1. Czech republic Name The English spelling C zech derives from
the Polish spelling of the original ech. Following the dissolution
of Czechoslovakia, the Czech half of the former nation found itself
without a common single-word name in English. In 1993, the Czech
Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggested the name C z e c h ia as an
official alternative in all situations other than formal official
documents and the full names of government institutions; however,
this has not become widespread, despite the fact that many
2. History A c o n tin u o u s h is to r y o f w h a t isc a
lle d th e C z e c h R e p u b lic to d a yb e g a n to b e w r
itte n in th e e a r lyth ir tie s o f th e 6 th c e n tu r y . T h
efir s t S la v ic a g g lo m e r a tio niss u p p o r te d b y th
e e x is te n c e o fS a m o s E m p ir e in th e m id - s e v e n
thc e n tu r y a n d s u b s e q u e n tly b y th eG re a tM o r a
v ia n E m p ir eAn.im p o r ta n t la n d m a r k in th e o v e r
a lld e v e lo p m e n tof th eS la v o n icte r r ito r ie s w a s
a r r iv a l o f b r o th e r sC yr il a ndM e th o d iu s th e,a p
o s tle s o f th e S la v s , in th ete r r ito r y o f th e G r e
a t M o r a v ia nE m p ir e a t th e tu r n o f 8 6 3 a n d8 6 4 .
S in c e th a t tim e , O ld C h u r c hS la v o n ic b e c a m e a
la n g u a g e u s e din a tr a n s la tio n o f th e B ib le a n d
inth e litu r g y in te llig ib le to th e S la v s .TheG re a t M
o r a v ia nE m p ir e
3. ,, B o iv o j I , the first, historically documented Duke of
Bohemia, ruled from 874 to 891. Prince Boivoj of the Pemyslids,
baptized by A r c h b is h o p M e th o d iu s in the eighties of
the 9th century, contributed to a dramatic progress of
evangelization in Bohemia. The first church buildings on the
territory of the then Bohemia were founded under his rule. The
first-ever C h r is tia n c h u r c h building was constructed at
Lev Hradec (which is now called Roztoky u Prahy) from where Boivoj
I reigned at that time. Later, he had a little church built and
consecrated to the Virgin Mary at the location of a pagan place of
sacrifices upon the Vlta v a R iv e r . A site of a fortified
settlement, later a princely palace, started to be built at this
location under the reign of Spytihnv I, son of Boivoj I. In fact,
this was the beginning of construction of the Prague castle from
where Spytihnv I reigned. After his death, it was his younger
brother, Vratislav I, father of Vclav (Wenceslas) and Boleslav, who
assumed the reigns. After Vratislavs death (in 921), the reign was
entrusted to his wife, D r a h o m r a (Dragomir), until Vclav
became an adult. Vclav took over administration of the country from
his mother in about 924. In the latter half of the twenties of the
10th century, Prince Vclav established St. Vituss Cathedral within
the Prague castle acquiring remains of the Saxon nations patron
saint Vitus from Saxon king Henry. However, there were many
quarrels between Vclav and
4. ,, B o le s la v , Vclavs brother, wasP r in c e undoubtedly
involved in consolidation of the beginning Czech statehood, and
thanks to his involvement, a bishopric was established in Prague
headed by Vo jtc h (Adalbert) of the Slavnk family since 982 the
founder of the B e v n o v M o n a s te r y (in 993) later
canonized. Vojtch endeavoured to harmonize relations between the
Church and the society being extremely responsible for
Christianization of the Czech as well as Polish and Hungarian
regions of Central Europe. Vojtch or his fellows baptized their
future kings.The territory populated by the Czechs had been justa
principality until 1212. In that year, the Pemyslduke O ta k a r I
received a charter known as theGolden Bull of Sicily from the then
king of SicilyFrederick II. The Bull raised the Czech principality
toa kingdom while guaranteeing the monarchy tobecome hereditary.
Otakar I became the first Czechking. He was crowned in 1198 and
then in 1203again.Throughout its history, the Czech state consisted
ofthe Kingdom of Bohemia and the Margraviate ofMoravia (recognized
at a Reichstag in Regensburg
5. ,, After his death, the Pemyslid dynasty ruled just on the
distaff side. The Czech throne was mounted by the Luxembourg
dynasty. This dynasty ruled until 1436. Clearly the most
significant monarch of the Luxembourg dynasty was Charles IV (Karel
IV.), king of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor. Under his rule,
Bohemia experienced the greatest deal of prosperity. Prague became
a leading European centre. The Prague Archbishopric, St. Wenceslass
Crown Jewels and St. Wenceslass tradition all emerged. C h a r le s
IV founded the P r a g u e U n iv e r s ity. Moreover, the Prague
New Town as well as many other important buildings such as Karltejn
castle and Charles Bridge was constructed. After Charless death,
his son, Vclav IV, took the throne. Under his rule, the country
fell into chaos. There were religious tumults culminating in
burning preacher Jan Hus to death in 1415 because of him standing
out against the Roman church and requiring its reform.
Subsequently, Bohemia and a part of Central Europe were devastated
by the H u s s ite w a r s . In 1526, it is the Habsburgs
(Ferdinand I of Habsburg) who came to the Czech throne making
Bohemia part of the Habsburg Monarchy. The most important monarch
after 1526 is considered to be Roman Emperor R u d o lf II, who was
crowned king of Bohemia in 1575 and German king later. Under his
reign, Prague enjoys prosperity becoming a modern European centre
again. After his death (in 1612), there were several uprisings
against the Habsburgs, led by the Czech estates, culminating in
their defeat in the Battle of the Wh ite M o u n ta in (Bl hora) on
8th November 1620. Thus, Europe appeared on the verge of the Thirty
Years War. Bohemia experienced
6. ,, After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, caused
by its defeat in World War I,the Czechoslovak Republic was
established on 28th October 1918 withTo m G a r r ig ue M a s a r
yk being elected its first president. Theperiod between the two
world wars (19181939) is called the First Republic. Atthat time,
the Czechoslovak Republic ranked among the most
economicallydeveloped countries in Europe, especially in the area
of mechanical engineering.The existence of the Fir s t R e p u b
lic was ended by the Nazi invasion of thecountry in 1939, after
conclusion of the Munich accord (9/1939). Czechoslovakiawas divided
into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and the Slovak
State.The country was reunited in 1945 after Germany had been
defeated and theCzech government-in-exile headed by E d va r d B e
n e had returned fromLondon. As a result of political settlement in
Europe after Wo r ld Wa r II, theterritory of Czechoslovakia fell
to the so-called Soviet sphere of influence, which,to a great
degree, resulted in the communists seizing power after their coup
inFebruary 1948. In 1960, the state was renamed The Czechoslovak
SocialistRepublic. In 1968, some reformers among the communists
made an attempt forpartial democratization of the society. These
efforts were suppressed in Augustof the same year as the troops of
the Warsaw Pact allies invaded the country.After the unsuccessful
attempt for democratization, the period of the
so-callednormalization started during 1969. This was a period when
those persons andactivities that failed to identify themselves with
the Soviet occupation and thesubsequent normalization were
persecuted by the state machinery. During theearly 1980s,
democratization trends started appearing more intensely again inthe
other East European countries as well in the countries of the
so-calledSoviet bloc. In November 1989, the situation in
Czechoslovakia culminated in theso-called Ve lve t R e vo lutio n .
Under pressure from the public, thecommunists backed out of the
Establishment as well as police operations againstthe population.
On 29th December 1989, the Federal Assembly voted VclavHavel, the
candidate and representative of a new democratic block
(CivicForum), who brought the Czechoslovak Federal Republic to the
first free electionafter more than 40 years in June 1990, for
president.
7. Geography The Czech landscape is quite varied. Bohemia to
the west consists of a basin drained by the Elbe (Czech: L abe) and
the Vltava (or Moldau) rivers, and surrounded by mostly low
mountains such as the Krkonoe range of the Sudetes. The highest
point in the country, Snka, at 1,602 m (5,262 ft), is located here.
Moravia, the eastern part of the country, is also quite hilly. It
is drained mainly by the Morava River, but it also contains the
source of the Oder (Czech: O dra) River. Water from the landlocked
Czech Republic flows to three different seas: the North Sea, Baltic
Sea and Black Sea. The Czech Republic also leases the Moldauhafen,
a 30,000-square-metre (7.4-acre) lot in the middle of the Hamburg
Docks, which was awarded to Czechoslovakia by Article 363 of the
Treaty of Versailles to allow the landlocked country a place where
goods transported down river could be transferred to seagoing
ships. The territory reverts to Germany in
2028.Phytogeographically, the Czech Republic belongs to the Central
European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal
Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of the Czech
8. PopulationThe vast majority of the inhabitants of the Czech
Republic areCzechs (94.2%). Minorities include the Slovaks (1.9%),
Poles(0.5%), Vietnamese (0.44%), Germans (0.4%), and
Gypsies.According to the Interior Ministry of the Czech Republic,
therewere 431,215 foreigners legally residing in the country
inOctober 2008, making up 4.1% of the population, with thelargest
groups being Ukrainians, Slovaks and Vietnamese. TheCzech Republic
is home to between 250,000 and 300,000Roma, who make up the
country's second largest minoritypopulation after Slovaks.The
fertility rate was low at 1.44children born/woman. In 2007,
immigration increased thepopulation by almost 1%.According to the
Czech StatisticsOffice, 130,147 Ukrainians, 74,918 Slovaks,
58,877Vietnamese, 26,606 Russians and 21,560 Poles lived in
theCzech Republic in October 2008.At present, there are almost6,000
legally working Mongolians in the Czech Republic.TheJewish
population of Bohemia and Moravia (118,000 accordingto the 1930
census) was virtually annihilated during theHolocaust by the Nazis.
As of 2005, there were approximately4,000 Jews. Religion:The Czech
Republic, along with Estonia, has one of theleast religious
populations in all of Europe. According to the2001 census, 59% of
the country is agnostic, atheist, a non-believer or a non-organized
believer, 26.8% Roman Catholicand 2.5% Protestant.According to the
most recent
9. Interesting,,Czech cuisine is marked by a strongemphasis on
meat dishes. Pork isquite common, and beef and chickenare also
popular. Goose, duck,rabbit and wild game are served.Fish is rare,
with the occasionalexception of fresh trout, and carp,which is
served at Christmas. Aside from Slivovitz, Czech beer and wine,
Czechs also produce two uniquely Czech liquors, Fernet Stock and
Becherovka. Kofola is a non- alcoholic Czech soft drink somewhat
similar in look and taste to Coca-Cola, which is also popular.
10. ,, Sport plays a significant part in the life of many
Czechs who are generally loyal supporters of their favourite teams
or individuals. The two leading sports in the Czech Republic are
football and ice hockey, both drawing the largest attention of both
the media and supporters. The many other sports with professional
leagues and structures include basketball, volleyball, handball,
athletics, floorball and others. Sport is a source of strong waves
of patriotism, usually rising several days or weeks before an event
and sinking several days after. The events considered the most
important by Czech fans are: the Ice Hockey World Championship,
Olympic Ice hockey tournament, the Euro , the football World Cup
and qualification matches for such events. In general, any
international match of the Czech ice hockey or football national
team draws attention, especially when played against a traditional
rival: Germany in football; Russia, Sweden and Canada in ice
hockey; and Slovakia in both. See also: M usic of the C zech
Republic Music in the Czech Republic has roots both in high-culture
opera and symphony and in the traditional music of Bohemia and
Moravia. Cross- pollination and diversity are important aspects of
Czech music: Composers were often influenced by traditional music;
jazz and bluegrass music have become popular; pop music often
consisted of English language hits sung in Czech. Notable Czech
composers include Leo Janek, Antonn Dvok and Bedich
Smetana./wiki/File:Jaroslav_Hasek.jpg/wiki/File:Jaroslav_Hasek.jpg
/wiki/File:Jaroslav_Hasek.jpg/wiki/File:Jaroslav_Hasek.jpgJaroslav
Haek, author of The Good Soldier vejk Czech literature is the
literature of the historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and the
Czech-speaking part of Silesia, (now part of the Czech Republic,
formerly of Czechoslovakia). This most often means literature
written by Czechs, in the Czech language, although Old Church
Slavonic, Latin, and German were also used, mostly in the early
periods. Modern authors from the Czech territory who wrote in other
languages (e.g. German) are generally considered separately, and
their writing usually existed in parallel with Czech-language
literature and did not interact with it. Thus Franz Kafka, for
example, who wrote in German (though he also knew Czech rather
well), falls within Austrian literature, though he lived his entire
life in Bohemia.Czech literature is divided into several main time
periods: the Middle Ages; the Hussite period; the years of
re-Catholicization and the baroque; the Enlightenment and Czech
reawakening in the 19th century; the avantgarde of the interwar
period; the years under Communism and the