Country Overview
Czechia, formally the Czech Republic, is a landlocked parliamentary republic in Central Europe. Its historic regions include Bohemia, Moravia, and part of Silesia. The independent Czech Republic was established on 1 January 1993 by the negotiated dissolution of Czechoslovakia; the state also observes the creation of independent Czechoslovakia on 28 October 1918. Czechia belongs to the European Union and NATO but continues to use the Czech koruna rather than the euro. [6]
Identity and State Formation
- Official and common names
- Czech Republic (Česká republika); Czechia (Česko) is the recognized short-form name
- Capital
- Prague (Praha)
- UN M49 classification
- Europe / Eastern Europe (UN statistical classification; geographically often described as Central Europe) [3]
- Historic state traditions
- Medieval Bohemian lands and the Crown of Bohemia; later lands of the Habsburg monarchy and Austria-Hungary
- Czechoslovak founding milestone
- 28 October 1918: declaration of the independent Czechoslovak state
- Post-communist milestone
- 1989 Velvet Revolution, followed by transition to pluralist democracy
- Contemporary state independence
- 1 January 1993: Czech Republic and Slovakia became separate sovereign states
- Constitution
- Constitution adopted 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993
- National day
- 28 October (establishment of Czechoslovakia, 1918); 1 January is the day of the restoration of the independent Czech state
- ISO 3166-1 identifiers
- CZ (alpha-2), CZE (alpha-3), 203 (numeric)
- Country-code top-level domain
- .cz
Historical context: The medieval Czech lands were an important part of Central European political and cultural history. They became constituent lands of Czechoslovakia in 1918, endured Nazi occupation during World War II, and entered the communist period after 1948. The peaceful 1989 Velvet Revolution preceded the consensual 1993 separation from Slovakia. The 1918 national commemoration must not be mistaken for Czechia’s sovereign-state founding date in 1993. [9]
Geography and Population
- Total geographical area
- 78,871 km² (Eurostat geographic reference, 2026) [6]
- Land area
- 77,155.5 km² (World Bank/FAO, 2024; excludes inland waters) [2]
- Population
- 10,886,878 (World Bank, 2025) [1]
- Annual population growth
- −0.2% (2025, World Bank) [1]
- Boundaries
- Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria; no coastline
- Physical features
- Bohemian Basin and surrounding uplands, Bohemian Forest, Sudetes and Krkonoše ranges, Moravian lowlands; Elbe (Labe), Vltava, Morava and Oder (Odra) river systems
- Major urban centers
- Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň, Liberec, and Olomouc
Data interpretation: Population is the harmonized 2025 World Bank series; Eurostat reports a separate 2026 population snapshot and a 2026 geographical-area estimate. Land area excludes inland waters, unlike total surface area. [1]
Economy and International Trade
- Economic profile
- High-income, industrial and service-based economy strongly integrated into European manufacturing supply chains
- Nominal GDP
- Approximately US$391.03 billion (2025, current prices; World Bank) [1]
- Nominal GDP per capita
- Approximately US$35,917 (2025, current US dollars; World Bank) [1]
- Real GDP growth
- 2.6% (2025, World Bank) [1]
- Currency
- Czech koruna (CZK); Czechia is not in the euro area [6]
- Major export destinations
- Germany is the principal goods market; Slovakia, Poland, France, and other EU countries are also important
- Economic concentrations
- Automotive manufacturing, machinery, engineering, electronics, technology services, and tourism
- Economic geography
- Prague is the leading services and administrative hub; industrial manufacturing extends through Bohemia and Moravia
Principal Merchandise Export Categories (2025)
| Category | Illustrative exported products |
|---|---|
| Motor vehicles and parts | Passenger vehicles, automotive components, and transport systems |
| Machinery and industrial equipment | Machine tools, mechanical equipment, and specialized engineering products |
| Electrical and electronic equipment | Computers, communications technology, electronics, and electrical components |
| Plastics, rubber and metals | Rubber products, metal manufactures and intermediate industrial goods |
| Other manufactures | Optical instruments, food products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals |
GDP is not wages: Nominal GDP is aggregate economic output; GDP per capita divides that output by population. Neither measure represents average or median personal earnings. [1]
People and Society
- Official language
- Czech
- Other languages and communities
- Slovak, Ukrainian, Polish, Romani, Vietnamese, German, and other minority and migrant languages; Czech sign language has legal recognition
- Religious belief, 2021 census
- Of persons who answered the voluntary religion question, 68.3% reported no religious belief and 18.7% reported adherence to a church or religious society; the latter excludes believers without church affiliation
- Nonresponse, 2021 census
- 30.1% of residents left the voluntary religion question unanswered; response percentages must not be stated as shares of every resident
- Societal context
- Historically Catholic and Protestant traditions coexist with large religiously unaffiliated populations; modern society also includes growing migrant communities
Demographic interpretation: The Czech 2021 census religion question was voluntary. Answer-based percentages differ substantially from percentages of the full census population and should be interpreted with nonresponse included. [8]
Government and Institutions
- System
- Unitary parliamentary republic with directly elected head of state
- Head of state
- President, directly elected for a five-year term
- Head of government
- Prime minister, leading a cabinet responsible to the Chamber of Deputies
- Legislature
- Bicameral Parliament: Chamber of Deputies (200 seats) and Senate (81 seats)
- Administrative divisions
- 14 regions (kraje), including the capital Prague; municipalities constitute local government
- Constitutional order
- Constitution effective 1 January 1993, together with the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms within the constitutional order
- Judiciary
- Constitutional Court and independent general court system
International Profile
- United Nations
- Member since 19 January 1993; succeeded the former Czechoslovak federation as an independent member state [5]
- European Union
- Member since 1 May 2004 [6]
- Euro area
- Not a member; uses the Czech koruna [6]
- Schengen area
- Member since 21 December 2007 [6]
- NATO
- Member since 12 March 1999
- Other organizations
- OECD, WTO, Council of Europe, and OSCE
- UNESCO World Heritage
- 17 inscribed properties, including Prague, Český Krumlov, the Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape, and the transnational Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests [4]
- International dialing code
- +420
- Time zone
- Central European Time (UTC+1); summer UTC+2
Sources and Verification
Editorial cutoff: November 6, 2026. Most headline population and economic indicators are World Bank 2025 data. Separate national releases and census figures have different statistical coverage and dates; figures may be updated retrospectively.
- World Bank, country data (2025 indicators) — 2025 population, GDP, GDP per capita, and real GDP growth; subject to subsequent revisions.
- World Bank / FAO, Land area — FAO-derived land area, 2024; distinguished from total territorial area.
- UN Statistics Division, M49 geographic classification — UN regional and subregional placement.
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, State Party profile — World Heritage property count and selected inscribed sites.
- United Nations, Member States — UN status and admission records.
- European Union, Czechia country overview — Official language, political system, 2026 geographical area and currency, EU/Schengen dates.
- Czech Statistical Office, International trade in high-tech goods — Final 2025 exports for computers, electronics, communications, and industrial product classes.
- Czech Statistical Office, 2021 Census: Religious belief — Voluntary religion question, response shares, nonresponse and denominator.
- Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czechoslovak Independence Day — 1918 Czechoslovak founding and the peaceful 1993 partition.
- Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Czech country brief — Constitutional branches and bicameral parliamentary seat counts.
- Czech Statistical Office, 2021 Census: Mother tongue — Czech and minority-language reporting, 2021.
Methodology: Population is the World Bank 2025 country series; GDP and GDP per capita are in current U.S. dollars and real GDP growth is a volume change, not an exchange-rate change. Land area excludes inland waters under the FAO definition, whereas the country-specific total area can be a distinct national or regional surface measure. Export tables are illustrative merchandise categories, not services data or a harmonized ranking. Religious figures identify their census or survey reference year and denominator.