Krkonoše mountains in winter 2018
Photo: Pudelek, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Different types of crops growing east of the Czech capital, Prague (left), are distinguished in this land cover classification image. This crop map was created by…
Photo: European Space Agency, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · source
Did you know?
The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the 9th century under Great Moravia. It was formally recognized as an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire.
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Czernin Palace
Photo: Ricardalovesmonuments, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
2018-08-16 CZ Praha 01, Václavské náměstí
Photo: Paul Korecky, CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Etymology
The traditional English name "Bohemia" derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means "home of the Boii" (a Gallic tribe). The current English name ultimately comes from the Czech word Čech. The name comes from the Slavic tribe (Czech: Češi, Čechové) and—according to legend—their leader Čech who brought them to Bohemia to settle on Říp, a 461-metre high hill. The etymology of the word Čech is uncertain. According to the most common derivation, it can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning 'member of the people; kinsman'. Thus, it is cognate to the Czech word člověk 'person'.
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2Mt (81-71M) č. 3125 - stanice Malostranská
Photo: Oleksandr Dede, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Budova Akademie věd ČR na adrese Národní 1009/3, Praha 1.
Photo: SSČ AV ČR, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Baroque Library Hall located in the Clementinum complex in Prague
Photo: Skot, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
History
Archaeological evidence indicates that the area now known as the Czech Republic has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era. Notably, the Venus of Dolní Věstonice, a ceramic figurine dated to approximately 29,000–25,000 BC, was discovered in this region. This artifact is considered the oldest known ceramic figurine in the world.
In the classical era, as a result of the 3rd century BC Celtic migrations, Bohemia became associated with the Boii. The Boii founded an oppidum near the site of modern Prague. In the 1st century AD, the Germanic tribes of the Marcomanni and Quadi settled there.
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Narodni Divadlo, National Theater, Prague
Photo: Jorge Royan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Supreme administrative court of the Czech Republic
Photo: Millenium187, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Horiaci sovietsky tank v uliciach Prahy
Photo: The Central Intelligence Agency, Public domain · source
Geography
The Czech Republic lies mostly between latitudes 48° and 51° N and longitudes 12° and 19° E. Bohemia, to the west, consists of a basin drained by the Elbe (Czech: Labe) and the Vltava rivers, surrounded by mostly low mountains, such as the Giant Mountains range (Czech: Krkonoše) of the Sudetes. The highest point in the country, Sněžka at 1,603 m (5,259 ft), is located here. Moravia in the east is hilly. It is drained mainly by the Morava River, but it also contains the source of the Oder River (Czech: Odra). The three historical lands correspond with the river basins of the Elbe and the Vltava for Bohemia; the Morava for Moravia; and the Oder river basin for Czech Silesia.
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Jednotky české armády během operace KFOR
Photo: Ministerstvo obrany České republiky, Attribution · source
Government and politics
The Czech Republic is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy. The Parliament (Parlament České republiky) is bicameral, with the Chamber of Deputies (Czech: Poslanecká sněmovna, 200 members) and the Senate (Czech: Senát, 81 members). The members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected for a four-year term by proportional representation, with a 5% election threshold. There are 14 voting districts, identical to the country's administrative regions.
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Czech Republic Fed Cup team following their victory in the 2016 Fed Cup. L-R: Lucie Hradecká, Petra Kvitová , Petr Pála (captain), Barbora Strýcová and Karolína Plíšková.
Photo: Peter Menzel, CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Praha 4, Kavčí hory areál ústředí České televize
Photo: VitVit, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
BB centrum business district Prague
Photo: Jakpet7, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Economy
The Czech Republic has a developed, high-income export-oriented social market economy based in services, manufacturing and innovation, that maintains a welfare state and the European social model. The Czech Republic participates in the European Single Market as a member of the European Union and is therefore a part of the economy of the European Union but uses its own currency, the Czech koruna, instead of the euro. It has a per capita GDP rate that is 91% of the EU average and is a member of the OECD.
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Demographics
The total fertility rate in 2020 was estimated at 1.71 children per woman, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1. The population has an average age of 43.3 years. The life expectancy in 2021 was estimated to be 79.5 years (76.55 years male, 82.61 years female). In 2024, there were 121,823 immigrants to and 84,978 emigrants from the Czech Republic, for a net migration of 36,845, of whom 17 thousand were Ukrainian and 4.7 thousand were Slovak.
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Culture
Venus of Dolní Věstonice is an important example of prehistoric art unearthed in the region. Theodoric of Prague was a painter in the Gothic era who decorated the castle Karlštejn. In the Baroque era, there were painters Wenceslaus Hollar, Jan Kupecký, Karel Škréta, Anton Raphael Mengs and Petr Brandl and sculptors Matthias Braun and Ferdinand Brokoff.
In the first half of the 19th century, Josef Mánes joined the romantic movement.
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