Czechia WATCH 40

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.

Central Europe, between Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria

total : 78,867 sq km land: 77,247 sq km water: 1,620 sq km

hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber, arable land

flooding

total: 10,838,703 (2025 est.) male: 5,337,128 female: 5,501,575

Czech 57.3%, Moravian 3.4%, other 7.7%, unspecified 31.6% (2021 est.) note: includes only persons with one ethnicity

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

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.)

air and water pollution (including acid rain) in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava; pollution from industry, mining, and agriculture

parliamentary republic

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 may derive from the old Slavic word "praga" or "prah," meaning "threshold;" it could also be related to the same Slavic root word as the modern Czech "pražiti," a term for woodland cleared by burning

chief of state: President Petr PAVEL (since 9 March 2023) head of government: Prime Minister Andrej BABIS (since 9 December 2025) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister election/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 term most recent election date: 13-14 January 2023, with a second round on 27-28 January 2023 election 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

legislature name: Parliament (Parlament) legislative structure: bicameral

$521.928 billion (2024 est.) $516.145 billion (2023 est.) $516.431 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

$48,000 (2024 est.) $47,500 (2023 est.) $48,400 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

2.4% (2024 est.) 10.7% (2023 est.) 15.1% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices

Germany 29%, Slovakia 7%, Poland 6%, France 5%, UK 5% (2023) note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports

Germany 22%, China 17%, Poland 8%, Slovakia 5%, Italy 4% (2023) note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports

Czech Armed Forces: Land Forces, Air Force, Special Forces (2025)

2% of GDP (2025 est.) 2.1% of GDP (2024 est.) 1.5% of GDP (2023 est.) 1.3% of GDP (2022 est.) 1.4% of GDP (2021 est.)