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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it 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 State of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Crown lands of Bohemia 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.
In the 19th century, the Czech lands became more industrialized, and in 1918 most of it became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I. 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...)
Selected article -
![](http://upload.luquay.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Banner_of_arms_of_Moravia.svg/220px-Banner_of_arms_of_Moravia.svg.png)
Moravia (Czech: Morava [ˈmorava] ; German: Mähren) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The medieval and early modern Margraviate of Moravia was a crown land of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown from 1348 to 1918, an imperial state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1004 to 1806, a crown land of the Austrian Empire from 1804 to 1867, and a part of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. Moravia was one of the five lands of Czechoslovakia founded in 1918. In 1928 it was merged with Czech Silesia, and then dissolved in 1948 during the abolition of the land system following the communist coup d'état. (Full article...)Selected picture
![](http://upload.luquay.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Galerella_sanguinea_Zoo_Praha_2011-2.jpg/300px-Galerella_sanguinea_Zoo_Praha_2011-2.jpg)
Photographer: Karelj; License: Dual (GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA)
In this month
- 1 July 1991 – The Warsaw Pact is dissolved in Prague
- 6 July 1415 – Church reformer Jan Hus is burned at the stake, marked by a state holiday since 1925.
- 9 July 1357 – Charles IV reportedly lays the first stone at the Charles Bridge (pictured) in Prague
- 29 July 1817 – Foundation of Moravské zemské muzeum in Brno under the name Františkovo muzeum, the second-oldest museum in the country
- 30 July 1419 – The first of the Defenestrations of Prague: a group led by priest Jan Želivský go to Prague's New Town Hall, where they throw councillors out of the windows, starting the Hussite Wars
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Selected biography -
Vratislav Lokvenc (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvracɪslaf ˈlokvɛnts], born 27 September 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. After playing youth football for Náchod and Hradec Králové, he began his senior club career with the latter team. After moving to Sparta Prague he won five league titles and one cup, as well as the 1999–2000 league top scorer award. He subsequently played abroad, playing club football in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, VfL Bochum, Red Bull Salzburg, FC Basel and FC Ingolstadt 04. He retired in 2009.
Lokvenc played international football for the Czech Republic. He played at the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup before going on to take part in three major competitions. He made three substitute appearances at Euro 2000 and played in one game at Euro 2004. His last international tournament was the 2006 World Cup, where he played in two group matches before missing the third through suspension. The Czech Republic did not qualify for the next round of the competition and Lokvenc subsequently retired from international football in 2006. (Full article...)Did you know?
![](http://upload.luquay.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/DYKSquare.png/65px-DYKSquare.png)
- ...that, although Mozart never visited Kroměříž, much of the Academy Award-winning film Amadeus was filmed at the local episcopal residence?
- ... 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 Miroslav Tyrš, the founder of Czech national sport movement Sokol, was born into a German family?
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![](http://upload.luquay.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Animated-Flag-Czech.gif/80px-Animated-Flag-Czech.gif)
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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