Czechia

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

agricultural land:

54.8%;

• arable land 41%;
• permanent crops 1%;
• permanent pasture 12.8%

forest:

34.4%

other:

10.8% (2011 est.)

total:

1.7 cu km/yr (41%/56%/2%)

per capita:

164.7 cu m/yr (2009)

• air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks;
• acid rain damaging forests;
• efforts to bring industry up to EU code should improve domestic pollution

• 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

noun:

Czech(s)

adjective:

Czech

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.7 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

conventional long form:

Czech Republic

conventional short form:

Czech Republic

local long form:

Ceska republika

local short form:

Cesko

name:

Prague

geographic coordinates:

50 05 N, 14 28 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• 13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto);
• Jihocesky (South Bohemia), Jihomoravsky (South Moravia), Karlovarsky (Karlovy Vary), Kralovehradecky (Hradec Kralove), Liberecky (Liberec), Moravskoslezsky (Moravia-Silesia), Olomoucky (Olomouc), Pardubicky (Pardubice), Plzensky (Pilsen), Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky (Central Bohemia), Ustecky (Usti), Vysocina (Highlands), Zlinsky (Zlin)

• 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia);
• note - although 1 January is the day the Czech Republic came into being, the Czechs commemorate 28 October 1918, the day the former Czechoslovakia declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as their independence day

• previous 1960;
• latest ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993;
• amended several times, last in 2013 (2013)

chief of state:

President Milos ZEMAN (since 8 March 2013)

head of government:

• Prime Minister Bohuslav SOBOTKA (since 17 January 2014);
• First Deputy Prime Minister Andrej BABIS and Deputy Prime Minister Pavel BELOBRADEK (both since 29 January 2014)

cabinet:

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

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (limited to 2 consecutive terms);
• elections last held on 11-12 January 2013 with a runoff on 25-26 January 2013 (next to be held in January 2018);
• prime minister appointed by the president for a 5-year term

election results:

Milos ZEMAN elected president; percent of popular vote - Milos ZEMAN (SPO) 54.8%, Karel SCHWARZENBERG (TOP 09) 45.2%

description:

bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (81 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in two-rounds if needed; members serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

• Senate - last held in two rounds on 10-11 and 17-18 October 2014 (next to be held in October 2016);
• Chamber of Deputies - last held on 25-26 October 2013 (next to be held in 2017)

election results:

• Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - CSSD 33, ODS 14, KDU-CSL 11, ANO 4, SPO 2, Green 2, KSCM 1, S.cz 1, STAN 1, HOPB 1, SLK 1, independent 10;
• Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - CSSD 20.5%, ANO 2011 18.7%, KSCM 14.9%, TOP 09 12%, ODS 7.7%, Usvit 6.9%, KDU-CSL 6.8% other 12.5%;
• seats by party - CSSD 50, ANO 2011 47, KSCM 33, TOP 09 26, ODS 16, Usvit 14, KDU-CSL 14

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court (organized into Civil Law and Commercial Division, and Criminal Division each with a court chief justice, vice justice, and several judges);
• Constitutional Court (consists of 15 justices);
• Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 28 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges proposed by the Chamber of Deputies and appointed by the president;
• judges appointed for life;
• Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate;
• judges appointed for 10-year, renewable terms;
• Supreme Administrative Court judges selected by the president of the Court;
• judge term NA

subordinate courts:

High Court; superior, regional, and district courts

chief of mission:

Ambassador Petr GANDALOVIC (since 23 May 2011)

chancery:

3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 274-9100

FAX:

[1] (202) 966-8540

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Andrew H. SCHAPIRO (since 30 September 2014)

embassy:

Trziste 15, 118 01 Prague 1 - Mala Strana

mailing address:

use embassy street address

telephone:

[420] 257 022 000

FAX:

[420] 257 022 809

agriculture:

2.6%

industry:

37.4%

services:

60% (2012)

lowest 10%:

1.5%

highest 10%:

29.1% (2012 est.)

general assessment:

• privatization and modernization of the Czech telecommunication system got a late start but is advancing steadily;
• virtually all exchanges now digital;
• existing copper subscriber systems 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

domestic:

• access to the fixed-line telephone network expanded throughout the 1990s, but the number of fixed line connections has been dropping since then;
• mobile telephone usage increased sharply beginning in the mid-1990s, and the number of cellular telephone subscriptions now greatly exceeds the population

international:

country code - 420; satellite earth stations - 6 (2 Intersputnik - Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions, 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar) (2011)

• roughly 130 TV broadcasters operating some 350 channels with 4 publicly operated and the remainder in private hands;
• 16 TV stations have national coverage with 4 being publicly operated;
• cable and satellite TV subscription services are available;
• 63 radio broadcasters are registered operating roughly 80 radio stations with 15 stations publicly operated;
• 10 radio stations provide national coverage with the remainder local or regional (2008)

total:

9,621.5 km

standard gauge:

9,519.5 km 1.435-m gauge (3,240.5 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

102 km 0.760-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 23

total:

130,671 km (includes urban roads)

paved:

130,671 km (includes 730 km of expressways) (2010)

country comparison to the world: 38

males age 16-49:

2,506,826

females age 16-49:

2,407,634 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

2,072,267

females age 16-49:

1,988,839 (2010 est.)

male:

49,999

female:

47,501 (2010 est.)

• 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;
• significant consumer of ecstasy (2008)