General overview of the country.

1. Czech Republic
Facts and figures

2. General info
 It includes the historical territories
of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia.
Where on Earth? It is a landlock country in
Central Europe.
It was part of a bigger country called
Czechoslovakia, up until 1993.
Neighbours: Germany, Austria, Slovakia and
Poland.

3. History
 Part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire since the Middle Ages,
Czechoslovakia got independent from Austria after World
War I.
 The country was invaded by Germany during World War II
and after 1945 fell under the influence of the Soviet Union.
 During 41 years, Czechoslovakia was a Communist state. The
country's GDP per capita decreased in the 1980s.
 In 1989, Czechoslovakia returned to a liberal democracy
through the peaceful “Velvet Revolution”.
 Slovak national aspirations strengthened and in 1993 the
country peacefully split into the independent Czech Republic
and Slovakia.
 The Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004.

4. Politics
It is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary
representative democracy, with the Prime
Minister as the head of government.
The current Prime Minister is Bohuslav Sobotka,
leader of the Social Democratic Party. He was
elected in 2014.
In 2006 the Czech Republic was recognised by
the World Bank as a "developed country", and in
2009 the Human Development Index ranked it as
a nation of "Very High Human Development”.

5. Demographics
 Estimated population of 10,512,419 in 2014.
 The capital city is Prague, with an estimated
population of 1,259,079.
 Since 2005, natural growth has been positive, but
the most important factor for the recent population
of the Czech Republic has been immigration,
approximately 300,000 during the last decade.
 Official language is Czech with some other
recognized minority languages.
 80% of the population is non-declared or non-
religious, one of the highest rates in Europe.

6. Economy
 Currency is Czech Koruna (1USD=25CZK)
 After 2 years of economic recession, growth
recovered in 2014 (2.5%). GDP is $200 billion (2014
est.)
 Services contribute to over 60% of the GDP and
employ almost 60% of the active population.
 Czech economy is expected to
keep growing in the following
years, although deflation is seen
as a potential risk.

7. Debt and IMF
 External debt is at 45% of GDP, $116.1 billion (2014).
 The Czech Republic received a loan from the IMF in
1993 that was repaid by the following year.
 The country has been recently advised by the IMF
to use the Exchange Rate of the CZK as a tool to
combat deflationary risks.
 It belongs to a group of Central and Eastern
European countries that have recently reported to
the IMF their concerns about the political situation in
neighboring Ukraine as a potential threat to their
economies.