6_The_Czech_Republic

In 1526, the Hapsburg dynasty reign began. In 1620, the Battle of the White Mountain took place and after the oppression of the Czech nation began.

In the 19th century, Czech people wanted to renew their language and culture during the National Revival and fortunately they were succesful.

The Hapsburgs reigned until the year 1918. In this period, we were under the power of Austria-Hungary. In 1918, after the end of the WWI the Czechoslavak Republic was established as an independent state. First Czechoslovakian president was Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.

During the World War II, we were under the control of Nazi Germany as the Bohemian and Moravian Protectorate. Then we were set free by the Soviet and American forces in 1945, after the end of the war.

In 1948, the communist regime took over power and the communists ruled our country, until 1989, when the „Velvet Revolution“ happened and they were replaced by the democratic government.

In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia and the first Czech president became Václav Havel.

In 1999, the Czech Republic joined NATO and in 2004 the European Union.

The Czech Republic is a pluralist parliamentary democracy with a liberal constitution. The head of state is the president, the current one is Miloš Zeman. The Parliament is bicameral and consists of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Prime Minister is the head of government, currently it is Petr Nečas. The main political parties are the democrats, the socialists or the communists.

Our national flag is composed of blue triangle and white and red horizontal bands and it’s often called the tricolour. The national anthem is Kde domov můj written by Josef Kajetán Tyl and František Škroup.

The total population of the Czech Republic counts over 10 million people. 95% are Czechs and the rest are minorities, such as the Slovaks, Poles or Vietnamese. The important minority are also the Romanies, but they mostly consider themselves as Czechs.

Czech population is also one of the less religious in Europe - 60% are atheists, so they don’t believe in God.

Our official language is Czech and the currency is Czech crowns.

Czech industry has developed a lot during the last years, but we have also a lot of products and marks with long tradition, and I would like to mention some of them. Very popular products are for example glass, porcelain or the jewellery made of Czech garnets. The trademark of the automobiles Škoda or the Baťa’s shoes is known all around the world.

We also have several worldwide popular drinks, like beer, plum vodka, wine and traditional Czech liquors like Becherovka or Fernet.

Now, I’d like to talk about tourism in the Czech Republic. Our country became a very popular destination for tourists in Europe. It’s thanks to the historical monuments and also to the beautiful countryside. We have twelve places which are on list of the UNESCO heritage sites, for example Prague, Český Krumlov, Telč or Kutná Hora. And we have also a lot of castles and chateaux that are attractive for tourists such as Prague Castle, Karlštejn, Lednice or Hluboká nad Vltavou. There are also some natural sights such as four National Parks, several Protected Landscape Areas, sandstone rocks, the caves Czech and Moravian Karst and many more.