Czechia
Name
| Official name | Czech Republic — Česká republika; the long form, in the Constitution |
|---|---|
| Short name | Czechia — Česko; registered with the United Nations and ISO on 5 July 2016 at the government's request, and the form used by the EU, the UN, the U.S. State Department and the CIA World Factbook |
| Former names | Czechoslovakia (1918–1992) — the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1960, the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic in 1990–92; the Kingdom of Bohemia before 1918 |
| Demonym | Czech |
| Meaning of the name | From the Czechs — Češi — the Slavic tribe of Bohemia, named by legend for Forefather Čech; "Bohemia" from the Celtic Boii |
| Motto | "Pravda vítězí" — truth prevails; on the presidential standard, from Jan Hus |
Quick facts
| Capital | Prague — Praha — the capital of Bohemia for a millennium; about 1.4 million, 2.7 million in the region |
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| Largest cities | Prague; Brno, about 400,000; Ostrava; Plzeň; Liberec; Olomouc; České Budějovice; Hradec Králové |
| Official language | Czech; Slovak, Polish, German, Romani and others recognized as minority languages |
| Currency | Czech koruna — ISO code CZK, Kč; about 21 to the U.S. dollar, 24 to the euro; no date for the euro |
| Time zone | Central European Time, UTC+1; summer time UTC+2 |
| Calling code | +420 |
| Internet domain | .cz |
| ISO 3166 codes | CZ · CZE · 203 |
| Vehicle registration code | CZ |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 230 V, 50 Hz; plug types C and E |
| Founded | 1 January 1993 — the Czech Republic on the dissolution of Czechoslovakia; Czechoslovakia founded 28 October 1918; the Bohemian state from the 9th century |
| National days | 28 October, the founding of Czechoslovakia; 17 November, the Day of the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy, for 1939 and 1989; 1 January, Restoration Day; 8 May, Victory Day; 5 July, Cyril and Methodius; 6 July, Jan Hus; 28 September, St. Wenceslas Day |
| Constitution | 16 December 1992, in force 1 January 1993; the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of 1991 |
| Population | 10,524,167 at the census of 2021; about 10.9 million (Statistical Office, 2025 est.) |
| Area | 78,867 km² (30,451 sq mi) — land 77,247 km², water 1,620 km²; landlocked; Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | A white band over a red band with a blue triangle at the hoist — the white and red of Bohemia's lion, with blue for Moravia and Slovakia added in 1920; the flag of Czechoslovakia, kept by the Czech Republic on 1 January 1993 against the letter of the dissolution agreement.Flag of Czechia |
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| Coat of arms | The greater arms — quartered: the double-tailed silver lion of Bohemia on red, the checkered eagle of Moravia on blue, the black eagle of Silesia on gold, the lion again; the lesser arms the lion alone; adopted 17 December 1992 |
| National anthem | "Kde domov můj?" ("Where Is My Home?") — words by Josef Kajetán Tyl, music by František Škroup, from the play Fidlovačka, 1834; the first verse of the Czechoslovak anthem, kept alone since 1993 |
| National motto | "Pravda vítězí" |
| National colors | White, red and blue |
| National animal | The double-tailed lion of the arms — heraldic; none designated |
| National tree | The linden — lípa — the tree of the Slavs, chosen at the Slavic Congress of 1848; widely cited |
| National drink | Beer — the pilsner of Plzeň since 1842; the highest consumption per head in the world |
| National dish | Vepřo knedlo zelo — roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut; svíčková; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag, arms, anthem, presidential standard and seal are fixed by the law of 1992; the animal, tree, drink and dish are traditional, none designated |
Geography
| Location | Central Europe — landlocked between Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria; the geographical center of the continent by several reckonings |
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| Land borders | 2,143 km (1,332 mi) with four countries |
| Border with Poland | 796 km (495 mi) |
| Border with Germany | 704 km (437 mi) |
| Border with Austria | 402 km (250 mi) |
| Border with Slovakia | 241 km (150 mi) |
| Coastline | None — landlocked; the Elbe to Hamburg the outlet, with a Czech leasehold in the port since 1929 |
| Highest point | Sněžka, 1,603 m (5,259 ft), in the Krkonoše on the Polish border |
| Lowest point | The Elbe at Hřensko, 115 m (377 ft) |
| Mean elevation | 433 m (1,421 ft) |
| Major rivers | The Vltava, the longest, 430 km, through Český Krumlov and Prague to the Elbe; the Elbe — Labe — 370 km in the country, to the North Sea; the Morava to the Danube; the Oder — Odra — rising in the Jeseníky for the Baltic: three seas from one country |
| Lakes | Lipno, the largest reservoir, about 49 km²; Černé jezero in the Šumava, the largest natural lake; the fishponds of Třeboň, Rožmberk the largest, since the 16th century |
| Terrain | The Bohemian basin ringed by the Šumava, the Krušné hory, the Krkonoše and the Jeseníky; the Moravian lowlands and the Carpathian foothills; the sandstone towns of Bohemian Switzerland and the Český ráj; the Moravian Karst |
| Climate | Temperate continental — warm summers, cold cloudy winters; snow in the mountains |
| Natural hazards | Floods — the Moravian floods of 1997, Prague in 2002, the September floods of 2024 |
| Natural resources | Coal and lignite, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber, uranium once, the garnets of Bohemia |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 54%; forest about 34% |
| National parks | 4 — Krkonoše (1963), Šumava, Podyjí and Bohemian Switzerland; 26 protected landscape areas |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 17 — the historic centers of Prague, Český Krumlov and Telč (1992); the pilgrimage church at Zelená Hora (1994); Kutná Hora (1995); the Lednice–Valtice landscape (1996); Holašovice and the gardens of Kroměříž (1998); Litomyšl Castle (1999); the Holy Trinity Column at Olomouc (2000); the Tugendhat Villa at Brno (2001); the Jewish quarter and basilica of Třebíč (2003); the Erzgebirge mining region (2019, shared); the Kladruby stud farm (2019); the spa towns Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně (2021, shared); the beech forests (2021, shared); Žatec and the landscape of hops (2023) |
| Administrative divisions | 13 regions — kraje — and the capital city of Prague; 76 districts; about 6,250 municipalities, among the most in Europe |
People
| Population | 10,524,167 (census of 2021); about 10.9 million (2025 est.) |
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| Population density | About 138 per km² (357 per sq mi) |
| Population growth | About 0.2% a year — by immigration; births below deaths |
| Median age | About 44 years |
| Life expectancy | About 80 years |
| Fertility rate | About 1.4 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 75% |
| Adult literacy | About 99% |
| Ethnic groups | Czech about 57% and Moravian about 3% of those who answered the census of 2021, with a third leaving the question blank; Slovak, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Polish, German, Roma |
| Immigrants | About 1.1 million foreigners — a tenth of the population: some 600,000 Ukrainians, Slovaks, Vietnamese, Russians, Poles; the largest share of Ukrainian refugees per head in Europe |
| Languages | Czech by about 96%; Slovak understood by all; English and German the foreign languages |
| Religion | No religion 48%, undeclared 30%, Roman Catholic 7%, other Christians about 4% (census of 2021) — among the least religious countries on earth |
| Human Development Index | 0.915 (2023 data, 2025 report) — very high; 27th of 193 |
| Sport | Ice hockey — the Olympic gold of Nagano 1998, world champions thirteen times, most recently in Prague in 2024; football — the Euro 1976 title as Czechoslovakia; tennis — Martina Navrátilová, Ivan Lendl, Petra Kvitová; Emil Zátopek's three golds of 1952; Ester Ledecká; Věra Čáslavská |
| Diaspora | About 2 million of Czech descent abroad — in the United States, Canada, Germany, Austria and Slovakia |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary parliamentary republic under the Constitution of 1993 — the president head of state, elected for five years by direct vote since 2013; the prime minister head of government, answerable to the Chamber of Deputies |
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| President | Petr Pavel (independent), since 9 March 2023 — the fourth; a retired army general, chief of the general staff and chairman of the NATO Military Committee 2015–2018; elected in the runoff of 28 January 2023 with 58.3% against Andrej Babiš; born 1 November 1961 |
| Prime Minister | Andrej Babiš (ANO), since 9 December 2025 — the 14th; prime minister before in 2017–2021; the founder of Agrofert, among the richest men in the country, born 2 September 1954 in Bratislava |
| The 2025 election | The Chamber of Deputies elected 3–4 October 2025: ANO 34.5% and 80 seats; the Spolu coalition of Petr Fiala 23.4% and 52; STAN 11.2% and 22; the Pirates 9.0% and 18; SPD 7.8% and 15; the Motorists 6.8% and 13; turnout 68.9% |
| The government | The third Babiš cabinet, appointed 15 December 2025, 72 days after the election — ANO with the Freedom and Direct Democracy party (SPD) and the Motorists for Themselves; 16 ministries, ANO eight, the Motorists four, the SPD three; 108 of 200 seats; deputy prime ministers Karel Havlíček, Alena Schillerová, Jaromír Zůna and Petr Macinka, the foreign minister; the vote of confidence set for 13 January 2026 |
| Predecessor | Petr Fiala (Civic Democrats), prime minister 28 November 2021 – 15 December 2025; Martin Kupka Civic Democratic leader since 17 January 2026 |
| Parliament | The Chamber of Deputies — 200 members elected for four years by proportional representation; the Senate — 81 members elected for six years, a third every two years |
| The next elections | The Senate third and the municipal councils on 9–10 October 2026; the presidential election in January 2028; the Chamber by October 2029 |
| Legal system | Civil law; the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court at Brno |
| Regions | 13 and Prague, each with an elected assembly and governor — hejtman |
| European Union | Member since 1 May 2004; Schengen since 21 December 2007; not in the eurozone; the EU Council presidency in 2009 and the second half of 2022 |
| NATO | Member since 12 March 1999; the Czech ammunition initiative of 2024 that sourced shells for Ukraine |
| United Nations | Member since 19 January 1993 — Czechoslovakia a founding member, 1945 |
| Other memberships | The OECD (1995), the Visegrád Group with Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, the Council of Europe, the WTO, the OSCE |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$370 billion (2025, IMF) |
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| GDP per capita | About US$34,000 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$56,000 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 2–2.5% a year (2024–25) after the stagnation of 2023 |
| Economy by sector | Services about 60%, industry about 37% — among the most industrial economies in the EU — agriculture about 2% |
| Currency | Czech koruna (CZK) |
| Cars | Škoda at Mladá Boleslav since 1895, Hyundai at Nošovice, Toyota at Kolín — about 1.4 million cars a year, the most per head in the world; cars and parts about a quarter of exports |
| Industry | Machinery, electronics, chemicals; the arms industry — Colt CZ, Czechoslovak Group, the Excalibur Army; glass and crystal; the beer of Plzeň and České Budějovice |
| Labor | Unemployment about 3% — the lowest in the EU for most of a decade |
| Trade partners | Germany about a third of exports, then Slovakia, Poland, France, Austria; about 80% of exports to the EU |
| Energy | The Dukovany and Temelín nuclear plants about 40% of electricity; two new Dukovany reactors contracted to Korea's KHNP in 2025; coal being phased out |
| Income classification | High income (World Bank); an OECD member since 1995 |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airport | Václav Havel Airport Prague — about 18 million passengers; Brno, Ostrava, Karlovy Vary |
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| Airline | Smartwings the largest; Czech Airlines, founded 1923, among the oldest in the world, merged into Smartwings in 2024 |
| Railways | About 9,500 km (5,900 mi) — one of the densest networks in the world; České dráhy, RegioJet and Leo Express; the Prague–Ostrava line at 160 km/h; high-speed lines to Dresden and Brno planned for the 2030s |
| Roads | About 56,000 km (35,000 mi); the D1 from Prague to Brno and Ostrava, begun 1967; about 1,500 km of motorways |
| Prague Metro | Three lines since 1974, about 65 km; the tram network among the largest in the world |
| Waterways | The Elbe and the Vltava to Hamburg; the Czech port zone at Hamburg |
History in dates
| c. 500 BC | The Celtic Boii — the name Bohemia |
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| 833 | Great Moravia — Cyril and Methodius, 863 |
| c. 880 | Prague Castle founded by Bořivoj of the Přemyslids |
| 935 | Wenceslas murdered, 28 September — the patron saint |
| 1212 | The Golden Bull of Sicily — the Kingdom of Bohemia hereditary |
| 1348 | Charles IV founds Charles University, 7 April — the oldest in Central Europe |
| 1415 | Jan Hus burned at Constance, 6 July; the Hussite Wars |
| 1526 | The Habsburgs take the Bohemian crown |
| 1618 | The Defenestration of Prague, 23 May — the Thirty Years' War; White Mountain, 8 November 1620 |
| 1918 | Czechoslovakia founded, 28 October — Tomáš Masaryk president |
| 1938 | The Munich Agreement, 30 September; the German occupation, 15 March 1939 |
| 1942 | Heydrich assassinated, 27 May; Lidice destroyed, 10 June |
| 1948 | The communist coup, 25 February |
| 1968 | The Prague Spring; the Warsaw Pact invasion, 21 August |
| 1977 | Charter 77 |
| 1989 | The Velvet Revolution, 17 November; Václav Havel president, 29 December |
| 1993 | The Czech Republic, 1 January — the Velvet Divorce |
| 1999 | NATO, 12 March |
| 2004 | The European Union, 1 May |
| 2016 | Czechia registered as the short name, 5 July |
| 2023 | Petr Pavel president, 9 March |
| 2025 | Babiš wins the election, 3–4 October; prime minister, 9 December |
Records & firsts
| The most beer per head | About 130 liters a year, the world's highest for three decades |
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| The largest castle complex | Prague Castle, about 70,000 m² |
| The oldest working astronomical clock | The Orloj of Prague, 1410 |
| The word "robot" | Coined in Karel Čapek's R.U.R., 1920 |
| Soft contact lenses | Otto Wichterle, 1961 |
| The sugar cube | Invented at Dačice, 1843 |
| The pilsner | Brewed first at Plzeň, 5 October 1842 — the world's most copied beer |
| The oldest university in Central Europe | Charles University, 1348 |
| The most cars per head | About 1.4 million a year for 10.9 million people |
| Among the least religious | About half declare no faith |
| Three seas | Rivers to the North Sea, the Black Sea and the Baltic |
| Ice hockey | Thirteen world titles and the gold of Nagano |
Frequently asked questions
Is it Czechia or the Czech Republic?
Both are correct, and they are the same country. The Czech Republic — Česká republika — is the long, formal name, in the Constitution since 1993. Czechia — Česko — is the short name, which the government registered with the United Nations and ISO in 2016 so that the country would have a one-word English name like France or Germany; the EU, the UN, the U.S. State Department, the CIA World Factbook and the Olympics now use it, and English usage is following. This page uses Czechia and keeps the Czech Republic where readers look for it.
What is the capital of Czechia?
Prague — Praha — on the Vltava in the heart of Bohemia, the seat of Bohemian kings for a thousand years and of Holy Roman Emperors under Charles IV, with about 1.4 million people and 2.7 million in its region; its historic center a World Heritage site since 1992. Brno, the capital of Moravia and the seat of the courts, is the second city; Ostrava, Plzeň, Liberec and Olomouc follow.
How big is Czechia, and how many people live there?
About 78,867 km² (30,451 sq mi) — a little smaller than South Carolina — landlocked in the middle of Europe, made of the three historic lands of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. The census of 2021 counted 10,524,167 people; the Statistical Office estimates about 10.9 million for 2025, lifted by some 350,000 Ukrainian refugees since 2022, the most per head of any country.
What are the highest and lowest points of Czechia?
Sněžka, 1,603 m (5,259 ft), in the Krkonoše — the Giant Mountains — on the Polish border; and the Elbe where it leaves the country at Hřensko, 115 m (377 ft). The country is a basin of hills and plateaus ringed by mountains on nearly every side: the Šumava, the Krušné hory, the Krkonoše and the Jeseníky, with the plains of Moravia opening south.
What currency does Czechia use?
The Czech koruna (ISO code CZK, Kč), issued by the Czech National Bank since 1993, at about 21 to the U.S. dollar and about 24 to the euro. Czechia is obliged by its EU accession to adopt the euro but has set no date. Clocks keep Central European Time, UTC+1, with summer time.
Who governs Czechia?
President Petr Pavel, a retired general and former chairman of the NATO Military Committee, head of state since 9 March 2023; and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš of the ANO movement, head of government since 9 December 2025 — his second time in the office — after ANO won the parliamentary election of 3–4 October 2025 with about 35 percent of the vote and 80 seats. His third cabinet, sworn in on 15 December 2025 with the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy and the Motorists for Themselves, holds 108 of the 200 seats of the Chamber of Deputies. The presidency has become the main check on the cabinet. Senate and municipal elections are due on 9 and 10 October 2026; the next presidential election in January 2028.
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