r14 Czech Republic

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07 - The Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is situated in Central Europe. It is said that it lies in the heart of Europe. The
Czech Republic is an inland country. Its area is about 78862 square kilometres. It is located in the
temperate climatic zone.
Our republic has four neighbours. In the north it borders on Poland and in the south on Austria. The
shortest border is with Slovakia in the east and the longest with Germany in the west.
The Czech Republic has a population of about 10,3 million. The Czech Republic consists of three
parts – Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. The main ethnic groups are Czechs, Moravians and Silesians.
But there are also different national minorities in our republic, e.g. Slovaks, Poles, Germans,
Hungarians and Romanies. The capital is Prague. The population of Prague is about one million two
hundred.
The borders of our republic are formed by mountain ranges. The western border is formed by the
Krušné Mountains with the highest peak Klínovec. In the Šumava Mountains in the south we can find
lots of swamps and two glacial lakes – Černé and Čertovo. The Šumava Mountains are known for its
virgin forest (Boubín). The Giant Mountains are the highest mountains in the Czech Republic. The
highest peak, Sněžka reaches a height of 1602 metres.
The Jizerské Mountains and the Orlické Mountains form the border with Poland. On the border with
Slovakia we can find other mountain ranges, e.g. Beskydy, Hrubý Jeseník and the Little Carpathians.
Except mountains there are lots of beautiful natural places, e.g. the Czech Paradise, Prachov Rocks,
Koněprusy caves, Macocha abyss in Moravian Karst, etc.
The Czech Republic is popular with tourists, because it is a beautiful country. Czech nature offers
tourists a lot of interesting places, but there are also beautiful historic towns in our republic, e.g. Kutná
Hora, Tábor, Telč, etc.
Visitors to our republic can visit old castles, such as Karlštejn, Křivoklát, Konopiště, Bezděz, Hluboká,
etc. The Czech Republic does not have the sea, but it has many navigable rivers. The longest rivers
are the Vltava, the Elbe, the Oder and the Morava. Several dams have been built, for example on the
river Vltava, e.g. Lipno, Orlík and Slapy. These dams are used for the production of electricity, but also
for recreation. South Bohemia is known for its large and numerous lakes (ponds). The largest pond is
Rožmberk. The CR has a large number of spas. Spa services have a long tradition. They are visited
by people from our country and from abroad. The most famous spas are Karlovy Vary, Františkovy
Lázně, Mariánské Lázně, Luhačovice, etc.
The largest city in the CR is the capital Prague. Other big cities are Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň, Liberec,
Hradec Králové, Ústí nad Labem, etc.
Our country is rich in minerals, especially black and brown coal. The main industrial area is located in
the northern part of the country, but industry developed in the south and in the east as well. There are
a lot of industrial cities and towns here. To produce energy, thermal power stations, hydroelectric
power plants and nuclear power plants are used.
Other industries include metallurgy (Ostrava, Kladno) engineering(Brno, Prague), chemical industry,
building industry, consumer goods industry, food industry and others. Czech beer brewing in Plzeň
and wine making in South Moravia have a long tradition. Textile and glass industries are important too.
The lowlands are important for agriculture, because the land is very fertile here. In the lowlands sugar
beet, sweet corn, fruits and vegetables are grown. In the more elevated areas barley and wheat are
grown. In the highlands mainly potatoes, rye and oats are grown. As to the animal production cattle-
breeding and pigbreeding are the most important. Fish breeding, especially carp-breeding has a long
tradition in South Bohemia lakes.
The head of state of the CR is the President. He is elected for a five-year term. The present president
is Václav Havel. He was elected by the Czech National Council as the President of the Czech
Republic in 1993, after Czechoslovakia split into two countries – the Czech and the Slovak Republic.
Both countries adopted new constitutions.
The country is governed by the Parliament and the Government. The Prime Minister is the head of the
Government. The Parliament is the supreme law-making body and the Government is the executive
organ. The official language is Czech.
The state flag consists of two horizontal stripes (white and red) and a blue wedge. The national
anthem is "Kde domov můj?". The music is composed by František Škroup and the lyrics is written by
J.K. Tyl. The monetary unit is the Czech crown. The crown consosts of 100 hailers.