The Czech Republic has a Central European moderate and transitional climate, with variations resulting from the topography of the country. The climate is temperate with cool summers, and cold, cloudy, and humid winters. The average temperature in Prague ranges from about –1°C (30°F) in January to 19°C (66°F) in July. A generally moderate oceanic climate prevails in the Czech lands. Rainfall distribution is greatly influenced by westerly winds, and its variation is closely correlated to relief. Over three-fifths of the rain falls during the spring and summer, which is advantageous for agriculture. The precipitation range is from 50 cm (20 in) to more than 127 cm (50 in); rainfall is below 58 cm (23 in) in western Bohemia and southern Moravia.
The Czech koruna (koruna means "crown") has been the currency of the Czech Republic since February 8, 1993 when it and its Slovak counterpart both replaced the Czechoslovak koruna at par. Now 1 CZK is worth around 1.25 SKK.
The official name in Czech is koruna česká (the plural form is koruny české, but the genitive plural form korun českých is usually found on banknotes). The ISO 4217 code is CZK and the local acronym is Kč, which is placed after the numeric value (e.g., "50 Kč"). One koruna equals 100 haléřů (abbreviated as "h", singular: haléř, nominative plural: haléře).
The koruna has been fully convertible since 1995 and began to float in 1999. The Czech Republic planned to adopt the Euro in 2012, but its government suspended that plan in 2007. In January 2008, the Czech National Bank governor Zdeněk Tůma said that the Czech Republic can adopt the Euro in 2019.
The Czech landscape is quite varied. Bohemia to the west consists of a basin, drained by the Elbe (Czech: Labe) and the Vltava rivers, and surrounded by mostly low mountains such as the Krkonoše range of the Sudetes. The highest point in the country, Sněžka, at 1,602 m (5,262 ft), is located here. Moravia, the eastern part of the country, is also quite hilly. It is drained mainly by the Morava River, but it also contains the source of the Oder (Czech: Odra) River. Water from the landlocked Czech Republic flows to three different seas: the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Black Sea. The Czech Republic also leases the Moldauhafen, a 30,000-square-metre (7.4-acre) lot in the middle of the Hamburg Docks, which was awarded to Czechoslovakia by Article 363 of the Treaty of Versailles to allow the landlocked country a place where goods transported downriver could be transferred to seagoing ships. The territory reverts to Germany in 2028.
Phytogeographically, the Czech Republic belongs to the Central European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of the Czech Republic can be subdivided into four ecoregions: the Central European mixed forests, Pannonian mixed forests, Western European broadleaf forests and Carpathian montane conifer forests.
Probably about the 5th century A.D., Slavic tribes from the Vistula basin settled in the region of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. The Czechs founded the kingdom of Bohemia and the Premyslide dynasty, which ruled Bohemia and Moravia from the 10th to the 16th century. One of the Bohemian kings, Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, made Prague an imperial capital and a center of Latin scholarship. The Hussite movement founded by Jan Hus (1369?–1415) linked the Slavs to the Reformation and revived Czech nationalism, previously under German domination. A Hapsburg, Ferdinand I, ascended the throne in 1526. The Czechs rebelled in 1618, precipitating the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Defeated in 1620, they were ruled for the next 300 years as part of the Austrian empire. Full independence from the Hapsburgs was not achieved until the end of World War I, following the collapse of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
A union of the Czech lands and Slovakia was proclaimed in Prague on Nov. 14, 1918, and the Czech nation became one of the two component parts of the newly formed Czechoslovakian state. In March 1939, German troops occupied Czechoslovakia, and Czech Bohemia and Moravia became German protectorates for the duration of World War II. The former government returned in April 1945 when the war ended and the country's pre-1938 boundaries were restored. When elections were held in 1946, Communists became the dominant political party and gained control of the Czechoslovakian government in 1948. Thereafter, the former democracy was turned into a Soviet-style state.
Nearly 42 years of Communist rule ended with the nearly bloodless “velvet revolution” in 1989. Václav Havel, a leading playwright and dissident, was elected president of Czechoslovakia in 1989. Havel, imprisoned twice by the Communist regime and his plays banned, became an international symbol for human rights, democracy, and peaceful dissent. The return of democratic political reform saw a strong Slovak nationalist movement emerge by the end of 1991, which sought independence for Slovakia. When the general elections of June 1992 failed to resolve the continuing coexistence of the two republics within the federation, Czech and Slovak political leaders agreed to separate their states into two fully independent nations. On Jan. 1, 1993, the Czechoslovakian federation was dissolved and two separate independent countries were established—the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in March 1999.
In Aug. 2002, severe flooding caused 70,000 people in Prague and 200,000 nationwide to be evacuated.
President Václav Havel left office in Feb. 2003, after 13 years as president. Over the years, Havel lost some of his immense popularity with the Czechs, who became disenchanted with his failings as a political leader. But internationally Havel has remained a towering figure of moral authority and courage. In March, Václav Klaus became the Czech Republic's second president. A conservative economist, he and Havel often clashed. In May 2004, the Czech Republic joined the EU. After an inconclusive election in June 2006, the political deadlock was broken in August, with rightist Mirek Topolánek appointed prime minister. His government resigned in October, after losing a no-confidence vote. He formed another government in January 2007. A year later, Topolánek's government narrowly survived another no-confidence vote.
In 2008, Parliament fails to elect a president when incumbent Václav Klaus wins in the Senate (47-32) while Jan Svejnar wins in the Chamber of Deputies (106-92). A victory in both houses is necessary to be elected in the first two rounds. The second round is also inconclusive, Klaus winning 48-31 in the Senate and Svejnar 104-94 in the lower house. A third round, with both houses voting together and an overall absolute majority being sufficient, is held on February 9. Klaus wins 139 votes (one short of the 140 required) and Svejnar 113. A new vote is scheduled for February 15. Again the first two rounds fail to produce a winner: in the first, Klaus wins the Senate 48-32, Svejnar the Chamber 104-93; in the second, Klaus again wins 48-32 in the Senate, while Svejnar wins the Chamber 94-93. In the third round, Klaus is elected by the whole parliament, defeating Svejnar 141-111.
On July 8, 2008, after lengthy negotiations and much debate, the Czech Republic agreed to allow the United States to deploy on its land an antiballistic missile shield. Russia strongly objected to the accord, which views the system as a threat. U.S. officials said the shield is meant to deter an attack from Iran. Czech lawmakers must approve the deal.
1 Jan New Year's Day.
13 Apr Easter Monday.
1 May May Day.
8 May Liberation Day.
5 Jul Day of the Apostles St Cyril and St Methodius.
6 Jul Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Jan Hus.
28 Sep Czech Statehood Day.
28 Oct Independence Day.
17 Nov Freedom and Democracy Day.
24-26 Dec Christmas.
The population of Czech Republic in 2003 was estimated by the United Nations at 10,236,000, which placed it as number 76 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In that year approximately 14% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 16% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 95 males for every 100 females in the country in 2003. According to the UN, the annual population growth rate for 2000–2005 is -0.10%, with the projected population for the year 2015 at 10,076,000. The population density in 2002 was 130 per sq km (337 per sq mi). The population is most dense in north and central Bohemia and in Monrovia.
It was estimated by the Population Reference Bureau that 75% of the population lived in urban areas in 2001. The capital city, Prague, had a population of 1,225,000 in that year. Other major cities include Brno, 392,614; Ostrava, 327,371; and Pilsen, 173,008. According to the United Nations, the urban population growth rate is at a standstill.
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