Czech Republic

Geography

Location: Central Europe, between Germany and Slovakia

Map references: Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area 78,703 sq km
land area 78,645 sq km
comparative area slightly smaller than South Carolina

Land boundaries: total 1,880 km, Austria 362 km, Germany 646 km, Poland 658 km, Slovakia 214 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none; landlocked

International disputes: Liechtenstein claims l,606 square miles of Czech territory confiscated from its royal family in 1918; Sudeten German claims for restitution of property confiscated in connection with their expulsion after World War II versus the Czech Republic claims that restitution does not proceed before February 1948 when the Communists seized power; unresolved property issues with Slovakia over redistribution of property of the former Czechoslovak federal government

Climate: temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters

Terrain: two main regions: Bohemia in the west, consisting of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; and Moravia in the east, consisting of very hilly country

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

Land use:
arable land NA%
permanent crops NA%
meadows and pastures NA%
forest and woodland NA%
other NA%

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Environment:
current issues air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia centered around Zeplica and in northern Moravia around Ostrava presents health hazards; acid rain damaging forests
natural hazards NA
international agreements party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol

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

Population: 10,408,280 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.21% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 13.23 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 11.14 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 9.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population 73.08 years
male 69.38 years
female 76.99 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.84 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Nationality:
noun Czech(s)
adjective Czech

Ethnic divisions: Czech 94.4%, Slovak 3%, Polish 0.6%, German 0.5%, Gypsy 0.3%, Hungarian 0.2%, other 1%

Religions: atheist 39.8%, Roman Catholic 39.2%, Protestant 4.6%, Orthodox 3%, other 13.4%

Languages: Czech, Slovak

Literacy:
total population NA%
male NA%
female NA%

Labor force: 5.389 million
by occupation industry 37.9%, agriculture 8.1%, construction 8.8%, communications and other 45.2% (1990)

Government

Names:
conventional long form Czech Republic
conventional short form Czech Republic
local long form Ceska Republika
local short form Cechy

Digraph: EZ

Type: parliamentary democracy

Capital: Prague

Administrative divisions: 8 regions (kraje, kraj - singular); Jihocesky, Jihomoravsky, Praha, Severocesky, Severomoravsky, Stredocesky, Vychodocesky, Zapadocesky

Independence: 1 January 1993 (from Czechoslovakia)

National holiday: National Liberation Day, 9 May; Founding of the Republic, 28 October

Constitution: ratified 16 December 1992; effective 1 January 1993

Legal system: civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to bring it in line with Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state President Vaclav HAVEL (since 26 January 1993); election last held 26 January 1993 (next to be held NA January 1998); results - Vaclav HAVEL elected by the National Council
head of government Prime Minister Vaclav KLAUS (since NA June 1992); Deputy Prime Ministers Ivan KOCARNIK, Josef LUX, Jan KALVODA (since NA June 1992)
cabinet Cabinet; appointed by the president on recommendation of the prime minister

Legislative branch: bicameral National Council (Narodni rada)
Senate elections not yet held; seats (81 total)
Chamber of Deputies elections last held 5-6 June 1992 (next to be held NA 1996); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (200 total) Civic Democratic Party/Christian Democratic Party 76, Left Bloc 35, Czech Social Democratic Party 16, Liberal Social Union 16, Christian Democratic Union/Czech People's Party 15, Assembly for the Republic/Republican Party 14, Civic Democratic Alliance 14, Movement for Self-Governing Democracy for Moravia and Silesia 14

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders: Civic Democratic Party (ODS), Vaclav KLAUS, chairman; Christian Democratic Union-Czech People's Party (KDU-CSL), Josef LUX, chairman; Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA), Jan KALVODA, chairman; Christian Democratic Party (KDS), Ivan PILIP, chairman; Czech Social Democratic Party, Milos ZEMAN, chairman; Czech-Moravian Center Party, Jan KYCER, chairman; Liberal Social Union (LSU), Frantisek TRNKA; Communist Party of Bohemia/Moravia (KSCM), Miroslav GREBENICEK, chairman; Association for the Republic - Republican Party, Miroslav SLADEK, chairman; Left Bloc, Marie STIBOROVA, chairman

Other political or pressure groups: Left Bloc; Liberal Party; Czech-Moravian Chamber of Trade Unions

Member of: BIS, CCC, CE (guest), CEI, CERN, COCOM (cooperating), CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, IFCTU, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NSG, PCA, UN (as of 8 January 1993), UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIG, UNOMOZ, UNPROFOR, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission Ambassador Michael ZANTOVSKY
chancery 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone (202) 363-6315 or 6316
FAX (202) 966-8540

US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission Ambassador Adrian A. BASORA
embassy Trziste 15, 11801, Prague 1
mailing address Unit 25402; APO AE 09213
telephone [42] (2) 251-0847
FAX [42] (2) 531-193

Flag: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side (almost identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia)

Economy

Overview: The dissolution of Czechoslovakia into two independent nation states - the Czech Republic and Slovakia - on 1 January 1993 has complicated the task of moving toward a more open and decentralized economy. The old Czechoslovakia, even though highly industrialized by East European standards, suffered from an aging capital plant, lagging technology, and a deficiency in energy and many raw materials. In January 1991, approximately one year after the end of communist control of Eastern Europe, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic launched a sweeping program to convert its almost entirely state-owned and controlled economy to a market system. In 1991-92 these measures resulted in privatization of some medium- and small-scale economic activity and the setting of more than 90% of prices by the market - but at a cost in inflation, unemployment, and lower output. For Czechoslovakia as a whole inflation in 1991 was roughly 50% and output fell 15%. In 1992, in the Czech lands, inflation dropped to an estimated 12.5% and GDP was down a more moderate 5%. In 1993, Czech aggregate output remained unchanged, prices rose about 19%, and unemployment hovered above 3%; exports to Slovakia fell roughly 30%. An estimated 40% of the economy was privately owned. In 1994, Prague expects 2% to 3% growth in GDP, roughly 9% inflation, and 5% unemployment. Economic growth in 1994 is less important than continued economic restructuring; a mere 1% growth would be noteworthy if restructuring is accompanied by rising unemployment and enterprise bankruptcies.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $75 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: 0% (1993 est.)

National product per capita: $7,200 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 19% (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: 3.3% (1993 est.)

Budget:
revenues $11.9 billion
expenditures $11.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)

Exports: $12.6 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, minerals, and metals
partners Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Italy, France, US, UK, CIS republics

Imports: $12.4 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities machinery and transport equipment, fuels and lubricants, manfactured goods, raw materials, chemicals, agricultural products
partners Slovakia, CIS republics, Germany, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Hungary, UK, Italy

External debt: $8.6 billion (October 1993)

Industrial production: growth rate -5.5% (December 1993 over December 1992)

Electricity:
capacity 16,500,000 kW
production 62.2 billion kWh
consumption per capita 6,030 kWh (1992)

Industries: fuels, ferrous metallurgy, machinery and equipment, coal, motor vehicles, glass, armaments

Agriculture: largely self-sufficient in food production; diversified crop and livestock production, including grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit, hogs, cattle, and poultry; exporter of forest products

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and Latin American cocaine to Western Europe

Economic aid:
donor the former Czechoslovakia was a donor - $4.2 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1954-89)

Currency: 1 koruna (Kc) = 100 haleru

Exchange rates: koruny (Kcs) per US$1 - 30.122 (January 1994), 29.153 (1993), 28.26 (1992), 29.53 (1991), 17.95 (1990), 15.05 (1989)
note values before 1993 reflect Czechoslovak exchange rates

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Railroads: 9,434 km total (1988)

Highways:
total 55,890 km (1988)
paved NA
unpaved NA

Inland waterways: NA km; the Elbe (Labe) is the principal river

Pipelines: natural gas 5,400 km

Ports: coastal outlets are in Poland (Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin), Croatia (Rijeka), Slovenia (Koper), Germany (Hamburg, Rostock); principal river ports are Prague on the Vltava, Decin on the Elbe (Labe)

Merchant marine: 18 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 225,934 GRT/350,330 DWT, bulk 7, cargo 11

Airports:
total 155
usable 123
with permanent-surface runways 27
with runways over 3,659 m 1
with runways 2,440-3,659 m 17
with runways 1,060-2,439 m 52
note a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip

Telecommunications: NA

Defense Forces

Branches: Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense, Railroad Units

Manpower availability: males age 15-49 2,747,126; fit for military service 2,091,532; reach military age (18) annually 93,342 (1994 est.)

Defense expenditures: 23 billion koruny, NA% of GNP (1993 est.); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results