Czech Republic

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"Czechia" redirects here. For other uses, see Czechia (disambiguation) and Czech Republic

(disambiguation).

Coordinates:  49°45′N 15°30′E

Czech Republic

Česká republika  (Czech)

Flag

Greater coat of arms

Motto: "Pravda vítězí" (Czech)
"Truth prevails"

Anthem: 

 Kde domov můj  (Czech)

 Where is my home a


 MENU

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Location of the Czech Republic (dark green)

– in Europe (green & dark grey)

– in the European Union (green)  –  [Legend]

Capital Prague
50°05′N 14°28′E
and largest city

Official language Czech[1]

Officially recognized languages[2][3]

List[show]

Ethnic groups  64.3% Czechs
25.3% Unspecified
(2016[4][5])
5.0% Moravians
1.4% Slovaks
1.0% Ukrainians
3.0% other

Religion  44.7% Undeclared

34.5% No religion
(2011)[6]
12.6% Christianity
—10.5% Catholicism
—2.1% Other Christian
0.7% Others
 Demonym(s) Czech

Government Unitary parliamentary
constitutional republic

• President Miloš Zeman

• Prime Minister Andrej Babiš

Legislature Parliament

• Upper house Senate

• Lower house Chamber of Deputies

Establishment history

• Duchy of Bohemia c. 870

• Kingdom of Bohemia 1198

• Czechoslovakia 28 October 1918

• Federalization of Czechoslovakia 1 January 1969

• Czech Republic became 1 January 1993

independent

• Joined the European Union 1 May 2004

Area

• Total 78,866 km2 (30,450 sq mi) (115th)

• Water (%) 2

Population

• 2020 estimate  10,693,939[7] (86th)

• 2011 census 10,436,560[8]

• Density 134/km2 (347.1/sq mi) (87th)

 GDP (PPP) 2020 estimate

• Total  $432.346 billion[9] (36th)

• Per capita  $40,585[9] (34th)

GDP (nominal) 2020 estimate

• Total  $261.732 billion[9] (36th)

• Per capita  $24,569[9] (37th)

Gini (2019)  24.0[10]

low · 5th

HDI (2018)  0.891[11]

very high · 26th

Currency Czech koruna (CZK)

Time zone UTC+1 (CET)

• Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)

Driving side right

Calling code +420b

ISO 3166 code CZ

Internet TLD .czc

a. The question is rhetorical, implying "those places where my

homeland lies".

b. Code 42 was shared with Slovakia until 1997.

c. Also .eu, shared with other European Union member states.

The Czech Republic (/ˈtʃɛk -/ ( listen);[12] Czech: Česká republika [ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpublɪka] ( listen)),

[13]
 also known by its short-form name, Czechia[14] (/ˈtʃɛkiə/ ( listen); Czech: Česko [ˈtʃɛsko] ( listen)),
is a landlocked country in Central Europe bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the
west, Poland to the northeast and Slovakia to the southeast.[15] The Czech Republic has hilly
landscape that covers an area of 78,866 square kilometers (30,450 sq mi) with a mostly
temperate continental climate and oceanic climate. It is a unitary parliamentary republic, with
10.7 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Prague, with 1.3 million residents; other
major cities include Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc and Plzeň.
The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great
Moravian Empire. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as an Imperial State of the Holy
Roman Empire, and became the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198, reaching its greatest territorial
extent in the 14th century.[16][17] Prague was the imperial seat in periods between the 14th and
17th century. The Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century led to the Hussite Wars, which
resulted in a period of confessional pluralism and relative religious tolerance.
Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated
into the Habsburg Monarchy. The Protestant Bohemian Revolt (1618–20) against the
Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the
Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Catholicism, and adopted a policy of
gradual Germanization. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Bohemian
Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire, and the Czech (Bohemian)
language and literature experienced a cultural revival. In the 19th century, the Czech lands
became heavily industrialized and were subsequently the core of the First Czechoslovak
Republic, which was formed in 1918 following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire after World War I.[18]
Czechoslovakia was the only democracy in Central Europe during the interwar period.
[19]
 However, beginning in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically annexed the Czech Lands, while
Slovakia became a German puppet state. The country was restored in 1945. Most members of
the German-speaking minority were expelled following the war. The Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia won a plurality in the 1946 elections and after the 1948  coup d'état established
a one-party communist state under Soviet influence. Increasing dissatisfaction with the regime
culminated in 1968 to the reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in
a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution,
which peacefully ended communist rule and reestablished democracy with a market economy.
On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming
the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic
joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. It is also a member of the OECD,
the United Nations, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe.
The Czech Republic is a developed country with an advanced, high income social market
economy.[20][21][22] It is a welfare state with a European social model, universal health care,
and tuition-free university education. It ranks 13th in the UN inequality-adjusted human
development and 14th in the World Bank Human Capital Index ahead of countries such as
the United States, the United Kingdom and France. It ranks as the eleventh safest and most
peaceful country and performs well in democratic governance.