1993 Edition

Area

total area: 78,703 km2 land area: 78,645 km2 comparative area: slightly smaller than South Carolina

Climate

temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Environment

NA

International disputes

Liechtenstein claims 620 square miles of Czech territory confiscated from its royal family in 1918; the Czech Republic insists that restitution does not go back before February 1948, when the Communists seized power; unresolved property dispute issues with Slovakia over redistribution of Czech and Slovak Federal Republic's property; establishment of international border between Czech Republic and Slovakia

Irrigated land

NA km2

Land boundaries

total 1,880 km, Austria 362 km, Germany 646 km, Poland 658 km, Slovakia 214 km

Land use

arable land: NA% permanent crops: NA% meadows and pastures: NA% forest and woodland: NA% other: NA%

Location

Eastern Europe, between Germany and Slovakia

Map references

Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

none; landlocked

Natural resources

hard coal, kaolin, clay, graphite

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

and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; and Moravia in the east, consisting of very hilly country

two main regions

Bohemia in the west, consisting of rolling plains, hills,

Birth rate

13 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate

11.44 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Czech 94.4%, Slovak 3%, Polish 0.6%, German 0.5%, Gypsy 0.3%, Hungarian 0.2%, other 1%

Infant mortality rate

9.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force

5.389 million by occupation: industry 37.9%, agriculture 8.1%, construction 8.8%, communications and other 45.2% (1990)

Languages

Czech, Slovak

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 72.64 years male: 68.9 years female: 76.58 years (1993 est.)

Literacy

total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%

Nationality

noun: Czech(s) adjective: Czech

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population

10,389,256 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate

0.16% (1993 est.)

Religions

atheist 39.8%, Roman Catholic 39.2%, Protestant 4.6%, Orthodox 3%, other 13.4%

Total fertility rate

1.85 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Administrative divisions

7 regions (kraje, kraj - singular); Severocesky, Zapadocesky, Jihocesky, Vychodocesky, Praha, Severomoravsky, Jihomoravsky

Capital

Prague

Chamber of Deputies

last held 5-6 June 1992 (next to be held NA 1996); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (200 total) Civic Democratic Party/Christian Democratic Party 76, Left Bloc 35, Czechoslovak Social Democracy 16, Liberal Social Union 16, Christian Democratic Union/Czech People's Party 15, Assembly for the Republic/Republican Party 14, Civic Democratic Alliance 14, Movement for Self-Governing Democracy for Moravia and Silesia 14

Chief of State

President Vaclav HAVEL (since 26 January 1993)

Constitution

ratified 16 December 1992; effective 1 January 1993

Digraph

EZ

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Michael ZANTOVSKY chancery: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 363-6315 or 6316

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Cabinet

FAX

[42] (2) 532-457

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 Vaclav KLAUS (since NA June 1992); Deputy Prime Ministers Ivan KOCARNIK, Josef LUX, Jan KALVODA (since NA June 1992)

Independence

1 January 1993 (from Czechoslovakia)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court, Constitutional Court

Legal system

civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified 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 National Council (Narodni rada) will consist of an upper house or Senate (which has not yet been established) and a lower house or Chamber of Deputies

Member of

BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, IFCTU, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, PCA, UN (as of 8 January 1993), UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOSOM, UNPROFOR, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Names

conventional long form: Czech Republic conventional short form: none local long form: Ceska Republika local short form: Cechy

National holiday

NA

Other political or pressure groups

Czech Democratic Left Movement; Civic Movement

Political parties and leaders

Civic Democratic Party, Vaclav KLAUS, chairman; Christian Democratic Union, leader NA; Civic Democratic Alliance, Jan KALVODA, chairman; Christian Democratic Party, Vaclav BENDA, chairman; Czech People's Party, Josef LUX; Czechoslovak Social Democracy, Milos ZEMAN, chairman; Left Bloc, leader NA; Republican Party, Miroslav SLADEK, chairman; Movement for Self-Governing Democracy for Moravia and Silesia, Jan STRYCER, chairman; Liberal Social Union, leader NA; Assembly for the Republic, leader NA

President

last held 26 January 1993 (next to be held NA January 1998); results - Vaclav HAVEL elected by the National Council

Senate

elections not yet held; seats (81 total)

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

parliamentary democracy

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Adrian A. BASORA embassy: Trziste 15, 125 48, Prague 1 mailing address: Unit 25402; APO AE 09213-5630 telephone: [42] (2) 536-641/6

Agriculture

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 $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Currency

1 koruna (Kc) = 100 haleru

Economic aid

the former Czechoslovakia was a donor - $4.2 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1954-89)

Electricity

16,500,000 kW capacity; 62,200 million kWh produced, 6,030 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates

koruny (Kcs) per US$1 - 28.59 (December 1992), 28.26 (1992), 29.53 (1991), 17.95 (1990), 15.05 (1989), 14.36 (1988), 13.69 (1987)

Exports

$8.2 billion (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, minerals, and metals partners: Slovakia, Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Italy, France, US, UK, CIS republics

External debt

$3.8 billion hard currency indebtedness (December 1992)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

the former Czechoslovakia was a transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and was emerging as a transshipment point for Latin American cocaine (1992)

Imports

$8.9 billion (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: machinery and transport equipment, fuels and lubricants, manfactured goods, raw materials, chemicals, agricultural products partners: Slovakia, CIS republics, Germany Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Hungary, UK, Italy

Industrial production

growth rate -4% (November 1992 over November 1991); accounts for over 60% of GDP

Industries

fuels, ferrous metallurgy, machinery and equipment, coal, motor vehicles, glass, armaments

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

12.5% (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $75.3 billion (1992 est.)

National product per capita

$7,300 (1992 est.)

National product real growth rate

-5% (1992 est.)

Overview

The dissolution of Czechoslovakia into two independent nation states - the Czech Republic and Slovakia - on 1 January 1993 has complicated the task of moving toward a more open and decentralized economy. The old Czechoslovakia, even though highly industrialized by East European standards, suffered from an aging capital plant, lagging technology, and a deficiency in energy and many raw materials. In January 1991, approximately one year after the end of communist control of Eastern Europe, theCzech and Slovak Federal Republic launched a sweeping program to convert its almost entirely state-owned and controlled economy to a market system. In 1991-92 these measures resulted in privatization of some medium- and small-scale economic activity and the setting of more than 90% of prices by the market - but at a cost in inflation, unemployment, and lower output. For Czechoslovakia as a whole inflation in 1991 was roughly 50% and output fell 15%. In 1992, in the Czech lands, inflation dropped to an estimated 12.5% and GDP was down a more moderate 5%. For 1993 the government of the Czech Republic anticipates inflation of 15-20% and a rise in unemployment to perhaps 12% as some large-scale enterprises go into bankruptcy; GDP may drop as much as 3%, mainly because of the disruption of trade links with Slovakia. Although the governments of the Czech Republic and Slovakia had envisaged retaining the koruna as a common currency, at least in the short term, the two countries ended the currency union in February 1993.

Unemployment rate

3.1% (1992 est.)

Airports

total: 75 usable: 75 with permanent-surface runways: 8 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 4

Highways

55,890 km total (1988)

Inland waterways

NA km; the Elbe (Labe) is the principal river

Merchant marine

the former Czechoslovakia had 22 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 290,185 GRT/437,291 DWT; includes 13 cargo, 9 bulk; may be shared with Slovakia

Pipelines

natural gas 5,400 km

Ports

coastal 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)

Railroads

9,434 km total (1988)

Telecommunications

NA

Branches

Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense, Railroad Units

Defense expenditures

23 billion koruny, NA% of GNP (1993 est.); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 2,736,657; fit for military service 2,083,555; reach military age (18) annually 95,335 (1993 est.)