Czech Republic country profile

Part of Czechoslovakia until the "velvet divorce" in January 1993, the Czech Republic or Czechia, has a robust democratic tradition, a highly-developed economy and a rich cultural heritage.

It emerged from over 40 years of Communist rule in 1990, and was the first former Eastern Bloc state to acquire the status of a developed economy. It joined the European Union in 2004.

Communist rule had lasted since 1948, when the restored pre-war democratic system was overthrown in a Soviet-backed coup. The "Prague Spring" of 1968, when Communist leader Alexander Dubcek tried to bring in liberal reforms, was crushed by Warsaw Pact tanks.

In 1989, as the curtain was coming down on communism in the Kremlin, the dissident playwright Vaclav Havel emerged as the figurehead of the country's "velvet revolution" and became the first president of post-communist Czechoslovakia.

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CZECH REPUBLIC/CZECHIA: FACTS

• Capital: Prague

• Area: 78,871 sq km

• Population: 10.5 million

• Language: Czech

• Life expectancy: 74 years (men) 80 years (women)

LEADERS

President: Petr Pavel

Retired Nato general Petr Pavel won the January 2023 presidential election after seeing off his populist challenger Andrej Babis, replacing Milos Zeman.

Mr Pavel backs keeping the Czech Republic anchored in the European Union and Nato and is strongly in favour of further military aid for Ukraine to fight against Russia's invasion.

In the Czech Republic, the role of president is a mostly ceremonial but still influential post. The presidents choose prime ministers and central bank bosses, as well as having a say in foreign policy.

Prime minister: Petr Fiala

The populist ANO party suffered a surprise defeat at the October 2021 elections, after four years in power, at the hands of the centre-right Spolu coalition led by Petr Fiala.

The poor health of President Zeman delayed the appointment of the new government until the end of November.

ANO leader Andrej Babis's time in office was overshadowed by fraud allegations, the collapse of a major energy provider, and public criticism of his response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

MEDIA

Private radio and TV stations provide stiff competition for their public rivals.

Public broadcaster Ceska Televize runs several networks, including a 24-hour news channel.

Media freedom organisations have raised concerns about the concentration of media ownership.

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TIMELINE

1968. The USSR sends tanks into Czechoslovakia to end the 'Prague Spring'

Some key dates in Czech history:

9th Century - Duchy of Bohemia emerges.

1198 - Kingdom of Bohemia firmly established by King Ottokar.

1212 - Holy Roman Empire recognises hereditary kingship of long-ruling Premyslid dynasty.

12th Century - German immigration to borderlands of Bohemia begins.

14th Century - Long reign of Charles IV of House of Luxembourg dubbed Golden Age, and sees foundation of Charles University and expansion of Kingdom into Silesia.

1415 - Religious and social reformer Jan Hus burnt in Constance as heretic, but his followers go on to eclipse Catholicism in Bohemia for the following two centuries.

1419-1434 - Hussite Wars see defeat of five crusades by the Holy Roman Empire.

1526 - House of Habsburg begins process of taking over Bohemia

1618 - Defenestration of Prague. Catholic regents are thrown out of a third-floor window of Prague Castle, leading to the ousting of the Habsburgs and the start of the Thirty Years War in Europe.

1620 - Battle of White Mountain returns Habsburg rule and begins the Catholic Counter-Reformation in the Czech lands.

18th Century - Habsburgs centralise government in Vienna, reducing powers of vestigial Kingdom of Bohemia.

1742 - Prussia seizes most of Silesia in the War of the Austrian Succession.

1804 - Fall of the Holy Roman Empire. Kingdom of Bohemia became part of the Austrian Empire

1848 - Defeat of revolution and return of absolute monarchy.

1867 - Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy created. Later Czech proposals for a Tripartite Monarchy go nowhere, and the Kingdom of Bohemia remains part of Austrian territory until the end of World War One.

1918 - Republic of Czechoslovakia proclaimed. Tomas Masaryk elected president.

1935 - Masaryk succeeded as president by Edvard Benes.

1938 - Munich Crisis. Nazi Germany demands the annexation of the Sudetenland, due to its predominantly German population. France and the UK are unwilling to risk war and force Czechoslovakia to accept the loss of these border territories.

1939 - Nazi invasion of western Czechslovakia - Bohemia and Moravia - which become a German protectorate. Slovakia becomes an independent state under profascist leader Jozef Tiso.

1940 - Benes establishes government in exile in London.

1945 - Soviet troops enter Prague. Benes returns and issues decrees which lay the foundation for the expulsion of over two and a half million Sudeten Germans and more than half a million ethnic Hungarians.

1946 - Czechoslovak Communist Party (CPCz) leader Klement Gottwald becomes prime minister in power-sharing government following national elections.

1968 - Prague Spring, a period of liberalisation under reform-minded leader Alexandr Dubcek is crushed when Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invade.

1969 - Gustav Husak replaces Dubcek as Communist Party leader.

1975 - Husak becomes president.

1977 - A group of dissidents including playwright Vaclav Havel publish Charter 77 calling for restoration of civil and political rights.

1989 - Massive protests on the streets of Prague force the resignation of the hard-line Communist Party leadership in what is dubbed "the velvet revolution." Federal Assembly abolishes Communists' constitutional hold on power. Vaclav Havel elected president.

1990 - Country renamed Czech and Slovak Federative Republic. First free elections since 1946.

1991 - Soviet forces complete withdrawal.

1993 - Czechoslovakia completes "velvet divorce" which results in two independent countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Vaclav Havel elected president of the Czech Republic.

1996 - Vaclav Klaus reappointed as prime minister in a minority coalition government following the Czech Republic's first general election since independence.

1998 - Havel re-elected president for a further five years.

1999 - Czech Republic becomes full member of Nato.

2004 - Czech Republic is one of 10 new nations to join the EU.

2016 - The government agrees to make Czechia the official short name of the republic in English.

2023 - Newly-elected President Pavel says there should be "almost no limits" to what countries should send to aid Ukraine to combat Russia's invasion.

Prague is one of the most-visited European capitals