Czech Republic

Introduction
Basic information
Climate
Geographical position
Currency
Time zone
Population and religion
Economic structure
 
 Introduction
The Czech Republic is a small country in the heart of Europe, which has an appeal for visitors.

Thanks to its location at the crossroads of various cultures, the Czech Republic has countless cultural and historical points of interest. Despite the complicated visa rules, these destinations attracted a relatively high number of foreign tourists even before the velvet revolution.

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 Basic information
The country is a democratic republic, there are two legislative chambers - the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate
1999, March 12 - the Czech Republic has become a member of NATO
2004, 1 May, entry of the Czech Republic into EU

 Climate
temperate, a mixture of oceanic and continental, average winter temperature is  5 degrees C, average summer temperature is 20 degrees C
Annual precipitation: 500 - 700 mm

More information is available at CHMI Climatology Section http://www.chmi.cz/indexe.html

 Currency
Legal tenders - Crown (Kc) (= Koruna ceska = Czech crown) 

Coins:  
Kc: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50

Banknotes:
Kc 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 

Exchange rates - www.cnb.cz
Currency converter - www.xe.com

 Geographical position
Total area: 78,865 sq. kilometres
latitude 49 - 51 degrees N and longitude 12-19 degrees E
Neighbouring states: Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Poland.
Length of state borders: 2,303 kilometres

Average height above the sea level:  450 metres (European average is 315 m), the highest mountain is Mount Snezka 1,602.
The longest rivers: Labe 1 165 km (415 km in the country), Vltava 433 km.

 Time zone
GMT plus 1 hour, from April to October summer time - GMT plus 2 hours

 Population and religion
Population: 10,3 million
Education: compulsory 9-year school attendance (from the age of 6), about 4 million people have complete secondary education and 0,5 million university education
Official language: Czech
Ethnic composition: Czech - 94,2 % (Bohemians, Moravians, Silesians), Slovak - 1,3%, Hungarian - 0,1 %, Polish - 0,5%, German - 0,4 %, others - 2,8 %
Religions: Roman Catholic - 39,2 %, Protestants churches - 4,1 %, atheists and non-believers - 39,7 %, others - 17 %
Largest cities: Prague (capital), Brno, Ostrava, Plzen, Olomouc, Liberec, Hradec Kralove

 Economic structure
primary sector - agriculture, hunting and forestry, fishing 3,7%
secondary sector - industry, construction  40%
tertiary sector including transport 56,3 %

for more information see Czech Statistical Office:   www.czso.cz/eng/redakce.nsf/i/home