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.)

• 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 (2016 est.)

conventional long form:

Czech Republic

conventional short form:

Czechia

local long form:

Ceska republika

local short form:

Cesko

etymology:

name derives from the Czechs, a West Slavic tribe who rose to prominence in the late 9th century A.D.

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 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of the Czech Republic

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

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 4-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 7-8 and 14-15 October 2016 (next to be held in October 2018);
• 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 as of 15 October 2016 - CSSD 25, KDU-CSL 14, ODS 9, ANO 2011 7, STAN 5, SZ 4, TOP 09 2, SLK 2, S.cz. 2, KSCM 1, Nestranici 1, Citizens Together 1, SsCR 1, Pirate 1, Patriotic Citizens 1, Movement for Prague 1, SPO 1, Ostravak 1, independent 2;
• 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 + STAN 26, ODS 16, KDU-CSL 14, Usvit 8, independent 6

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 unlimited

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:

good telephone and Internet service; competition among the three major mobile phone services has driven down prices

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) (2015)

• 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)

number of registered air carriers:

4; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 48

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

4,971,616

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

26,619,650 mt-km (2015)

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:

130,661 km (includes urban roads)

paved:

130,661 km (includes 730 km of expressways) (2011)

country comparison to the world: 38

• 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)