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Geography
Location:
Central Europe, southeast of Germany
Geographic coordinates: 49 45 N, 15 30 E
Map
references: Europe
Area:
total: 78,866 sq km
water: 1,590 sq km
land: 77,276 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than South Carolina
Land
boundaries:
total: 1,881 km
border countries: Austria 362 km, Germany 646 km, Poland 658 km,
Slovakia 215 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime
claims:
none (landlocked)
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
Elevation
extremes:
lowest point: Elbe River 115 m
highest point: Snezka 1,602 m
Natural
resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber
Land
use:
arable land: 40%
permanent crops: 3%
other: 57% (1998 est.)
Irrigated
land:
240 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural
hazards: flooding
Environment
- current issues: air and water pollution in areas of northwest
Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks;
acid rain damaging forests
Environment
- international agreements:
party
to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur
85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed,
but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol
Geography
- note: 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
Government
Country
name:
conventional long form: Czech Republic
conventional short form: Czech Republic
local short form: Ceska Republika
local long form: Ceska Republika
Government
type: parliamentary democracy
Capital:
Prague
Administrative
divisions: 13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city*
(hlavni mesto); Jihocesky Kraj, Jihomoravsky Kraj, Karlovarsky Kraj,
Kralovehradecky Kraj, Liberecky Kraj, Moravskoslezsky Kraj, Olomoucky
Kraj, Pardubicky Kraj, Plzensky Kraj, Praha*, Stredocesky Kraj,
Ustecky Kraj, Vysocina, Zlinsky Kraj
Independence:
1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and
Slovakia)
National
holiday: Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918)
Constitution:
ratified 16 December 1992; effective 1 January 1993
Legal
system: civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to bring
it in line with Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive
branch:
chief of state: President Vaclav HAVEL (since 2 February 1993)
head of government: Prime Minister Milos ZEMAN (since 17 July 1998);
Deputy Prime Ministers Vladimir SPIDLA (since 22 July 1998), Pavel
RYCHETSKY (since 22 July 1998), Jan KAVAN (since 8 December 1999)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation
of the prime minister
elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term;
election last held 20 January 1998 (next to be held NA January 2003);
prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Vaclav HAVEL reelected president; Vaclav HAVEL
received 47 of 81 votes in the Senate and 99 out of 200 votes in
the Chamber of Deputies (second round of voting)
Legislative
branch:
bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat
(81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year
terms; one-third elected every two years) and the Chamber of Deputies
or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members are elected by popular
vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 12 and 19 November 2000 (next to be
held NA November 2002); Chamber of Deputies - last held 19-20 June
1998 (next to be held by NA June 2002)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats
by party - KDU-CSL 28, ODS 22, CSSD 15, ODA 7, US 4, KSCM 3, independents
2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - CSSD 32.3%,
ODS 27.7%, KSCM 11%, KDU-CSL 9.0%, US 8.6%; seats by party - CSSD
74, ODS 63, KSCM 24, KDU-CSL 20, US 18, CSNS 1
Judicial
branch: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; chairman and deputy
chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term
Political
parties and leaders:
Christian and Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL
[Cyril SVOBODA, chairman]; Civic Democratic Alliance or ODA [Michael
ZANTOVSKY, chairman]; Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Vaclav KLAUS,
chairman]; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Miroslav
GREBENICEK, chairman]; Communist Party of Czechoslovakia or KSC
[Miroslav STEPAN, chairman]; Czech National Social Party of CSNS
[Jan SULA, chairman]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Milos
ZEMAN, chairman]; Democratic Union or DEU [Ratibor MAJZLIK, chairman];
Freedom Union or US [Hana MARVANOVA, chairman]; Quad Coalition [Karel
KUHNL, chairman] (includes KDU-CSL, US, ODA, DEU); Republicans of
Miroslav SLADEK or RMS [Miroslav SLADEK, chairman]
Political
pressure groups and leaders: Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade
Unions [Richard FALBR]
International
organization participation:
ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC,
EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM,
IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU,
MONUC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP,
UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP,
UNMOT, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic
representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Martin PALOUS
consulate(s) general: Los Angeles and New York
FAX: [1] (202) 966-8540
telephone: [1] (202) 363-6315
chancery: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Craig R. STAPLETON
embassy: Trziste 15, 118 #01 Prague 1
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [420] (2) 5753-0663
FAX: [420] (2) 5753-0583
Flag
description: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with
a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side (identical to
the flag of the former Czechoslovakia)
Economy
Economy
- overview:
Basically one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist
states, the Czech Republic has been recovering from recession since
mid-1999. Growth in 2000-01 was led by exports to the EU, especially
Germany, and foreign investment, while domestic demand is reviving.
Uncomfortably high fiscal and current account deficits could be
future problems. Unemployment is gradually declining as job creation
continues in the rebounding economy; inflation is up to 4.7% but
still moderate. The EU put the Czech Republic just behind Poland
and Hungary in preparations for accession, which will give further
impetus and direction to structural reform. Moves to complete banking,
telecommunications, and energy privatization will add to foreign
investment, while intensified restructuring among large enterprises
and banks and improvements in the financial sector should strengthen
output growth.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $147.9 billion (2001 est.)
GDP
- real growth rate: 3.4% (2001 est.)
GDP
- per capita: purchasing power parity - $14,400 (2001 est.)
GDP
- composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 41%
services: 54% (2000)
Population
below poverty line: NA%
Household
income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 4.3%
highest 10%: 22.4% (1996)
Distribution
of family income - Gini index:
26 (1996)
Inflation
rate (consumer prices):
4.7% (2001 est.)
Labor
force:
5.203 million (1999 est.)
Labor
force - by occupation:
agriculture 5%, industry 40%, services 55% (2000 est.)
Unemployment
rate: 8.5% (2001 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $16.7 billion
expenditures: $18 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(2001 est.)
Industries:
metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments
Industrial
production growth rate: 7.2% (2001)
Electricity
- production:
69.589 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity
- production by source:
fossil fuel: 77.75%
hydro: 2.5%
other: 1.2% (2000)
nuclear: 18.55%
Electricity
- consumption: 54.701 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity
- exports: 18.74 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 8.725 billion kWh (2000)
Agriculture
- products: wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry
Exports:
$32.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment 44%, intermediate
manufactures 25%, chemicals 7%, raw materials and fuel 7% (2000)
Exports
- partners:
Germany 40.4%, Slovakia 7.7%, Austria 6.0%, Poland 5.4%, UK 4.3%
(2000)
Imports: $37.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment 40%, intermediate
manufactures 21%, raw materials and fuels 13%, chemicals 11% (2000)
Imports - partners: Germany 26.7%, Russia 6.4%, Slovakia 6.0%, Italy
5.2%, Austria 4.9% (2000)
Debt
- external: $24.6 billion (2001)
Economic
aid - recipient: $NA
Currency:
Czech koruna (CZK)
Currency
code: CZK
Exchange
rates: koruny per US dollar - 36.325 (January 2002), 38.035 (2001),
38.598 (2000), 34.569 (1999), 32.281 (1998), 31.698 (1997)
Fiscal
year: calendar year
(figures
reproduced from The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
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