Czechia

• temperate;
• cool summers;
• cold, cloudy, humid winters

• 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

0-14 years:

15.7% (male 828,273; female 786,617)

15-64 years:

70.3% (male 3,605,766; female 3,603,058)

65 years and over:

14% (male 551,852; female 881,194) (2002 est.)

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.63 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

total population:

74.95 years

female:

78.65 years (2002 est.)

male:

71.46 years

noun:

Czech(s)

adjective:

Czech

conventional long form:

Czech Republic

conventional short form:

Czech Republic

local short form:

Ceska Republika

local long form:

Ceska Republika

• 13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto);
• Jihocesky Kraj, Jihomoravsky Kraj, Karlovarsky Kraj, Kralovehradecky Kraj, Liberecky Kraj, Moravskoslezsky Kraj, Olomoucky Kraj, Pardubicky Kraj, Plzensky Kraj, Praha*, Stredocesky Kraj, Ustecky Kraj, Vysocina, Zlinsky Kraj

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

chief of state:

President Vaclav KLAUS (since 7 March 2003)

note: the Czech Republic's first president Vaclav HAVEL stepped down from office on 2 February 2003 having served exactly 10 years; parliament finally elected a successor after two inconclusive elections in January 2003 and three rounds of balloting on 28 February 2003

head of government:

Prime Minister Vladimir SPIDLA (since 12 July 2002), Deputy Prime Ministers Pavel RYCHETSKY (since 22 July 1998), Cyril SVOBODA (since July 2002), Stanislav GROSS (since July 2002), Petr MARES (since July 2002)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister

election results:

Vaclav KLAUS elected president on 28 February 2003; Vaclav KLAUS 142 votes, Jan SOKOL 124 votes (third round; combined votes of both chambers of parliament)

elections:

• president elected by Parliament for a five-year term;
• last successful election held 28 February 2003 (after earlier elections held 15 and 24 January 2003 were inconclusive);
• prime minister appointed by the president

• Supreme Court;
• Constitutional Court;
• chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term

• Christian and Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Cyril SVOBODA, chairman];
• Civic Democratic Alliance or ODA [Michael ZANTOVSKY, chairman];
• Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Vaclav KLAUS, chairman];
• Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Miroslav GREBENICEK, chairman];
• Communist Party of Czechoslovakia or KSC [Miroslav STEPAN, chairman];
• Czech National Social Party of CSNS [Jan SULA, chairman];
• Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Milos ZEMAN, chairman];
• Democratic Union or DEU [Ratibor MAJZLIK, chairman];
• Freedom Union or US [Petr MARES, chairman];
• Quad Coalition [Karel KUHNL, chairman] (includes KDU-CSL, US, ODA, DEU)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Martin PALOUS

chancery:

3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

consulate(s) general:

Los Angeles and New York

FAX:

[1] (202) 966-8540

telephone:

[1] (202) 363-6315

chief of mission:

Ambassador Craig R. STAPLETON

embassy:

Trziste 15, 118 #01 Prague 1

mailing address:

use embassy street address

telephone:

[420] (2) 5753-0663

FAX:

[420] (2) 5753-0583

lowest 10%:

4%

highest 10%:

22% (1996)

general assessment:

• privatization and modernization of the Czech telecommunication system got a late start but is advancing steadily;
• growth in the use of mobile cellular telephones is particularly vigorous

domestic:

• 86% of exchanges now digital;
• existing copper subscriber systems now being enhanced with Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) equipment to accommodate Internet and other digital signals;
• trunk systems include fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay

international:

satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar

total:

9,444 km

standard gauge:

9,350 km 1.435-m gauge (2,843 km electrified; 1,929 km double-track)

narrow gauge:

94 km 0.760-m gauge (2000 est.)

total:

55,432 km

paved:

55,432 km (including 499 km of expressways)

unpaved:

0 km (2000)

• Liechtenstein's royal family claims restitution for 1,600 sq km of land in the Czech Republic confiscated in 1918;
• individual Sudeten German claims for restitution of property confiscated in connection with their expulsion after World War II;
• Austria has minor dispute with Czech Republic over the Temelin nuclear power plant and post-World War II treatment of German-speaking minorities

• transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and minor transit point for Latin American cocaine to Western Europe;
• producer of synthetic drugs for local and regional markets;
• susceptible to money laundering related to drug trafficking, organized crime