The Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a state in Central Europe. It occupies an area of 78 864 sq km and has about 10.33 million inhabitants. The Administrative division consists of 76 districts. They are alternative system of administration had not been decided on yet. The head of the state is president, elected for a five-year period by the Parliament of the Czech Republic by an assembly of both parliament chamber. Executive power is the Government of the Czech Republic. Assembly is Parliament of the Czech Republic, which comprises two Houses - the Chamber of Deputis and the Senate. The Chmber of deputies has 200 deputies elected for 4 years and the Senate has 81 senators elected for 6 years, one-third of whom face an election every two years.
Geography:
Our state has a varied landscape. Bohemia is surrounded by a ring of mountains - the Šumava range, the Czech Forest, the Ore Mountains, the Jizerské Mountains, the Giant Mountains, and the Eagle Mountains. The Moravian plain is protected on the West by the bohemian-Moravian highlands, and on the North by the wooded mountainous ranges of Jeseníky and Beskydy. Fertile lowlands can be found in the valleys of big rivers - the Vltava, the Elbe (flowing into the north sea), the Oder (flowing into the Baltic Sea), and the Morava (flowing into the Danube and thence into the black Sea). The climate is mostly continental, the warmest area being in South Moravia.
Industry:
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. The most significant supplies of brown coal or lignite are in the North Bohemia Coal Basin and in Western Bohemia in the Sokolov Basin. There are also minor deposits of iron ore, uranium, oil etc. The rich deposits of kaolin and clay are important for the ceramics and glass industry as well as abundant quarries of stone and limestone for the building industry.
The Czech Republic is traditionally an industrial country. The greatest percentage is represented by the engineering industry. Besides this there are the chemical industry, food industry, textile industry, metallurgy and other sorts of industry. Also the agriculture is developed enough to feed the population and be able to export its products too.
History:
From the historical point of view our territory has been inhabited by Slavonic tribes since the 5th century A.D. The first Slavonic state was Sámo’s Empire which was founded here in 623. With the further development and uniting of Slavonic tribes, the early mighty feudal Great Moravian empire was formed in the 9th century. After its disintegration, state activities were concentrated in the Czech Lands whrer in the 9th century power was taken over by the Czech tribe headed by the Pøemyslid family. The first historically documented Czech prince Boøivoj I ruled over the territory of the Czech lands and over a considerable part of Great Moravia.
The Czech princes- and later kings- played an important role in Central Europe. When the Pøemyslid dynasty had died out by the sword in 1306 and, after several years of instability, the Czech throne went by way of a dynastic wedding to the Luxembourgs, and the Czech Kingdom became also the centre of the Holy Roman Empire mainly during the reign of Charles IV and his son Wenceslas IV. nevertheless it was a kingdom quite independent of the Holy Roman Empire, and was ruled by the king, the most important of the seven electors of the emperor. During the reign of Charles IV (1346 - 1378), Prague grew into one of the largest European metropolises of that era, and was a significant centre of education, architecture and the arts. In 1348 Charles University - the oldest one in Central, Northern and Eastern Europe - was founded in Prague.
The first part of the 15th century is marked by the Hussite Movement (1419 - 1437). It is named after Jan Hus (john Huss), professor, dean, and later rector of Charles university. In 1415 he was tried by the Church council in Constance and burnt at the stake as a heretic. The leading representatives of the Hussite Movement were Jan Žižka and Prokop Holý. Jan Žižka, as a Hussite leader, was never defeated. Prokop Holý, in victorious battles, fought off crusades of the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire and was also prominent Hussite diplomat.
After the reign of king Jiøí of Podìbrady . who is known for his appeal to other European kings to make a treaty securing peace - and after the period of the rule of Jagiellonian dynasty on the Czech throne there came the period of the Habsburg dynasty (1526 - 1918). These rulers tried to oppress the Czech nation in favour of the Germans and the Roman Catholic Church, but were nor successful until the Battle on the White Mountain in 1620, followed by 300 years of endeavours to eradicate Czech statehood and national life - though germanization and the liquidation of Czech literature and culture as a whole, and re-catholicization.
Nevertheless the 19th century brought a time of national revival, so when World War I ended in 1918, the Czech nation was able to take its fate into its own hands in the newly established Czechoslovak Republic. Though this was destroyed by the German occupation (1939 - 1945), it appeared again after World War II. In 1948 the power was taken over by the communists directed by the Soviet Union. 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. The following development led to the splitting of the republic, and in 1993 two new states appeared - the Czech Republic comprising the original countries of the Czech crown, Bohemia and Moravia, and part of Silesia, the greater part of which was lost in the 18th century during the Seven Years’ Was, and the Slovak Republic.

The Czech Republic
History:
First state in this territory, inhabited by Slavonic tribes was Samoa’s Empire. Then the Great Moravian Empire followed. It was very famous and the capital was probably situated in southern Moravia near the village of Mikulčice. Even when the Great Moravian Empire still existed, another state formed in the region of Bohemia. It was called the Czech Crown Kingdom. In the 9th century power was taken by Přemyslid dynasty. When the Přemyslid dynasty died out by the sword, the Czech throne went by way of a dynastic wedding to the Luxembourg. Under Charles IV the Czech Kingdom became the centre of the Holy Roman Empire and the city of Prague was the capital town. Charles IV built the second oldest stone bridge in our republic in Prague, established an archbishop there and founded Charles University, the oldest one in middle Europe. The first part of the 15th century was marked by the Hussite Movement. It is named after John Huss, rector of Charles University and a preacher, who tried to reform the Catholic Church. He was burnt at the stake as a heretic. After the reign of Jiří of Poděbrady, who is known for his appeal to other European kings to make a treaty securing peace, the Jagiellonian dynasty was established on the Czech throne. But they reigned only for a short time and the throne was passed to Habsburg dynasty. The centre of culture and politics moved from Prague to Vienna and we became a part of the big Austria Empire. They oppressed the Czech nation for almost 400 years. They tried to re-catholic and germanise; they also tried to liquidate Czech literature. Then WWI began. Austria lost this war and it was split into five states. One of them was newly established Czechoslovak Republic with our first president Tomáš Garigue Masaryk. This state was destroyed by the German occupation and it appeared again after WWII. But power was taken over by the communists directed by the Soviet Union. In 1968 Czechoslovakia was oppressed by the invasion of the Soviet army and the “normalisation” lasted about another 20 years till the “velvet revolution” in 1989. That resulted in the splitting of the republic and in 1993 two new states appeared – the Czech republic and the Slovak Republic. Our president is Václav Havel.
Geography:
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 (1612m) 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. Our republic lies in the Temperate Zone. We haven’t a sea. The warmest areas are in Southern Moravia and the coldest areas are in the Giant Mountains. The average annual rainfall is about 600cm.
Population:
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 Silesians, Romes, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians and Russians.
Economy and industry:
The most important part of our economy is engineering (machine tools, locomotives, tractors, and agricultural machines). 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 rich 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, maize, grapes, hops 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,…).
Beauty spots:
There are many spots of great 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 protested areas, some of them are really very nice (for example one of the protected areas is the region near river Dyje) and National parks. 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.
System of government:
The Czech Republic is a democratic state. Its government is divided into three branches – the legislative, represented by the Parliament, the executive, represented by president and the government, and the judicial, represented by courts. Our Parliament, according to constitution, consists of two chambers – the Chamber of Deputies (200 deputies, served for four years) and the Senate (81 senators, every two years, one third of the Senators is renewed). Elections are public, secret, democratic, equal, direct and universal. Everybody, who is above 18 and who has Czech nationality can take part in them. The parliament makes a bill, but it must be approved by the government and signed by the president, before it becomes a law. The president is elected every five years by Parliament and he can serve only for two terms in a row. Our contemporary president is Václav Havel. He represents the country abroad, he is the commander-in-chief of the army, has right to veto or refuse a bill, can declare amnesty, call general election and makes appointments of all the members of the government. The leader of the winning party becomes the Prime Minister. 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. In elections the citizens can choose from a variety of political parties from three main groups – the left wing, moderate and right wing. Our contemporary parties are: Civic Democratic Party, the Civic Democratic Union, the Christian Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Liberal Social Union, Left Block, Czech-Moravian Communist Party,… Our national anthem is called Kde domov můj? (Where is my home?). 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.