Location: in the centre, middle of Europe, heart of Europe, 800-900 km from sea
Borders on Poland, Germany, Austria, Slovak rep., (longest with Ger., shortest –Slovak)
Area: 78 000 km2 (= approximately, 78864), inland country, divided to 3 parts-Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia,
Population: 10 mil people
Capital- Prague
Government-head of country-president, 5 years, twice elected, two periods
-Republic, government, parliament, real power-government + parliament-executed power,
-Parliament =Senate (81, 6 years, every 2 years 1/3 changed) + Chamber of Deputies (200, 4 years)
-National symbols-flag, anthem (Libretto, J.K.Tyl, F. Škroup, Where my home is), coat-of-arms (znak)
Surface: mountains-ring around, The Šumava mountains, The Czech forest, The Ore mountains, The Lužické m., The Jizerské m., The Giant m., The Eagle m., The Jeseník, The Beskydy-natural border, the highest mountains- Sněžka
Centre- Bohemian, Moravian highlands
Lowlands- along Labe, Ohře, Morava, Dyje
-Waters- rivers, lakes, pounds, the biggest- Labe, the longest-Vltava, tributaries (přítoky), Morava, Dyje, Odra
-3 waters system- Mediterranean, North, Baltic Sea
-On Vltava dams-Lipno, Orlík, Slapy- reserves of water, hydro power station
-the south of Bohemia –a lot of pounds, established in 17.cent., the biggest -Rožmberk
Climate: we are in Moderate zone (everything is mild), weather changeable, coldest places-Šumava, Krkonoše, hottest places-on the centre of Moravia, average 15°C, the wettest place-Bílý potok(SČ) Jizerky, driest-between Žatec, Louny, Slaný
-Forests-very forested 1/3 vastly mountains; some are destroyed-pollution, coniferous trees, and leafy trees
Raw: coal (brown-mined in Northwest of Bohemia, black-around Kladno, Ostrava, Plzeň), uranium (around Česká Lípa, Příbram, Jáchymov), oil (Hodonín, pipes (ropovody)- we have it from Gulf and Terst- Persian gulf, Norway), limestone (vápenec), kaolin, clay (jíl)
Other: 10 mil. People-Czech, Slovaks, Gypsies, Polish, Germans
- The most polluted areas-Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Northwest of Bohemia…
- density(hustota) 130 people per kilometre
- breweries, footwear industry (Zlín), glass
- PowerStation -nuclear, coal, wind
- agriculture-potatoes, apples, wheat, corn, wine, hops(chmel),fruit, vegetable
- transport-highways, railways-some redundant
History: inhabited by Slavonic tribes, 1st empire Samoś 623, Great Moravian empire-9.cent, Přemyslid dynasty, Cyril and Methodius 863-Christianity, dynasty of Luxembourg- Holly roman empire (Svatá říše římská) John Luxembourg-didn’t care about domestic affair, Charles IV. -Educated in Fr., proud of Czech, improve situation (10-20 years behind development country) Prague flourishes (vzkvétala), established university 1346, Archbischopric (1344), Prague bridge,15. Cent. Hussite movement (John Huss)-professor, rector of un., 1415 he was burned at the stake, great fighter-John Žižka, Habsburg dynasty 1526-1918 tried to oppress our nation, 1620 battle at White mountain-germanization, 1918 revival nation, 28.10.1918 established Czechoslovak rep., 1939-45 2nd world war-occupied by Germany, liberate by Red army, U.S. army, 1948 communist took over the power in country, everything was directed by communist and Soviet union, people weren’t satisfied, protested, 1968 Prague’s spring-attempt to change situation, Soviet invasion, period of normalisation, 1989 Velvet revolution, independent country, 1st January 1993 Czechoslovak rep. was split into Czech rep. and Slovak rep.

The Czech republic lies in the middle (heart) of Europe. It occupies an area of almost 80 000-sq km and has
about 10 million inhabitants. We border with Germany, Slovakia, Austria and Poland.
Our republic comprises from three historical parts: Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. In our state there are many spots of great natural beauty as well as totally spoiled by industries (e.g. the Most area.)
The Czech republic has a varied landscape. Bohemia is surrounded by a ring of mountains – The Šumava range, The Czech Forest, The Ore, the Jizera, the Giant Mountains and Eagle Mountains. Bohemia is separated from the Moravia by the Bohemian-Moravian highlands. The North of Moravia is protected by the wooded mountainous ranges of Jeseníky and Beskydy. The highest mountains in Moravia are Hrubý Jeseník with the highest mount, called Praděd 1491 m and the highest Czech mount is Sněžka 1603m. Fertile lowlands we can found in the valleys of big rivers - the Vltava, the Elbe (flows into the North Sea), the Odre (into the Baltic Sea) and the Morava (into the Dunabe and hence into the Black Sea). Cascades of dams were built on the river Vltava (Lipno, Orlík, and Slapy). South Bohemia and Moravia are particularly rich in ponds. The climate is mostly continental; the warmest area is in South Moravia.
In our republic live several nationalities. Czech and Moravian belong into the major group but there are minority groups such as the Silesians, the Roms, the Poles, the Germans, the Ukrainians and the Russians.
The Bohemia and Moravia are quite rich in mineral springs (mattoni, poděbradka, korunní) and spas (KV, Maria. Lázně, Fran. Lázně, Jeseníky, Poděbrady). Among the most beautiful natural places belong: The Czech paradise, „rock town“ in Prachov rocks, The Děčín Walls, Czech Switzerland, The Boubín virgin forests, Koněprusy caves, Macocha Abyss, the Jeseník mountains, Panská rock etc.
One of our most significant raw materials is coal. Localities black coal and antharacite we can found mainly in the Ostrava Coal Basin, but also in the area of Kladno and elsewhere. The most significant supplies of brown coal or lignite are in the North Bohemia Coal Basin and in western Bohemia in the Sokolov Basin. There are also minor deposits of iron ore, oil and uranium (Jáchymov). The rich deposits of kaolin and clay are very important for ceramics and glass industries as well as abundant quarries of stone, sandstone and limestone for the building industry.
The czech economy, after more then 40 years under a state monopoly system, is reconstruted into prosperous free market system with help of privatization. The country tries to follow the principles of democracy and hopes that by the year 2000 it will have become a partner state of Europian Union.
The Czech republic is traditionally an industrial country. The most important part of our economy is engineering (machine tools, locomotives, tractors, cars, agricultural machine) – TATRA, LIAZ, AVIA, ŠKODA, ZETOR. Besides this there are still other important branches as metalurgical and chemical industries and tourism. Textile and glass industries have a long tradition as do cut class, china and foot productions. The main items of agriculture are wheat, maize, sugar beet, grapes, hops (green gold) and fruit. In animal production, cattle and pig – breeding are the most important. Fish- breeding, especially carp – breeding has a long tradition in South Bohemia and Moravia ponds.
There are many places associated with our history. Říp is associated with the oldest legends. Among our the most beautiful towns belong Prague, Kutná Hora, Tábor, Telč, Třeboň, ČB. Visitor can admire old castles and ruins as Karlštejn, Křivoklát, Konopiště, Hluboká, Zvíkov, Loket, Trosky.
Our territory was settled by the Slavonic tribes in the 5th century. The first Slavonic State was Samo´s Empire, founded in 623. In the 9th century they founded the first state formation - feudal Great Moravian Empire. After its disintegration, state activities were concentrated in the Czech lands. The Czech tribes were led by the Přemyslid dynasty. Czech kings played an important role in Central Europe. In 1306 Přemylid dynasty died out by the sword. The next important period was period of reign of Charles IV. During his reign was found Universitu, Karlštejn, Charles bridge and Prague grew out into one of the nicest and most important town in Europe. The first part of 15th century was marked by the Hussite Movement. It´s named after Jan Hus: professor and lector Charles U. He was burnt in 1415. The leading representatives of the Hussite Movement were Jan Žižka, Prokop Holý. The next important event was battle on the White Mountain in 1620. After the battle followed period of re-catholisation and germanization. Nevertheless the 19th century brought a time of national revival. After the first War World 1918 the Czech nation established new Czechoslovak Republic. Though this was destroyed by the German occupation, it appeared again after the second WW. In 1948 the power was taken over by the communists directed by the Soviet Union. In 1968 a democratic wave tried to institute certain democratic changes, this period is known as Prague Spring, but the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops August 1968 returned the country to the Soviet satellite. The following years became the period of normalization till the velvet revolution in 1989. The following development led to splitting of the republic into two new republics: Czech and Slovakia. The first president of Czech republic was elected a famous playwriter Václav Havel. Our Parliament (legislative power) has two Chambers: The Senate and Chamber of deputies. The Government – The executive power and the Supreme Court – the judicial power. Our state symbols are anthem Kde domov můj, threecolour flag.

Maturita.cz - referát (verze pro snadný tisk)
http://www.maturita.cz/referaty/referat.asp?id=125