1991 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1991 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Climate
temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
Coastline
none--landlocked
Comparative area
slightly larger than New York State
Disputes
Nagymaros Dam dispute with Hungary
Environment
infrequent earthquakes; acid rain; water pollution; air pollution
Land boundaries
3,446 km total; Austria 548 km, Germany 815 km, Hungary 676 km, Poland 1,309 km, USSR 98 km
Land use
arable land 40%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 13%; forest and woodland 37%; other 9%; includes irrigated 1%
Maritime claims
none--landlocked
Natural resources
coal, timber, lignite, uranium, magnesite, iron ore, copper, zinc
Note
landlocked; strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe; Moravian Gate is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in central Europe
Terrain
mixture of hills and mountains separated by plains and basins
Total area
127,870 km2; land area: 125,460 km2
People and Society
Birth rate
14 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate
11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Ethnic divisions
Czech 62.9%, Slovak 31.8%, Hungarian 3.8%, Polish 0.5%, German 0.3%, Ukrainian 0.3%, Russian 0.1%, other 0.3%
Infant mortality rate
11 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Labor force
8,200,000 (1987); industry 36.9%, agriculture 12.3%, construction, communications, and other 50.8% (1982)
Language
Czech and Slovak (official), Hungarian
Life expectancy at birth
69 years male, 77 years female (1991)
Literacy
99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1970 est.)
Nationality
noun--Czechoslovak(s); adjective--Czechoslovak
Net migration rate
NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Organized labor
Czech and Slovak Confederation of Trade Unions (CSKOS); new independent trade unions forming
Population
15,724,940 (July 1991), growth rate 0.3% (1991)
Religion
Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Orthodox 2%, other 28%
Total fertility rate
1.9 children born/woman (1991)
Government
Administrative divisions
2 republics (republiky, singular--republika); Czech Republic (Ceska Republika), Slovak Republic (Slovenska Republika)
Capital
Prague
Communists
760,000 party members (September 1990); about 1,000,000 members lost since November 1989
Constitution
11 July 1960; amended in 1968 and 1970; new Czech, Slovak, and federal constitutions to be drafted in 1991-92
Diplomatic representation
Ambassador Rita KLIMOVA; Chancery at 3900 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 363-6315 or 6316; US--Ambassador Shirley Temple BLACK; Embassy at Trziste 15, 125 48, Prague 1 (mailing address is AMEM, Box 5630, APO New York 09213-5630); telephone [42] (2) 536641 through 536649
Elections
President--last held 5 July 1990 (next to be held July 1992); results--Vaclav HAVEL elected by the Federal Assembly; Federal Assembly--last held 8-9 June 1990 (next to be held June 1992); results--Civic Forum/Public Against Violence coalition 46%, KSC 13.6%; seats--(300 total) Civic Forum/Public Against Violence coalition 170, KSC 47, Christian and Democratic Union/Christian Democratic Movement 40, Czech, Slovak, Moravian, and Hungarian groups 43
Executive branch
president, prime minister, Cabinet
Flag
two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side
Independence
28 October 1918 (from Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court
Leaders
Chief of State--President Vaclav HAVEL; (interim president from 29 December 1989 and president since 5 July 1990); Head of Government--Premier Marian CALFA (since 10 December 1989); Deputy Premier Vaclav VALES (since 28 June 1990); Deputy Premier Jiri DIENSTBIER (since 28 June 1990); Deputy Premier Jozef MIKLOSKO (since 28 June 1990); Deputy Premier Pavel RYCHETSKY (since 28 June 1990)
Legal system
civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes, modified by Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code in process of modification to bring it in line with Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory
Legislative branch
bicameral Federal Assembly (Federalni Shromazdeni) consists of an upper house or Chamber of Nations (Snemovna Narodu) and a lower house or Chamber of the People (Snemovna Lidu)
Long-form name
Czech and Slovak Federal Republic; note--on 23 March 1990 the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was renamed the Czechoslovak Federative Republic; Slovak concerns about their status in the federation prompted the Federal Assembly to approve the name Czech and Slovak Federative Republic on 20 April 1990; on 23 April 1990 the name was modified to Czech and Slovak Federal Republic
Member of
BIS, CCC, CSCE, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, IIB, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
National Liberation Day, 9 May (1945) and Founding of the Republic, 28 October (1918)
Other political or pressure groups
Czechoslovak Socialist Party, Czechoslovak People's Party, Czechoslovak Social Democracy, Slovak Nationalist Party, Slovak Revival Party, Christian Democratic Party; over 80 registered political groups fielded candidates in the 8-9 June 1990 legislative election
Political parties and leaders
Civic Forum, Vaclav KLAUS, chairman; Public Against Violence, Fedor GAL, chairman; Christian and Democratic Union, Vaclav BENDA; Christian Democratic Movement, Jan CARNOGURSKY; Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), Pavol KANIS, chairman; KSC toppled from power in November 1989 by massive antiregime demonstrations, minority role in coalition government since 10 December 1989
Suffrage
universal at age 18
Type
federal republic in transition to a confederative republic
Economy
Agriculture
accounts for 7% of GNP (includes forestry); largely self-sufficient in food production; diversified crop and livestock production, including grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit, hogs, cattle, and poultry; exporter of forest products
Budget
revenues $17.1 billion; expenditures $16.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.5 billion (1991)
Currency
koruna (plural--koruny); 1 koruna (Kc) = 100 haleru
Economic aid
donor--$4.2 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1954-89)
Electricity
23,000,000 kW capacity; 90,000 million kWh produced, 5,740 kWh per capita (1990)
Exchange rates
koruny (Kcs) per US$1--27.65 (January 1991), 17.95 (1990), 15.05 (1989), 14.36 (1988), 13.69 (1987), 14.99 (1986), 17.14 (1985)
Exports
$14.4 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--machinery and equipment 42.7%; fuels, minerals, and metals 16.4%; agricultural and forestry products 12.5%, other 28.4%; partners--USSR, GDR, Poland, Hungary, FRG, Yugoslavia, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, US
External debt
$7.6 billion, hard currency indebtedness (September 1990)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GNP
$120.3 billion, per capita $7,700; real growth rate - 2.9% (1990 est.)
Imports
$14.3 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--machinery and equipment 38.6%; fuels, minerals, and metals 24.1%; agricultural and forestry products 16.4%; other 20.9%; partners--USSR, GDR, Poland, Hungary, FRG, Yugoslavia, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, US
Industrial production
growth rate - 3.3% (1990 est.); accounts for almost 50% of GDP
Industries
iron and steel, machinery and equipment, cement, sheet glass, motor vehicles, armaments, chemicals, ceramics, wood, paper products, footwear
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
9% (1990 est.)
Overview
Czechoslovakia is highly industrialized and has a well-educated and skilled labor force. Its industry, transport, energy sources, banking, and most other means of production are state owned. The country is deficient, however, in energy and in many raw materials. Moreover, its aging capital plant lags well behind West European standards. Industry contributes almost 50% to GNP and construction contributes 10%. About 95% of agricultural land is in collectives or state farms. The centrally planned economy has been tightly linked in trade (80%) to the USSR and Eastern Europe. Growth has been sluggish, averaging less than 2% in the period 1982-89. GNP per capita is the highest in Eastern Europe. As in the rest of Eastern Europe, the sweeping political changes of 1989-90 have been disrupting normal channels of supply and compounding the government's economic problems. Having eased restrictions on private enterprise in 1990 and having adjusted some key prices, Czechoslovakia is now implementing a broad two-year program to make the difficult transition from a command to a market economy. Inflation and unemployment are beginning to rise, albeit from comparatively low levels.
Unemployment rate
officially 0.8% (1990)
Communications
Airports
158 total, 158 usable; 40 with permanent-surface runways; 19 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 37 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
47 major transport aircraft
Highways
73,540 km total; including 517 km superhighway (1988)
Inland waterways
475 km (1988); the Elbe (Labe) is the principal river
Merchant marine
24 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 363,002 GRT/ 565,813 DWT; includes 15 cargo, 6 bulk
Pipelines
crude oil, 1,448 km; refined products, 1,500 km; natural gas, 8,100 km
Ports
maritime outlets are in Poland (Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin), Yugoslavia (Rijeka, Koper), Germany (Hamburg, Rostock); principal river ports are Prague on the Vltava, Decin on the Elbe (Labe), Komarno on the Danube, Bratislava on the Danube
Railroads
13,103 km total; 12,855 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 102 km 1.520-meter broad gauge, 146 km 0.750- and 0.760-meter narrow gauge; 2,861 km double track; 3,798 km electrified; government owned (1988)
Telecommunications
4 million telephones; 25% of households have a telephone; stations--60 AM, 16 FM, 39 TV (11 Soviet TV relays); 4.4 million TVs (1990)
Military and Security
Branches
Czechoslovak People's Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense, Border Guard
Defense expenditures
26.9 billion koruny, NA% of GDP (1991); note--conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading results _%_
Manpower availability
males 15-49, 4,066,419; 3,110,958 fit for military service; 140,620 reach military age (18) annually