Portal:Czech Republic

Welcome to the Czech Portal!
Vítejte na Českém portálu!

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec.

The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia. It was formally recognized as an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire.

During the 19th century, the Czech lands underwent significant industrialization. Following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I, most of the region became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a parliamentary democracy during the entirety of the interwar period. After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically took control over the Czech lands. Czechoslovakia was restored in 1945 and three years later became an Eastern Bloc communist state following a coup d'état in 1948. Attempts to liberalize the government and economy were suppressed by a Soviet-led invasion of the country during the Prague Spring in 1968. In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country and restored democracy. On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Czech Republic is a unitary parliamentary republic and developed country with an advanced, high-income social market economy. It is a welfare state with a European social model, universal health care and free-tuition university education. It ranks 32nd in the Human Development Index. The Czech Republic is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the European Union, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. (Full article...)

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Panorama with Charles Bridge and Prague Castle

Prague (/ˈprɑːɡ/ PRAHG; Czech: Praha [ˈpraɦa] ^ⓘ) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan area is home to approximately 2.3 million people.

Prague is a historical city with Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably Charles IV (r. 1346–1378) and Rudolf II (r. 1575–1611). It was an important city to the Habsburg monarchy and Austria-Hungary. The city played major roles in the Bohemian and the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia between the World Wars and the post-war Communist era. (Full article...)

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Dancing House in Prague

Photographer: Matteo Piotto; License: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA

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In this month

11 December 1949 – The Číhošť miracle takes place: during a church service of Josef Toufar in the village of Číhošť, the crucifix moves several times over the pulpit, prompting an intervention by the StB
15 December 1230 – Wenceslaus I succeeds Ottokar I as King of Bohemia
16 December 1992 – The Czech National Council adopts the Constitution of the Czech Republic
18 December 1935 – Edvard Beneš is elected second President of Czechoslovakia
22 December 1966 – Construction begins on the Stalin Monument (pictured), the largest representation of Stalin in the world

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Nedvěd playing for the Czech Republic at the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Pavel Nedvěd (Czech pronunciation: [ˈpavɛl ˈnɛdvjɛt] ^ⓘ; born 30 August 1972) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Czech players of all time and he won numerous trophies with Italian clubs Lazio and Juventus. He won the last ever Cup Winners' Cup with Lazio and led Juventus to the 2003 UEFA Champions League final.

Nedvěd was a vital player in the Czech team that reached the final of Euro 1996, after which he attracted the attention of big European clubs. He also captained the team at UEFA Euro 2004, where they were defeated in the semi-final by eventual champions Greece, and Nedvěd was named in the Team of the Tournament. Furthermore, Nedvěd helped his team qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup for the first time since the breakup of Czechoslovakia. Due to his quick and energetic runs during matches, Nedvěd was nicknamed "Furia Ceca" (lit. 'Czech Fury') by Italian football fans. His nickname in Czech is Méďa (lit. 'Little Bear'), stemming from the similarity between his surname and the Czech word for bear, Medvěd. (Full article...)

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Did you know?

...that in 1990, Czech and Slovak politicians "fought" the Hyphen War, a political battle over whether "Czechoslovakia" should be spelled with a hyphen?
... that in 2013, the Czech Republic plans to directly elect its president for the first time in its history?
... that footballer Petr Vrabec won six Czechoslovak league titles with Sparta Prague?
... that Josef Jiří Kolár was the first to begin a systematic translation of Shakespeare's plays into Czech?

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General images

The following are images from various Czech Republic-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Kačina Castle in Chotkov (from Czech architecture)
Image 2Russian occupation in 1968 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 3The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 4Writer Božena Němcová (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 5The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia (from Bohemia)
Image 6Church of Saint Agnes of Bohemia (Spořilov) (from Czech architecture)
Image 7Stone sculpture of a Celtic man, found in Mšecké Žehrovice (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 8Saint Wenceslas, Czech prince (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 9Korozluky Castle (from Czech architecture)
Image 10Municipal House (from Czech architecture)
Image 11Řežabinec National Nature Monument (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 12Dacian Influence over Bohemia (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 13Duchy of Bohemia, around 1029 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 14Fried bramboráky (potato pancakes) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 15St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle, John of Luxembourg laid the foundation stone in 1344 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 16Linguistic map of interwar Czechoslovakia (c. 1930) (from Bohemia)
Image 17Emperor Francis Joseph I. (reigned 1848–1916) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 18Empress Maria Theresa (reignet 1740–1780) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 19Semi-detached villa in Brno by Otto Eisler, according to MoMA's Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, is a defining building of the International style. (from Czech architecture)
Image 20The coat of arms of the Přemyslid dynasty (until 1253–1262) (from Bohemia)
Image 21Frgál, a type of koláč baked in Moravian Wallachia (from Czech cuisine)
Image 22Svíčková na smetaně served with dumplings, whipped cream and cranberries (from Czech cuisine)
Image 23Beheading of 27 Bohemian nobles at the Old Town Square in Prague, 1621 (contemporary illustration) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 24Nakládaný hermelín (marinated cheese) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 25Hroby Nature Monument in Radenín (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 26Baroque St. Nicholas Church in Malá Strana, built between 1704 and 1755 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 27Detailed map of Bohemia, 1742 (from Bohemia)
Image 28Large-scale protected areas of the Czech Republic: national parks (brown) and protected landscape areas (green) (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 29Metro dessert (from Czech cuisine)
Image 30Adria Palace (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 31Lands of the Bohemian Crown (until 1635), map by Josef Pekař, 1921 (from Bohemia)
Image 32Fried hermelín (Smažený hermelín) with tartar sauce (from Czech cuisine)
Image 33A "traditional Bohemian platter" at a restaurant in central Prague, consisting of roast duck, roast pork, beer sausage, smoked meat, red and white cabbage, bread, bacon and potato dumplings (from Czech cuisine)
Image 34Grand Café Orient in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 35An 1892 map showing Bohemia proper outlined in pink, Moravia in yellow, and Austrian Silesia in orange (from Bohemia)
Image 36Monument to the village of Lidice murdered by the Nazis (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 37Václav Havel, playwright, dissident and president from 1989 to 2003 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 38Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, philosopher, Czechoslovak president in the years 1918–1935 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 39Iconic brutalist Transgas building, demolished in 2019 (from Czech architecture)
Image 40Bronze sword, Urnfield culture, c. 1200 BC (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 41The radical Hussites became known as Taborites, after the town of Tábor that became their center. (from Bohemia)
Image 42Svíčková na smetaně (marinated tenderloin), served here with dumplings and cream (from Czech cuisine)
Image 43Territories ruled by Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1273 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 44Prague-style beef goulash (from Czech cuisine)
Image 45Apple strudel with raisins (from Czech cuisine)
Image 46Copper engraving of the Second Defenestration of Prague from Theatrum Europaeum by Matthäus Merian. (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 47Rotunda of St. George from the beginning of the 12th century on Mount Říp (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 48John Amos Comenius (1592–1670), Czech philosopher and school reformer (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 49Venus of Dolní Věstonice, the oldest ceramic article in the world (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 50Library of Clementinum, a former Jesuit College, built in 1722 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 51Obložené chlebíčky, a type of snack or appetizer (from Czech cuisine)
Image 52Europe after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 53Great Moravia during the reign of Svatopluk I (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 54Vladislaus Hall at the Prague Castle, built from 1490 to 1502 by Benedikt Rejt (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 55Cubist lamp by Emil Králíček, Jungmannovo náměstí, next to the Gothic Church of Our Lady of the Snows (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 56Pilsner Urquell in a branded mug (from Czech cuisine)
Image 57The Kingdom of Bohemia in 1618 with other Bohemian Crown lands within the Holy Roman Empire (1618) (from Bohemia)
Image 58Emperor and King Charles IV. Luxembourg (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 59A panorama of Zittau (from Bohemia)
Image 60A panorama of Kłodzko, the capital city of Kłodzko Land, which is referred to as "Little Prague" (from Bohemia)
Image 61The National Theater from 1881 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 62Fried Edam Cheese (Smažený sýr) with potatoes and tartar sauce (from Czech cuisine)
Image 63Buděticko Nature Park with Rabí Castle (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 64House of the Black Madonna (from Czech architecture)
Image 65Bohemia as the heart of Europa regina; Sebastian Münster, Basel, 1570 (from Bohemia)
Image 66Entrance to Moravian Karst PLA (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 67Bohemian city Karlovy Vary (from Bohemia)
Image 68Christmas cookies (vánoční cukroví) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 69Bohemia (westernmost area) in Czechoslovakia 1918–1938 (from Bohemia)
Image 70Czech kings Ottokar II, Wenceslas II and Wenceslas III from the Přemyslid dynasty (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 71Territory under the control of the Přemyslids, c. 1301 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 72Zelňačka (cabbage soup) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 73King George of Podebrady, one of the first promoters of united Europe (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 74Vepřo-knedlo-zelo (roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 75The extent of the Protestant Reformation (1545–1620) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 76Monument to Master Jan Hus, a religious reformer and philosopher in Prague (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 77Cubist architecture in Prague (from Czech architecture)

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Topics

Czech lands: Bohemia • Moravia • Czech Silesia

History: Únětice culture • Boii • Marcomanni • Samo • Great Moravia • Přemyslid dynasty • Lands of the Bohemian Crown • Czech lands (1526–1648) • 1648–1867 • 1867–1918) • Czechoslovakia • Czech Republic

Geography: Lakes • Protected areas • Regions • Rivers

Law: Judiciary • Law enforcement • Supreme Court of the Czech Republic

Politics: Administrative divisions • Government • Constitution • Elections • Foreign relations • Army • Parliament • Political parties • President • Prime Minister

Economy: Banks • Czech koruna • Energy • Oil and gas deposits • Stock Exchange • Tourism • Transport

Culture: Architecture • Art • Cinema • Cuisine • Demographics • Education • Language • Literature • Media • Music • Philosophy • Prostitution • Public holidays • Religion • Sport • Television • Video games

Symbols: Flag • Coat of arms • National anthem (Kde domov můj)

Lists: Outline of the Czech Republic • List of Czech Republic–related topics

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WikiProject Czech Republic

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