General Information
A bit of history
According to legend, Czech ancestors led by their famous leader called Czech decided to settle down in the territory of the modern Czech Republic. Before the arrival of Slavic tribes the region was inhabited by Celtic tribes (one of whom was called “Boyi”, from which the word Bohemia was later derived).
The most flourishing period for Prague was the time of the reign of Charles IV, who consolidated political power of the country and became not only the King of Bohemia but the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles IV transformed Prague into the cultural and political capital of the Empire– at that time Prague was 2 times bigger than Paris. He built the New Town, established the Archbishop’s pulpit, and founded the world-famous Saint Vit church. In 1348 he founded Charles University which is the oldest university in Central Europe. At the same time, the magnificent Charles Bridge was constructed.
After the Husits wars, the country came to a new stage of development. Italian artists who came to the country introduced Reniassance concepts, and Czech artists implemented these ideas in new and previously-unseen ways. A lot of castles and palaces were built at this time. In XVI century during the reign of Emperor Rudolf II Prague became the scientific and cultural centre of Europe.
The White Mount battle defeat in 1620 led to the end of political sovereignty and the ’30 Years War’ brought about an economic drop. At the end of the 18th century Bohemia once again became one of the most important regions of the Habsburgs Empire. This period was famous for the surge of Baroque architecture.
Liberation from Austro-Hungarian monarchy was the result of World War I. The independent Czechoslovak Republic was founded in 1918. The newborn country’s progress was stalled by Nazi occupation. On the 1st of January 1993, peaceful and self-determined separation between the two parts of Czechoslovakia took place which gave birth to the Czech Republic.
Population
The vast majority of the population are ethnic Czechs (95 %) who speak the Czech language which belongs to the Western Slavic linguistic group. About 4 percent of the Czech population comprise foreigners. One third of all immigrants are Ukrainians, followed by Slovaks (18%)(many of them stayed in the Czech Republic after the separation), Vietnamese, Russians and Poles. Other ethnic groups include Germans, Romani people, Hungarians and Jews. More than 40% of all immigrants to the Czech Republic are between 20 to 34 years old.
Languages
The official language is Czech. Slovak, German, English and Russian are also used.
Religions
Catholics(39%), protestants(5 %), Orthodox(3%), the rest comprise atheists and others.
Czech public holidays and days off
1 January (New Year), 12 January, 8 April, 1 May (Labour day), 8 May (Liberation day), 6 June, 5 July (Saints Cyril and Methodius day), 6 July (Jan Hus day), 28 October (Independent Czechoslovak State Day), 24 December (Christmas), 25-26 December (Christmas holidays). Religious holidays.
Geography
The Czech Republic is a state in central Europe which occupies historical regions of Bohemia and Moravia and part of Silesia. It is bordered in the north by Poland, in the east by Slovak Republic, in the south by Austria, and in the west and north by Germany. The area of the country is 78.864 sq km.
Czech lands are historically divided into 3 regions: Czech, Moravia and Silesia, with regional centres in Prague, Brno and Ostrava respectively.
In the central part of the country valleys prevail but along the frontiers there are massifs, which include Krusne mountains in the northwest, Krkonose in the north, Orlicke mountains in the east, Carpathians in the southeast, Sumava mountains in the south and southwest and Cesky les in the west.
The main water arteries of the Czech Republic are Vltava, Elbe and Morava, Dyje in Moravia. In Southern Czech there are a lot of ponds.
Woodlands are situated in the mountainous parts of the country and in the central Czech. There are 1351 nature reserves in the country, including 3 national parks, with a total area of 1111,2 square metres. Nature protection has a long tradition in the Czech Republic, which is why many regions are distinguished by their ecological cleanliness and have plenty of places for tourism and recreation.
Economy
From the 19th century, Czech was one of the most industrially developed countries in Europe. The leading economic sectors were textile, food, mining, metallurgy and machine-building. Historically, by the beginning of the 20th century almost 80 percent of Austro-Hungarian industry was located in Czech, which at that time was a part of the 
Empire. This shows that Czechs have always had an extensive tradition in the sphere of manufacture and workmanship. Czech doesn’t have considerable mineral deposits but it has coal reserves, reserves of quality sand used for glass and brick manufacture, and rich reserves of building stones. There are also deposits of semiprecious stones: garnets, agates and so on. Lately Czech Republic does its utmost to keep pace with world and European Union progress and tries to replace old technology with new ecological equipment. For example Czech Republic produces ecologically clean waste incineration equipment.
The main element of the Czech economy is industrial machine building, electrical engineering, iron industry, and chemical industry. Agriculture and timber industries are not significant in the economy and are in need of constant financial support from the government. International capital flows are very important for the Czech economy and the country is one of the leaders in drawing foreign investments.