Czechia

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

• air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks;
• acid rain damaging forests;
• land pollution caused by industry, mining, and agriculture

noun:

Czech(s)

adjective:

Czech

0-14 years:

15.21% (male 834,800 /female 790,128)

15-24 years:

9.34% (male 514,728 /female 483,546)

25-54 years:

43.79% (male 2,404,724 /female 2,275,309)

55-64 years:

12.24% (male 638,130 /female 669,959)

65 years and over:

19.42% (male 865,455 /female 1,209,490) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

49.5 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

22.6 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

26.9 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

3.7 (2015 est.)

total:

42.5 years (2018 est.)

male:

41.2 years

female:

43.8 years

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.95 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.72 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2018 est.)

total:

2.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)

male:

2.8 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

2.5 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

78.9 years (2018 est.)

male:

76 years

female:

82.1 years

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

etymology:

the name likely derives from an old Slavic root "praga" or "prah", meaning "ford", and refers to the city's origin at a crossing point of the Vltava (Moldau) River

• 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

history:

previous 1960; latest ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993

amendments:

passage requires at least three-fifths concurrence of members present in both houses of Parliament; amended several times, last in 2013 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Czechia

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 Andrej BABIS (since 13 December 2017);
• First Deputy Prime Minister Jan HAMACEK (since 27 June 2018), Deputy Prime Minister Alena SCHILLEROVA (since 30 April 2019)

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 12-13 January 2018 with a runoff on 26-27 January 2018 (next to be held in January 2023);
• prime minister appointed by the president for a 4-year term

election results:

Milos ZEMAN reelected president in the second round; percent of vote - Milos ZEMAN (SPO) 51.4%, Jiri DRAHOS (independent) 48.6%

highest courts:

• 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 36 judges, including the court president and vice president, and organized into 6-, 7-, and 9-member chambers)

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;
• unlimited terms

subordinate courts:

High Court; regional and district courts

• Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Pavel BELOBRADEK]
• Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Petr FIALA]
• Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP]
• Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Jan HAMACEK]
• Freedom and Direct Democracy or SPD [Tomio OKAMURA]
• Green Party or SZ [Petr STEPANEK]
• Mayors and Independents or STAN [Petr GAZDIK]
• Movement of Dissatisfied Citizens or ANO [Andrej BABIS]
• Party of Civic Rights or SPO [Lubomir NECAS]
• Pirate Party or Pirates [Ivan BARTOS]
• Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 or TOP 09 [Jiri POSPISIL]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Stephen B. KING (since 6 December 2017)

telephone:

[420] 257 022 000

embassy:

Trziste 15, 118 01 Prague 1 - Mala Strana

mailing address:

use embassy street address

FAX:

[420] 257 022 809

agriculture:

2.8%

industry:

38%

services:

59.2% (2015)

lowest 10%:

4.1%

highest 10%:

21.7% (2015 est.)

general assessment:

• good telephone and Internet service;
• the Czech Republic has a sophisticated telecom market, with competition in all sectors provided by a number of alternate operators;
• the incumbent telco O2 Czech Republic remains the dominant player though other operators are gaining market share, through merger and acquisition activity;
• regulator makes progress for 5G services;
• fixed wireless broadband remains strong, with penetration among the highest in the EU (2018)

domestic:

• access to the fixed-line telephone network expanded throughout the 1990s, 15 per 100 fixed-line, but the number of fixed-line connections has been dropping since then;
• mobile telephone usage increased sharply to 119 per 100 mobile-cellular, and the number of cellular telephone subscriptions now greatly exceeds the population (2018)

international:

country code - 420; satellite earth stations - 6 (2 Intersputnik - Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions, 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar) (2019)

• 22 TV stations operate nationally, with 17 of them in private hands;
• publicly operated Czech Television has 5 national channels;
• throughout the country, there are some 350 TV channels in operation, many through cable, satellite, and IPTV subscription services;
• 63 radio broadcasters are registered, operating over 80 radio stations, including 7 multiregional radio stations or networks;
• publicly operated broadcaster Czech Radio operates 4 national, 14 regional, and 4 Internet stations;
• both Czech Radio and Czech Television are partially financed through a license fee (2019)

number of registered air carriers:

4 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 48 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

4,971,616 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

26,619,650 mt-km (2015)

total:

9,408 km (2017)

standard gauge:

9,385 km 1.435-m gauge (3,218 km electrified) (2017)

narrow gauge:

23 km 0.760-m gauge (2017)

total:

55,744 km (includes urban and category I, II, III roads) (2019)

paved:

55,744 km (includes 1,252 km of expressways) (2019)

• 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