Czechia

Location

• Central Europe, between Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria
• note 1: landlocked; strategically located on 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 Europenote 2: the Hranice Abyss in Czechia is the world's deepest surveyed freshwater cave at 519 m (1,703 ft); its survey is not complete, and it may be up to 800-1,200 m (2,625-3,937 ft) deep

Population

Notable Population Centers

City	Population	Note
Prague	1,165,581	Capital
Brno	379,466
Ostrava	279,791
Pilsen	168,733
Liberec	102,951
Olomouc	99,496
České Budějovice	93,426
Hradec Králové	90,596
Ústí nad Labem	90,378
Pardubice	88,520

Size

• 30,450 square miles
• 78,866 square kilometers
• about two-thirds the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than South Carolina

History

At the close of World War I, the Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia, a parliamentarian democracy. During the interwar years, having rejected a federal system, the new country's predominantly Czech leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the increasingly strident demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Slovaks, the Sudeten Germans, and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). On the eve of World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the territory that today comprises Czechia, and Slovakia became an independent state allied with Germany. After the war, a reunited but truncated Czechoslovakia (less Ruthenia) fell within the Soviet sphere of influence when the pro-Soviet Communist party staged a coup in February 1948. In 1968, an invasion by fellow Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize communist rule and create "socialism with a human face," ushering in a period of repression known as "normalization." The peaceful "Velvet Revolution" swept the Communist Party from power at the end of 1989 and inaugurated a return to democratic rule and a market economy. On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a nonviolent "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. The country formally added the short-form name Czechia in 2016, while also continuing to use the full form name, the Czech Republic.

Climate

temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters

Terrain

Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country

Languages

Czech (official) 88.4%, Slovak 1.5%, other 2.6%, unspecified 7.2% (2021 est.)major-language sample(s): World Factbook, nepostradatelný zdroj základních informací. (Czech)The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.note: includes only persons with one mother tongue

Religions

Roman Catholic 7%, other believers belonging to a church or religious society 6% (includes Evangelical United Brethren Church and Czechoslovak Hussite Church), believers unaffiliated with a religious society 9.1%, none 47.8%, unspecified 30.1% (2021 est.)

Government

parliamentary republic

• Constitution: history: previous 1960; latest ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993amendment process: passage requires at least three-fifths concurrence of members present in both houses of Parliament
• Political Parties and Leaders: n/a
• Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
• Legal System: new civil code enacted in 2014, replacing civil code of 1964 based on former Austro-Hungarian civil codes and socialist theory 
• Executive Branch: chief of state: President Petr PAVEL (since 9 March 2023)head of government: Prime Minister Petr FIALA (since 17 December 2021)cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime ministerelection/appointment process: president directly elected by absolute-majority popular vote in 2 rounds, if needed, for a 5-year term (limited to 2 consecutive terms); prime minister appointed by the president for a 4-year termmost recent election date: 13-14 January 2023, with a second round on 27-28 January 2023election results: 2023: Petr PAVEL elected in the second round; percent of vote in the first round - Petr PAVEL (independent) 35.4%, Andrej BABIS (ANO) 35%, Danuse NERUDOVA (Mayors and Independents) 13.9%, Pavel FISCHER (independent) 6.8%; percent of vote in the second round - Petr PAVEL 58.3%, Andrej BABIS 41.6%2018: Milos ZEMAN reelected president in the second round; percent of vote - Milos ZEMAN (SPO) 51.4%, Jiri DRAHOS (independent) 48.6%expected date of next election: by January 2028
• Judicial Branch: 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 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 termssubordinate courts: High Court; regional and district courts
• Legislative Branch: legislature name: Parliament (Parlament)legislative structure: bicameral

Demographic Profile

n/a

Economy

• high-income, diversified EU economy; manufacturing-oriented exporter led by automotive industry; moderate growth driven by household consumption and investments, despite negative contribution from net exports; tight labor market with low unemployment; gained energy independence from Russian oil in April 2025
• Budget: revenues: $94.01 billion (2022 est.)expenditures: $106.07 billion (2022 est.)note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenditures converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated
• Credit Rating: n/a
• Natural Resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber, arable land
• Industries: motor vehicles, metallurgy, machinery and equipment, glass, armaments
• Agricultural Products: wheat, sugar beets, milk, barley, rapeseed, potatoes, maize, triticale, pork, chicken (2023)note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
• Land Use: agricultural land: 45.7% (2022 est.)arable land: 32.1% (2022 est.)permanent crops: 0.6% (2022 est.)permanent pasture: 13% (2022 est.)forest: 34.7% (2022 est.)other: 19.5% (2022 est.)
• Labor Force by Occupation: n/a
• Imports
• Imported Commodities: broadcasting equipment, vehicle parts/accessories, cars, plastic products, computers (2023)note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
• Import Partners: Germany 22%, China 17%, Poland 8%, Slovakia 5%, Italy 4% (2023)note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
• Exports
• Exported Commodities: cars, vehicle parts/accessories, broadcasting equipment, computers, plastic products (2023)note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
• Export Partners: Germany 29%, Slovakia 7%, Poland 6%, France 5%, UK 5% (2023)note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports