Czech Republic

The Czech Republic occupies a modest swath of Central Europe, its 78,871 square kilometres unfolding between latitudes 48° and 51° N and longitudes 12° and 19° E. Both landlocked and richly varied, it is bounded by Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the southeast and Austria to the south. At its heart lies the Vltava basin, its floodplain punctuated by Prague’s silhouette; to the east unfolds rolling Moravia, drained by the Morava River; and to the northeast, the Sudetes cradle the Elbe’s headwaters. These three historical lands—Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia—trace river basins as much as cultural contours, their hills and forests shaping commerce, identity and imagination alike.

A temperate climate prevails, modulated by altitude: at Sněžka’s 1,603-metre summit, annual mean temperatures hover just below freezing, while in the South Moravian lowlands they climb to around 10 °C. Winters bring snow-laden forests and occasional frost in the cities; summers pass wet and unsettled, punctuated by thunderstorms capable of hail and even tornadoes. Spring’s melt swells rivers; autumn reddens vast tracts of oak and beech before a final whisper of snow. Long-term extremes—–42.2 °C at Litvínovice in 1929 and 40.4 °C at Dobřichovice in 2012—attest to continental swings born of its land-locked position.

Beetle-green woods, deep valleys and the crystalline air of Krkonoše or Šumava (both national parks and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves) speak of an ecological tapestry divided among Western European broadleaf forests, Central European mixed woods, Pannonian savannah-like plains, and Carpathian conifer highlands. Four national parks—Šumava, Krkonoše, Bohemian Switzerland and Podyjí—conserve this legacy, where black storks and lynx sense the horizon beyond softened ridges.

The land’s human story began long before the formal emergence of the Duchy of Bohemia in the late ninth century, under Great Moravia’s sway. Bohemia took its place among imperial estates by 1002 and ascended to kingdom in 1198. Habsburg rule, cemented after Mohács in 1526 and sealed by the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, spanned centuries. Its dissolution in 1806 transformed those crowns into Austrian imperial provinces, setting a stage of industrial progress that by the nineteenth century had woven coal and steel into the Czech lands’ economic fabric.

War and upheaval defined the twentieth century here. The First Czechoslovak Republic—founded in 1918—alone retained a parliamentary democracy in the interwar East and Central Europe. Munich in 1938 presaged annexation and occupation; restoration in 1945 yielded only to a Soviet-backed coup in 1948. The crushing end of the Prague Spring in 1968 silenced renewed hopes for liberalization. Only the Velvet Revolution of November 1989 restored self-government; on 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolved peacefully into two states, birthing the modern Czech Republic.

Today’s parliamentary republic participates in the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. Its high-income, export-oriented social market economy rests on services, manufacturing and innovation. The Czech koruna remains the currency of choice; monetary policy is conducted by the independent Czech National Bank. Ranking 32nd on the Human Development Index and known for universal healthcare, free university education and robust social protections, it sustains a welfare state in the European social model. Per-capita GDP runs at about 91 percent of the EU average, inequality-adjusted human development sits twelfth globally, and the World Bank’s human capital index places it twenty-fourth. Tourism nourishes Prague—Europe’s fifth-most visited city—as well as spa towns, chateaux and wilderness retreats; in 2001, tourism earned 118 billion CZK (5.5 percent of GDP).

Prague itself casts a long shadow. Across the Vltava, its medieval spires and baroque façades cluster around cobbled lanes and the Charles Bridge; the shadow of Prague Castle falls upon the Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square. Yet Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec each carry distinct voices: Brno’s modernist Villa Tugendhat and lively cafés, Ostrava’s coal-mining heritage and lively subculture, Plzeň’s birthplace of pilsner and vast brewery halls, and Liberec’s silk-weave legacy below Ještěd’s towers.

Beyond these, regional cities form chapters in a grand narrative. České Budějovice, wealth born of grain and beer, stands beneath its great square; nearby Český Krumlov’s castle dominates elbow-bending bends of the Vltava; Olomouc boasts a baroque Holy Trinity Column and second-largest historic heart; Kutná Hora’s Gothic St. Barbara’s Church and bone-decorated Sedlec Ossuary speak of silver-mining opulence; Karlovy Vary’s thermal springs draw German and Russian guests to its colonnades; Třebíč preserves a Jewish quarter; Telč’s Renaissance square has scarcely aged since its 16th-century birth.

That architectural wealth spans epochs: Romanesque stone keeps and basilicas, the soaring arches of Gothic perfection, French-born designs under Charles IV, Renaissance loggias and gardens, the grandeur of Baroque and its later Gothic-Baroque syntheses. Nineteenth-century historicism revived medieval forms; Art Nouveau blossomed before World War I; interwar Functionalism staked progress on clean lines; post-war Soviet influences gave way to the Brussels style avant-garde in the 1960s and brutalist statements thereafter. Today, Pritzker-Prize–winning visions meet deconstructivist flourishes in the Dancing House and the Golden Angel.

The nation’s cultural rhythms emerge equally in cuisine and custom. Czechs prize meat: pork, beef and chicken in ale-braised goulashes, game in autumn — venison under juniper, roast rabbit by spring pastures. The fried, breaded pork schnitzel—smažený vepřový řízek—arrives with boiled potatoes; fresh trout or carp appear at Christmas, a fleeting nod to riverine abundance. Sausages, pâtés, smoked hams, sauerkraut and potato pancakes fill taverns. Desserts blend whipped cream and fruit tarts, while poppy-seed strudl or koláče honor pastry traditions.

Yet beer remains national dialect: Pilsner Urquell of Plzeň, the progenitor of pale lager, inspires two-thirds of the world’s brewers. České Budějovice yields Budějovický Budvar; microbreweries abound. Moravia’s vineyard slopes—over ninety percent of Czech vineyards lie here—produce crisp whites and full-bodied reds; slivovitz plum brandy and herbal bitters such as Becherovka or Fernet Stock share bar space with Kofola, the domestic cola that tussles with global giants.

Music, puppetry and the visual arts carry equal weight. Marionette theatres stage Jan Švankmajer-inspired fables; the Dvořák Prize echoes in Brno’s opera halls; legends of Richard Heger’s glass and glass-painting recall Bohemia’s centuries-old crystal legacy. Museums—from Prague’s National Gallery to Ostrava’s mining museum—chart minerals, modern art or the baroque baroque in equal measure.

The Czech Republic’s 10.5 million people average 43 years of age. The 2021 census recorded 57.3 percent identifying as ethnic Czechs, 3.4 percent as Moravians, with Slovaks, Ukrainians, Vietnamese and Poles creating a tapestry of minorities. Some 658 000 foreigners reside here—Ukrainians and Slovaks forming nearly half. The Jewish community, nearly wiped out in the Holocaust, numbers around 3 900 today. About three-quarters of the population profess no religion, making secularism a defining trait; yet historic churches—St. Vitus at Prague Castle, St. Barbara in Kutná Hora, Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Prague—remain emblematic of a Catholic past.

Czech is the official tongue, a West Slavic language intelligible to Slovak speakers and approachable to Polish or Russian learners. English holds sway among younger generations; German remains common among those educated during the communist era, when Russian was compulsory. Visitors may note the persistence of dialects—Moravian variants, Silesian idioms—yet standard Czech unites media, academia and government.

Travel etiquette mirrors these sensibilities. Czechs prize personal space and formal greetings: a soft “Dobrý den” upon entering shops, “Na shledanou” on departure. Shoes come off in homes; slippers follow. One offers help when needed, yet unsolicited assistance may surprise. Avoid referring to the republic as “Eastern Europe,” or conflating it with Soviet territory; insist on “Central Europe.” Refrain from “Sudetenland,” outdated German place names, or insensitive remarks suggesting cheapness. Above all, respect history—communist legacies and Holocaust memory remain sensitive—eschewing denial or trivialization.

Outside towns, rural panoramas reveal villages of timber-framed cottages, fields punctuated by Gothic steeples. Třebíč’s baroque squares, Bohemian Paradise’s basalt monuments, the Moravian Karst’s cavernous Macocha abyss and Palava’s flood-plains of fish-filled dams appeal to hikers and anglers alike. For technical curiosity, Brno’s modern museum charts industrial design; cross-country skiers trace Tour de Ski circuits at Nové Město na Moravě.

Whether pausing at the green-roofed pavilions of Mariánské Lázně, threading cobbles in Kutná Hora’s bone chapel, or standing beneath Český Krumlov’s turrets as mist drifts the Vltava, the Czech Republic blends moments of ordeal and opulence into a landscape of deliberate nuance. It is a country of layered memory—Great Moravia’s early stone, Habsburg stratagems, republic-forged freedoms—yet poised between present exigencies and the evergreen theatre of its forests and spires. To step within its borders is to encounter not only a tapestry of architecture and terrain, but a people whose wry sensibility and mindful reserve lend brightness to every town square and woodland glade.