social Affairs, Education, Culture and Health.

The judicial power is divided into a system of courts. There is Constitutional court and the Supreme Court, which are at the highest level and they go down to region and district courts.
Our flag consists of three colours, red, blue and white. The red is at the bottom, the white is at the top and the blue makes a triangle at the left side.

Population and cities
The biggest city is the capital, Prague and it has about one million inhabitants. The other big cities are Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň, České Budějovice, Hradec Králové. The major nationalities living here are Czech and Moravian, but there are also minority groups such as the Romes, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians and Russians.

Idustry, main products, economy, agriculture
The most important part of our economy is engineering industry. Other important branches are metallurgical and chemical industries and tourism, textile and glass industries have a long tradition. One of our most significant raw materials is coal. Black coal and anthracite are to be found mainly in the Ostrava Coal Basin, but also in the area of Kladno and elsewhere. Because of intensive mining these regions are the most polluted ones in the Czech Republic. The supplies of brown coal or lignite can be found in the North Bohemia Coal Basin and in Western Bohemia in the Sokolov Basin. We also hove minor supplies of iron ore, uranium and oil. Our deposits of kaolin and clay are important for the ceramics and glass industries as well as limestone for the building industry.

Also agriculture in our republic is developed enough. The most fertile soil is in South Moravia. The main items grown there are wheat, sugar-beet, corn, grapes and fruits. In animal production the most important are cattle-breeding and pig-breeding. Fish-breeding, especially carp-breeding can be found in South Bohemia, in the region called Třeboňsko. Bohemia and Moravia are quite rich in mineral springs and spas (Karlovy Vary, Mariánské lázně, Františkovy lázně, Poděbrady, Luhačovice,…).

Main points from the history
Our territory has been inhabited by Slavonic tribes since 5th century. The first Slavonic state was Samo’s empire which was found here in 623. Feudal Great Moravian Empire was formed in the 9th century. After its disintegration in the 9th century power was taken over by the Czech tribe headed by the Přemyslid dynasty.

When they had died out by the sword in 1306, the Czech throne went by way of dynastic wedding to the Luxembourg, and the Czech Kingdom became also the center of the Holy roman Empire mainly during the reign of Charles IV and his son Wenceslas IV. Prague grew into one of the largest European metropolises of that era and was center of education, architecure and arts. In 1348 Charles University was founded. It´s the oldest one in the Europe.

The first part of the 15th century is marked by the Hussite Movement.
After the reign of King Jiří z Poděbrad and after period of the rule of Jagielonian dynasty there came the period of the Hapsburgs dynasty. One of interesting emperors of this age was Rudolf II. He was famous for his interesting in chemistry and arts. During his rule Prague became center of arts in the empire.

The 20th century brought establishing of Czech state and two horrible world wars. After second world war Czech republic was under soviet influence. Turn came in 1989, after velvet revolution. In 1993 Czechoslovakia was divided into two states – Czech Republic and Slovakia. Now Czech republic is waiting for becoming a member of European Union.

There are also many places associated with our history. Among the most beautiful historic towns belong Prague, Kutná Hora, Tábor, Telč, Olomouc, Kroměříž,… Also many castles, ruins and chateaux can be found in our republic. To the most interesting ones belong Karlštejn, Křivoklát, Bezděz, Hluboká, Zvíkov, Loket, Kuks, Lednice and of course the Prague castle.