2. Maturitni otazka_The Czech Republic

The Czech Republic

Geography

The Czech Republic is situated in the centre of Europe and sometimes is called a heart of the Europe. The Czech borders are the oldest one in the Europe; they are formed mainly by mountains. We border with Germany, Poland, Austria and Slovakia. The Czech Republic is consists of three lands: Bohemia (the biggest city is Prague), Moravia (the biggest city is Brno) and Silesia (the biggest city is Ostrava). Natural borders between Moravia and Bohemia are made by Bohemian-Moravian Highland. Our republic lies in the Mild Zone.

In the Czech Republic is about 10 million people. The biggest city is the capital, Prague and it has about 1,3 million inhabitants. It is also the historical capital of Bohemia proper. Prague is situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava River. Prague is centre of politics, finance, trade, art and culture and one of the most beautiful historical cities in the world.

Brno: is the South Moravian metropolis; centre of Moravian culture, finance and business.

Olomouc: a beautiful historical city and centre of Haná region

Ostrava: is industrial centre, there are chemical factories, coal mines.

Karlovy Vary: we can find there famous spa, Russian community.

Symbols

Our flag is consists of three colours, red, blue and white. The red stripe is on the top, the white stripe is down and the blue triangle is on the left side.The anthem is Where is my home? It is a piece of music written by the composer František Škroup and the playwright Josef Kajetán Tyl. Czech motto is Pravda vítězí (Truth Prevails). Bohemia symbol is a white lion with two tails; Symbol of Moravia is red and white checkered eagle and symbol of Silesia is a black eagle.

Politics

The Czech Republic government is divided into three branches – the legislative, the executive and the judicial. Our Parliament consists of two chambers – the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Everybody, who is above 18 and who has Czech nationality can participate. The president is elected every five years by the Parliament, but he cannot serve more than two terms in office. The President resides in the Prague Castle; now, it is Miloš Zeman.

Economy

The Czech Republic possesses a developed, high-income economy with a per capita GDP rate that is 80% of the European Union average. The currency is the Czech crown. The Czech Republic is both industrial and agricultural country. We are known mainly thanks to breweries, sugar beet and rye. We produce chemicals, steel, glass, machines. We most traded with Germany, where mainly exported machines and beer. For us we import especially computers and computer engineering from Taiwan. In the Czech Republic, especially in Prague, we find many stock markets, where is trade with securities. The unemployment rate is around 8%. This is the European average.

Famous people

Gregor Johann Mendel was scientist who is considered for founder a new science of genetics.

Karel Čapek was a Czech writer of the early 20th century best known for his science fiction, including his novel Válka s mloky (War with the salamander) and the play R.U.R that introduced the word robot.