Czechia

parliamentary democracyIndependence 1 January 1993 (from Czechoslovakia)

Czechia as the 1994 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 121 fields, one of 33 editions from 1993 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalPrague
LocationCentral Europe, between Germany and Slovakia
1994

Every edition of Czechia

Populationas each edition published it
10.41 million July 1994 est. · 10.39m in 1993
Population growth% a year
0.21% 1994 est. · 0.16% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 38.4 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 72.64 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.84 children per woman 1994 est. · 1.85 in 1993
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
9.3 deaths per 1,000 live births 1994 est. · 9.7 in 1993
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$7,200 1993 est. · $7,300 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
0% 1993 est. · -5% in 1993

Geography

Central Europe, between Germany and Slovakia

22 fields
Coastline
0km
(landlocked)Maritime claims: none; landlocked
Land boundaries
1,880km
total · Austria 362 km, Germany 646 km, Poland 658 km, Slovakia 214 km

Location

Central Europe, between Germany and Slovakia

Map references

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

total area

78,703 sq km

land area

78,645 sq km

comparative area

slightly smaller than South Carolina

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

arable land

NA%

permanent crops

NA%

meadows and pastures

NA%

forest and woodland

NA%

other

NA%

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

20 fields
Population
10,408,280
(July 1994 est.)growth rate: 0.21% (1994 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1994 est.)

Birth
13.23Death
11.14Net migration
0

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%
Labor force
5.389million

Infant mortality rate

9.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

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.)

noun

Czech(s)

adjective

Czech

Languages

Czech, Slovak

total population

NA%

male

NA%

female

NA%

by occupation

industry 37.9%, agriculture 8.1%, construction 8.8%, communications and other 45.2% (1990)

Government

Parliamentary democracy

33 fields

Legislature, 200 seatsone dot, one seat

Civic Democratic Party/Christian Democratic Party 76Left Bloc 35Czech Social Democratic Party 16Liberal Social Union 16Christian Democratic Union/Czech People's Party 15Assembly for the Republic/Republican Party 14Civic Democratic Alliance 14Movement for Self-Governing Democracy for Moravia and Silesia 14

conventional long form

Czech Republic

conventional short form

Czech Republic

local long form

Ceska Republika

local short form

Cechy

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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

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

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

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

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.

27 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$7,200
(1993 est.)
Real growth rate
0%
(1993 est.)industrial production growth: growth rate -5.5% (December 1993 over December 1992)
Unemployment rate
3.3%
(1993 est.)

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.)

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)

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

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

16 fields

Railroads

9,434 km total (1988)

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

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

Defense Forces

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

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

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.)

Central Intelligence Agency. “Czech Republic.” The World Factbook 1994. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/czechia/1994.

How to cite ← 1993 edition 1995 edition →