Czech Republic




                                 Geography


Location:
     Central Europe, between Germany and Slovakia
Map references:
     Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the
     World
Area:
total area:
     78,703 sq km
land area:
     78,645 sq km
comparative area:
     slightly smaller than South Carolina
Land boundaries:
     total 1,880 km, Austria 362 km, Germany 646 km, Poland 658 km,
     Slovakia 214 km
Coastline:
     0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
     none; landlocked
International disputes:
     Liechtenstein claims l,606 square miles of Czech territory confiscated
     from its royal family in 1918; Sudeten German claims for restitution
     of property confiscated in connection with their expulsion after World
     War II versus the Czech Republic claims that restitution does not
     proceed before February 1948 when the Communists seized power;
     unresolved property issues with Slovakia over redistribution of
     property of the former Czechoslovak federal government
Climate:
     temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
Terrain:
     two main regions: Bohemia in the west, consisting of rolling plains,
     hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; and Moravia in the
     east, consisting of very hilly country
Natural resources:
     hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite
Land use:
arable land:
     NA%
permanent crops:
     NA%
meadows and pastures:
     NA%
forest and woodland:
     NA%
other:
     NA%
Irrigated land:
     NA sq km




Environment:
current issues:
     air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia centered around
     Zeplica and in northern Moravia around Ostrava presents health
     hazards; acid rain damaging forests
natural hazards:
     NA
international agreements:
     party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
     Pollution-Sulphur, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
     Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone
     Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified -
     Antarctic-Environmental Protocol
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


                                  People


Population:
     10,408,280 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     0.21% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     13.23 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     11.14 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     9.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     73.08 years
male:
     69.38 years
female:
     76.99 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     1.84 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
     Czech(s)
adjective:
     Czech
Ethnic divisions:
     Czech 94.4%, Slovak 3%, Polish 0.6%, German 0.5%, Gypsy 0.3%,
     Hungarian 0.2%, other 1%
Religions:
     atheist 39.8%, Roman Catholic 39.2%, Protestant 4.6%, Orthodox 3%,
     other 13.4%
Languages:
     Czech, Slovak




Literacy:
total population:
     NA%
male:
     NA%
female:
     NA%
Labor force:
     5.389 million
by occupation:
     industry 37.9%, agriculture 8.1%, construction 8.8%, communications
     and other 45.2% (1990)


                                Government


Names:
conventional long form:
conventional short form:
local long form:
     Ceska Republika
local short form:
     Cechy
Digraph:
     EZ
Type:
     parliamentary democracy
Capital:
     Prague
Administrative divisions:
     8 regions (kraje, kraj - singular); Jihocesky, Jihomoravsky, Praha,
     Severocesky, Severomoravsky, Stredocesky, Vychodocesky, Zapadocesky
Independence:
     1 January 1993 (from Czechoslovakia)
National holiday:
     National Liberation Day, 9 May; Founding of the Republic, 28 October
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 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)
     obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory
Suffrage:
     18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
     President Vaclav HAVEL (since 26 January 1993); election last held 26
     January 1993 (next to be held NA January 1998); results - Vaclav HAVEL
     elected by the National Council
head of government:
     Prime Minister Vaclav KLAUS (since NA June 1992); Deputy Prime
     Ministers Ivan KOCARNIK, Josef LUX, Jan KALVODA (since NA June 1992)




cabinet:
     Cabinet; appointed by the president on recommendation of the prime
     minister
Legislative branch:
     bicameral National Council (Narodni rada)
Senate:
     elections not yet held; seats (81 total)
Chamber of Deputies:
     elections last held 5-6 June 1992 (next to be held NA 1996); results -
     percent of vote by party NA; seats - (200 total) Civic Democratic
     Party/Christian Democratic Party 76, Left Bloc 35, Czech Social
     Democratic Party 16, Liberal Social Union 16, Christian Democratic
     Union/Czech People's Party 15, Assembly for the Republic/Republican
     Party 14, Civic Democratic Alliance 14, Movement for Self-Governing
     Democracy for Moravia and Silesia 14
Judicial branch:
     Supreme Court, Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders:
     Civic Democratic Party (ODS), Vaclav KLAUS, chairman; Christian
     Democratic Union-Czech People's Party (KDU-CSL), Josef LUX, chairman;
     Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA), Jan KALVODA, chairman; Christian
     Democratic Party (KDS), Ivan PILIP, chairman; Czech Social Democratic
     Party, Milos ZEMAN, chairman; Czech-Moravian Center Party, Jan KYCER,
     chairman; Liberal Social Union (LSU), Frantisek TRNKA; Communist Party
     of Bohemia/Moravia (KSCM), Miroslav GREBENICEK, chairman; Association
     for the Republic - Republican Party, Miroslav SLADEK, chairman; Left
     Bloc, Marie STIBOROVA, chairman
Other political or pressure groups:
     Left Bloc; Liberal Party; Czech-Moravian Chamber of Trade Unions
Member of:
     BIS, CCC, CE (guest), CEI, CERN, COCOM (cooperating), CSCE, EBRD, ECE,
     FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, IFCTU, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
     INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NSG,
     PCA, UN (as of 8 January 1993), UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
     UNOMIG, UNOMOZ, UNPROFOR, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Michael ZANTOVSKY
chancery:
     3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
     (202) 363-6315 or 6316
FAX:
     (202) 966-8540
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Adrian A. BASORA
embassy:
     Trziste 15, 11801, Prague 1
mailing address:
     Unit 25402; APO AE 09213
telephone:
     [42] (2) 251-0847
FAX:
     [42] (2) 531-193




Flag:
     two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue
     isosceles triangle based on the hoist side (almost identical to the
     flag of the former Czechoslovakia)


                                  Economy


Overview:
     The dissolution of Czechoslovakia into two independent nation states -
     the Czech Republic and Slovakia - on 1 January 1993 has complicated
     the task of moving toward a more open and decentralized economy. The
     old Czechoslovakia, even though highly industrialized by East European
     standards, suffered from an aging capital plant, lagging technology,
     and a deficiency in energy and many raw materials. In January 1991,
     approximately one year after the end of communist control of Eastern
     Europe, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic launched a sweeping
     program to convert its almost entirely state-owned and controlled
     economy to a market system. In 1991-92 these measures resulted in
     privatization of some medium- and small-scale economic activity and
     the setting of more than 90% of prices by the market - but at a cost
     in inflation, unemployment, and lower output. For Czechoslovakia as a
     whole inflation in 1991 was roughly 50% and output fell 15%. In 1992,
     in the Czech lands, inflation dropped to an estimated 12.5% and GDP
     was down a more moderate 5%. In 1993, Czech aggregate output remained
     unchanged, prices rose about 19%, and unemployment hovered above 3%;
     exports to Slovakia fell roughly 30%. An estimated 40% of the economy
     was privately owned. In 1994, Prague expects 2% to 3% growth in GDP,
     roughly 9% inflation, and 5% unemployment. Economic growth in 1994 is
     less important than continued economic restructuring; a mere 1% growth
     would be noteworthy if restructuring is accompanied by rising
     unemployment and enterprise bankruptcies.
National product:
     GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $75 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     0% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
     $7,200 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     19% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
     3.3% (1993 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
     $11.9 billion
expenditures:
     $11.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)
Exports:
     $12.6 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities:
     manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals,
     fuels, minerals, and metals
partners:
     Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Italy, France, US, UK,
     CIS republics




Imports:
     $12.4 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities:
     machinery and transport equipment, fuels and lubricants, manfactured
     goods, raw materials, chemicals, agricultural products
partners:
     Slovakia, CIS republics, Germany, Austria, Poland, Switzerland,
     Hungary, UK, Italy
External debt:
     $8.6 billion (October 1993)
Industrial production:
     growth rate -5.5% (December 1993 over December 1992)
Electricity:
capacity:
     16,500,000 kW
production:
     62.2 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
     6,030 kWh (1992)
Industries:
     fuels, ferrous metallurgy, machinery and equipment, coal, motor
     vehicles, glass, armaments
Agriculture:
     largely self-sufficient in food production; diversified crop and
     livestock production, including grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops,
     fruit, hogs, cattle, and poultry; exporter of forest products
Illicit drugs:
     transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and Latin American
     cocaine to Western Europe
Economic aid:
donor:
     the former Czechoslovakia was a donor - $4.2 billion in bilateral aid
     to non-Communist less developed countries (1954-89)
Currency:
     1 koruna (Kc) = 100 haleru
Exchange rates:
     koruny (Kcs) per US$1 - 30.122 (January 1994), 29.153 (1993), 28.26
     (1992), 29.53 (1991), 17.95 (1990), 15.05 (1989)
note:
     values before 1993 reflect Czechoslovak exchange rates
Fiscal year:
     calendar year


                              Communications


Railroads:
     9,434 km total (1988)
Highways:
total:
     55,890 km (1988)
paved:
     NA
unpaved:
     NA




Inland waterways:
     NA km; the Elbe (Labe) is the principal river
Pipelines:
     natural gas 5,400 km
Ports:
     coastal outlets are in Poland (Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin), Croatia
     (Rijeka), Slovenia (Koper), Germany (Hamburg, Rostock); principal
     river ports are Prague on the Vltava, Decin on the Elbe (Labe)
Merchant marine:
     18 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 225,934 GRT/350,330 DWT, bulk 7,
     cargo 11
Airports:
total:
     155
usable:
     123
with permanent-surface runways:
     27
with runways over 3,659 m:
     1
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     17
with runways 1,060-2,439 m:
     52
note:
     a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip
Telecommunications:
     NA


                              Defense Forces


Branches:
     Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense, Railroad Units
Manpower availability:
     males age 15-49 2,747,126; fit for military service 2,091,532; reach
     military age (18) annually 93,342 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
     23 billion koruny, NA% of GNP (1993 est.); note - conversion of
     defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate
     could produce misleading results