Czech Republic

General information
 in Central Europe, Heart of Europe
 area: 78 866 sq km
 10.69 million inhabitants
 capital city: Prague (1,309 mil.)
 other cities: Brno, Plzeň, Ostrava, Liberec
 Inner parts: Bohemia (Prague), Moravia (Brno), Silesia (Ostrava)
o The head is the President Miloš Zeman
 The state flag consists of 2 horizontal stripes - white on the top, red on the bottom, and a
blue wedge
 four neighbours
o In the north it borders with Poland
o in the south with Austria
o in the east with Slovakia
o in the west Germany
 14 regions
 Currency: Czech Crown = 100 hellers
 Languages: Czech, various dialects
 major nationalities: Czech and Moravian
 minority groups - the Silesians, the Gypsies, The Poles, the Germans, the Ukrainians and the
Russians

Nature:
 Bohemia ring of mountains
o the Šumava range
o the Czech Forest
o the Ore Mountains
o the Jizerské Mountains
o the Giant Mountains ( with the highest Czech mountain Sněžka)
o the Eagle Mountains.
 Bohemian-Moravian Highland (west)
 Jeseníky and Beskydy (north)
 25 Landscape parks (CHKO)
 lowlands
o Fertile lowlands can be found in the valleys of big rivers
o The Moravan Plain
 rivers:
o the Vltava
o the Elbe (flowing into the North Sea)
o the Oder (flowing into the Baltic Sea)
o the Morava (flowing into the Danube and thence into the Black Sea)
o Lužice, Ohře, Sázava, Berounka
o Lakes: district of Southern Bohemia - Orlík, Slapy, Vranov, Lipno
  The climate is mostly continental, the warmest area is in South Moravia.

History
 Slavonic tribes came to Central Europe in 5th century
 First state form was founded temporarily in 623 or 624 by Sámo
 First lasting state here was the Empire of Great Moravia in 9th century
 arrival of Constantin and Methodius 863
 Přemyslid dynasty took control in 10th century
 During the reign of Charles IV Prague became one of the Europe s metropolises, Charles
University and Charles Bridge was built in 1348.
 1415 jan hus burnt
 Not long after his dead the famous Husite Revolution happened.
 jagellon dynasty
 Czech Kingdom got under the domination of Habsburgs and stayed there until 1918
 rudolf II.
 1618-1648 - Thirty-years-war - after: germanization, re-catholicization, destroying Czech
language and culture
 Marie Terezie, Joseph II.
 National Revival occurred from cca. 1870 - 19th century
 1918 - the end of the WW I - the founding of Czechoslovakia, first President was T.G. Masaryk
 1938-1945 - WW II - Bohemia and Moravia was part of Nazi Germany as Protektorat Böhmen
und Mähren
 1948 - Communists took control
 1968 - invasion of Soviet Army – normalisation
 the „Prague Spring“ in 1968 was oppressed by the invasion of the Soviet army and the
„normalization“ lasted about another 20 years till the „velvet revolution“ in 1989
 17th November 1989 - the Velvet Revolution - defeat of Communistic regime
 1st January 1993 - Czechoslovakia was divided into two independent countries - Czech and
Slovak Republic

Agriculture:
 Animal breed: Mainly raising cattle (milk and beef c.), pigs, poultry. Goats, sheep and horses
are rare. Fish-breeding, especially carp-breeding has a long tradition in South Bohemia
ponds.
 plants: fruit and vegetables, mostly potatoes; crops (wheat, barley), hops.

Industry
 rich in minerals
o Black coal (Ostrava Coal Basin, area of Kladno)
o brown coal and lignite (North Bohemia Coal Basin)
o sand for glass-making, iron ore, uranium
 engineering (machine tools, locomotives, tractors, agricultural machines)
 metalurgical and chemical industries and tourism
 Textile and glass, pocelain industries have a long tradition as doing cut glass
 Main industrial zones are in Prague, Northern Bohemia and Northern Moravia.
Transport
 Railways
 Prague Metro
 tram systems
 d1

Places of interest
 Karlovy Vary – Famous spa
 2500 Castles in Czech countryside
 The Most: Karlštejn, Prague Castle
 Vitus Cathedral
 Petřín Tower
 National Museum, National Theatre
 Plzeň – Pilsner Urguell
 Moravská brána (Moravian Gate)
• hilly landscape
• the well-known European river Odra has it spring in the Oderské vrchy.
• historical towns, castles, sights with folk architecture (Frenštát pod Radhoštěm,
Štramberk, Studénka,
 Beskydy
• Moravian-Silesian (Moravskoslezské) Beskydy is the largest Moravian mountain
range in this region
• tourist and sport centre, towns in the mountain valleys and foothills (Hukvaldy,
Hrčava, Hnojník, …)
• the symbol of Beskydy – a stone pagan god of Radegast
 Valašsko region (Wallachia)
• named after Valachs who settled on this region
• specific character in folk architecture and folklore (Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, Vsetín,
Valašské Meziříčí

Others
 Popular outdoor activities
o Cycling, rafting, canoeing, kayak, climbing rocks, hiking, skating, in-line skating,
picking
o mushrooms, barbecue, grilling in the gardens
 Pilsner beer
 Moravian wine
 Slivovice (plum brandy)
 Becher herbal liquor
 Škoda cars
 Bata shoes
 Czech glass
 smelly cheese of Olomouc
 ginger bread of Pardubice

Famous people
 Karel Čapek
 o famous writer
o science fiction: novel War with the Newts (1936), play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal
Robots, 1920), which introduced the word robot.
 Janáček, Dvořák, Smetana - composers of classical music
 Dvořák – New Worlds Sypthony – played on moon
 Charles IV.
o and the Czech Kingdom became also the centre of the Holy Roman Empire
o one of the largest European metropolis, was important centre of education,
architecture and the arts
o in 1348 Charles IV. founded Ch. University – the oldest one in Europe
 Jan Hus
o professor, dean, and later rector of Charles University
o Hussite Movement, he was preacher in Bethlehem Chapel and he was in 1415 in
Constance burnt at the stake as a heretic
 Jaroslav Heyrovský
 Jágr, Hašek, Petr Čech, Železný, Špotáková
 Božena Němcová
 Seiffert