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Czech
Republic
Fact
Sheet :
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Area : 78,866
sq km
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Population : 10,228,744 (July 2007 est.)
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Capital : Prague
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Languages : Czech
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Currency : Czech
koruna (CZK)
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Government type :
parliamentary
democracy
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Elements of History :
Following
the First World War, the closely related Czechs and Slovaks
of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia.
During the interwar years, the new country's leaders were
frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic
minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans
and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated
Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence.
In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts
of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule
and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet
demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh
repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989,
Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet
Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent
a "velvet divorce" into its two national components,
the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.
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Climate : temperate;
cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
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