Czech Republic

The Czech Republic

I was born in the Czech Republic and now I?ve been living here for 18 years. So I would like to describe this fine country a bit.
The old legend says that Forefather Czech came with his people to Bohemia, climbed up the hill Říp and gave order to his people to settle in this fertile country. First Slavs came to Bohemia in the 5th century and in the 9th century they invited the first state formation called the Great Moravian Empire. The King Charles IV. was the best and the most important ruler of the Czech state in the 14th century. In the 20th century T. G. Masaryk became the first president of the Republic of Czechoslovakia. In 1993 this country was separated into the Czech and Slovakia Republic.
The Czech Republic is situated in the middle of Europe and it borders on Germany in the west, Poland in the north, Austria in the south and Slovakia in the east.
About 10 Million inhabitants occupy nearly 79 000 sq km of this interior country. The major nationalities living here are Czech and Moravian and the minority groups are f. ex. Silesians, Gypsies, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians and Russians.
The Czech Republic with the capital city Prague is a republic with the president as the head of state. Now the head of state is the President Václav Klaus.
The relief of the CR is formed by lowlands along the rivers Vlatava, Labe, Dyje, Ohře, Morava or Berounka, by highlands as Českomoravská vrchovina and Středočeská pahorkatina in the middle, Plzeňská pahorkatina, Karlovarská vrchovina and Doupovské hory in the west, České středohoří in the north-west or Brněnská vrchovina with the well known Moravský kras in the east. The high mountains, which make the border nearly around the whole country, are f. ex. Krušné hory with the highest mountain Klínovec on the west, Český les and Šumava with the highest mountain Plechý, where are situated the largest lakes Černé, Čertovo or Plešné and the largest dam Lipno. On the north we can visit Lužické hory, Jizerské hory and Krkonoše with the highest mountain of the whole country Sněžka. Orlické hory and Hrubý Jeseník make the border on the north-east. In Hrubý Jeseník we can find the highest mountain Praděd and a mountain called Králický Sněžník, which is the region of the European watershed of 3 sees. The last mountains with the highest mountain Radhošť are Beskydy on the east border.
The CR is rich in many rivers, dams, lakes and ponds. The longest river is Vlatava and the largest pond is called Rožmberk. You can find here also 24 preserved natural regions, 4 reserves of UNESCO and 3 NPs: the NP Šumava, Krkonošský NP and the NP Poddyjí.
The climate here is mainly mild and continental.
The CR excels in the production of black coal, especially from the regions of Ostrava, Karviná and Kladno, and brown coal from the region of Sokolov. The most important part of our economy is engineering like machines, motorcars, locomotives, tractors, trams and so one. The metallurgical and chemical industries are also very important and the textile and glass industries have got a long tradition here. The main trading partners are Germany, Slovakia, Russia, Austria, Poland, Italy or France.
The currency valid here is 1 crown, which has 100 hellers.
The main agricultural products are wheat, maize, sugar-beet, grapes, hops and fruit. The CR is also known for its cattle and pig breeding and the fish breeding, especially carp-breeding, has got a long tradition here.
I forgot about one of the important economical incomes. I mean tourism, because in the Czech Republic you can find a lot of very interesting places. For example I should mention some castles as Karlštejn, Zvíkov, Loket, Lány or Lednice. The well-known Český Ráj is a region of sandstone rock formations and labyrinths. Moravská brána with the hilly landscape is rich in historical towns, castles and sights with folk architecture. A lot of tourists are attracted by our famous spas like Lázně Kynžvart, Františkovy Lázně, the youngest spa Mariánské Lázně or Karlovy Vary, where the world known Film Festival takes place. In Klatovy you can visit the popular catacombs and in August the International Festival of Classical Music takes place in Český Krumlov, which is also a municipal reserve of UNESCO.
But the most popular place of interest among the tourists is the capital Prague, which lies in the heart of Europe on the river Vltava. It is the seat of our President, the Czech government and the Czech Parliament. Prague is the city of many historical buildings and monuments, theatres, museums, galleries, sports events as ice hockey, football or basketball and many concerts take place here. It?s sometimes called Gold Prague or town with hundred towers. Prague is divided into 10 boroughs. The most popular part of Prague is the historical centre, which is made up by the Old Town, Josefov, Hradčany, the New Town and Vyšehrad. I could commend the tourists to visit especially the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, the St. Vitus Cathedral, the Royal Palace, The Vyšehrad Castle, St. George?s Basilica, the Summer House with its Singing Fountain, the Wenceslas Square with the statue of the Czech patron St. Wenceslas or the National Theatre, Museum or Gallery.
The tourists needn?t be afraid for the lack of time for the sightseeing, because in Prague there are various kinds of transport as busses, trams and mainly underground. The water transport is one of the tourist attractions and the most important airport is the Ruzyně Airport.