1992 Edition

Climate

temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters

Coastline

none - landlocked

Comparative area

slightly larger than New York State

Disputes

Gabcikovo Nagymaros Dam dispute with Hungary

Environment

infrequent earthquakes; acid rain; water pollution; air pollution

Land area

125,460 km2

Land boundaries

3,438 km; Austria 548 km, Germany 815 km, Hungary 676 km, Poland 1,309 km, Ukraine 90 km

Land use

arable land 37%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 13%; forest and woodland 36%; other 13%; includes irrigated 1%

Maritime claims

none - landlocked

Natural resources

hard 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

Birth rate

13 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

11 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

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 (1992)

Labor force

8,200,000 (1987); industry 36.9%, agriculture 12.3%, construction, communications, and other 50.8% (1982)

Languages

Czech and Slovak (official), Hungarian

Life expectancy at birth

68 years male, 76 years female (1992)

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 (1992)

Organized labor

Czech and Slovak Confederation of Trade Unions (CSKOS); several new independent trade unions established

Population

15,725,680 (July 1992), growth rate 0.2% (1992)

Religions

Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Orthodox 2%, other 28%

Total fertility rate

1.9 children born/woman (1992)

Administrative divisions

2 republics (republiky, singular - republika); Czech Republic (Ceska Republika), Slovak Republic (Slovenska Republika); note - 11 regions (kraj, singular); Severocesky, Zapadocesky, Jihocesky, Vychodocesky, Praha, Severomoravsky, Jihomoravsky, Bratislava, Zapadoslovensky, Stredoslovensky, Vychodoslovensky

Capital

Prague

Chief of State

President Vaclav HAVEL; (interim president from 29 December 1989 and president since 5 July 1990)

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 1992

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 Unit 25402; APO AE 09213-5630); telephone [42] (2) 536-641/6; FAX [42] (2) 532-457

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Cabinet

Federal Assembly

last held 8-9 June 1990 (next to be held 5-6 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

Flag

two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side

Head of Government

Prime Minister Marian CALFA (since 10 December 1989); Deputy Prime Minister Vaclav KLAUS (since 3 October 1991); Deputy Prime Minister Jiri DIENSTBIER (since 28 June 1990); Deputy Prime Minister Jozef MIKLOSKO (since 28 June 1990); Deputy Prime Minister Pavel RYCHETSKY (since 28 June 1990); Deputy Prime Minister Pavel HOFFMAN (since 3 October 1991); note - generally, "prime minister" is used at the federal level, "premier" at the republic level; Czech Premier - Petr PITHART; Slovak Premier - Jan CARNOGVRSKY

Independence

28 October 1918 (from Austro-Hungarian Empire)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes, modified by Communist legal theory; constitutional court currently being established; 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

Member of

BIS, CCC, CE, CSCE, EC (associate) ECE, FAO, GATT, HG, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFCTU, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NSG, PCA, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, ZC

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

note - there are very few federation-wide parties; party affiliation is indicted as Czech (C) or Slovak (S); Civic Democratic Party, Vaclav KLAUS, chairman, (C/S); Civic Movement, Jiri DIENSTBIER, chairman, (C); Civic Democratic Alliance, Jan KALVODA, chairman; Christian Democratic Union Public Against Violence, Martin PORUBJAK, chairman, (S); Christian Democratic Party, Vaclav BENDA, (C); Christian Democratic Movement, Jan CARNOGURSKY,(S); Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, Juri SVOBODA, chairman; Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, Vladimir MECIAR, chairman - removed from power in November 1989 by massive antiregime demonstrations; Czechoslovak Social Democracy, Jiri HORAK, chairman, (C); Czechoslovak Socialist Party, Ladislav DVORAK, chairman, (C)(S); Movement for Self-Governing Democracy Society for Moravia and Silesia, Jan KRYCER, chairman, (C); Party of the Democratic Left, Peter WEISS, chairman (Slovakia's renamed Communists) (S); Slovak National Party, Jozef PROKES, chairman, (S); Democratic Party, Jan HOLCIK, chairman, (S); Coexistence, (C)(S)

President

last held 5 July 1990 (next to be held 3 July 1992); results - Vaclav HAVEL elected by the Federal Assembly

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Type

federal republic in transition

Agriculture

accounts for 9% of GDP (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 $4.5 billion; expenditures $4.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $200 million (1992)

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 - 28.36 (January 1992), 29.53 (1991), 17.95 (1990), 15.05 (1989), 14.36 (1988), 13.69 (1987)

Exports

$12.0 billion (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: machinery and equipment 39.2%; fuels, minerals, and metals 8.1%; agricultural and forestry products 6.2%, other 46.5% partners: USSR, Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Italy, France, US, UK

External debt

$9.1 billion, hard currency indebtedness (December 1991)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

purchasing power equivalent - $108.9 billion, per capita $6,900; real growth rate -15% (1991 est.)

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and emerging as a transshipment point for Latin American cocaine E

Imports

$13.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: machinery and equipment 37.3%; fuels, minerals, and metals 22.6%; agricultural and forestry products 7.0%; other 33.1% partners: USSR, Germany, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, UK, Italy

Industrial production

growth rate -22% (1991 est.); accounts for almost 60% of GNP

Industries

iron and steel, machinery and equipment, cement, sheet glass, motor vehicles, armaments, chemicals, ceramics, wood, paper products, footwear

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

52% (1991 est.)

Overview

nearly 70%, and GDP dropped an estimated 15%. In 1992 the government is anticipating inflation of 10-15%, unemployment of 11-12%, and a drop in GDP of up to 8%. As of mid-1992, the nation appears to be splitting in two - into the industrial Czech area and the more agarian Slovak area.

Czechoslovakia is highly industrialized by East European standards and has a well-educated and skilled labor force. GDP per capita has been the highest in Eastern Europe. Annual GDP growth slowed to less than 1 percent during the 1985-90 period. The country is deficient in energy and in many raw materials. Moreover, its aging capital plant lags well behind West European standards. In January 1991, Prague launched a sweeping program to convert its almost entirely state-owned and controlled economy to a market system. The koruna now enjoys almost full internal convertibility and over 90% of prices are set by the market. The government is planning to privatize all small businesses and roughly two-thirds of large enterprises by the end of 1993. New private-sector activity is also expanding. Agriculture - 95% socialized - is to be privatized by the end of 1992. Reform has taken its

toll on the economy

inflation was roughly 50% in 1991, unemployment was

Unemployment rate

officially 6.7% (1991 est.)

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

22 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 290,185 GRT/437,291 DWT; includes 13 cargo, 9 bulk

Pipelines

crude oil 1,448 km; petroleum products 1,500 km; natural gas 8,100 km

Ports

maritime outlets are in Poland (Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin), Croatia (Rijeka), Slovenia (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

inadequate circuit capacity; 4 million telephones; Radrel backbone of network; 25% of households have a telephone; broadcast stations - 32 AM, 15 FM, 41 TV (11 Soviet TV repeaters); 4.4 million TVs (1990); 1 satellite earth station using INTELSAT and Intersputnik

Branches

Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense, Border Guard

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - 28 billion koruny, NA% of GNP (1991); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate would produce misleading results

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 4,110,628; 3,142,457 fit for military service; 142,239 reach military age (18) annually