Portal:Czech Republic

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Welcome to the Czech Portal!
Vítejte na Českém portálu!

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec.

The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia. It was formally recognized as an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Crown lands of Bohemia were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire.

In the 19th century, the Czech lands became more industrialized; further, in 1918, most of the country became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I. Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a parliamentary democracy during the entirety of the interwar period. After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically took control over the Czech lands. Czechoslovakia was restored in 1945 and three years later became an Eastern Bloc communist state following a coup d'état in 1948. Attempts to liberalize the government and economy were suppressed by a Soviet-led invasion of the country during the Prague Spring in 1968. In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country and restored democracy. On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Czech Republic is a unitary parliamentary republic and developed country with an advanced, high-income social market economy. It is a welfare state with a European social model, universal health care and free-tuition university education. It ranks 32nd in the Human Development Index. The Czech Republic is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the European Union, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. (Full article...)

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The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Southeastern Europe and Northern Asia, though there is a large Slavic minority scattered across the Baltic states and Central Asia, and a substantial Slavic diaspora in the Americas, Western Europe, and Northern Europe.

Early Slavs lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately from the 5th to the 10th century AD), and came to control large parts of Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe between the sixth and seventh centuries. Beginning in the 7th century, they were gradually Christianized. By the 12th century, they formed the core population of a number of medieval Christian states: East Slavs in the Kievan Rus', South Slavs in the Bulgarian Empire, the Principality of Serbia, the Duchy of Croatia and the Banate of Bosnia, and West Slavs in the Principality of Nitra, Great Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, and the Kingdom of Poland. (Full article...)

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A lake near Myslivny in the Ore Mountains, Czech Republic.

Photographer: Rafael Brix; License: Dual (GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA)

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In this month

5 October 1842 – The first batch of Pilsner Urquell beer is produced
6 October 1923 – Foundation of Czechoslovak Airlines, now known as Czech Airlines
9 October 1410 – First mention of the Prague astronomical clock (pictured)
24 October 1526 – Ferdinand I becomes King of Bohemia, starting a period of nearly 400 years of Habsburg rule over Czech lands
28 October 1918 – The independent state of Czechoslovakia is founded in Prague

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Jágr with the Czech Republic in 2010

Jaromír Jágr (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjaromiːr ˈjaːɡr̩] ^ⓘ; born 15 February 1972) is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger and owner of Rytíři Kladno of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames, serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers, between 1990 and 2008.

After leaving the Rangers in 2008, he played three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Avangard Omsk. He returned to the NHL in 2011 with the Flyers and remained in the league for seven more years before being assigned by the Flames in 2018 to HC Kladno. Having played in 37 professional seasons (as of 2024) and over 2,000 professional games, Jágr has had the longest playing career in professional ice hockey history. He is the most productive European player who has ever played in the NHL and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever. (Full article...)

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John Amos Comenius Petr Čech Dominik Hašek Pavel Nedvěd Gregor Mendel Tomáš Rosický Franz Kafka Bedřich Smetana Emanuel Moravec Gustav Mahler Fredy Hirsch Antonín Kinský Vlastimil Koubek Petra Kvitová Martin Miller (actor) Vratislav Lokvenc Vladimír Remek Leoš Janáček Libor Michálek Vojtěch Jarník Markéta Vondroušová Zdeňka Wiedermannová-Motyčková

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Did you know?

... that in 2005 UNESCO proclaimed the Moravian male recruit dance verbuňk as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mankind?
... that the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic is the highest award presented by the Czech Minister of Defence?
... that Jan Maroši scored directly from a corner for Sigma Olomouc in a 1992–93 UEFA Cup match against Juventus?
... that Czech actress Anna Letenská was killed by the Nazis for her alleged participation in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich?

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General images

The following are images from various Czech Republic-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Adria Palace (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 2Semi-detached villa in Brno by Otto Eisler, according to MoMA's Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, is a defining building of the International style. (from Czech architecture)
Image 3An 1892 map showing Bohemia proper outlined in pink, Moravia in yellow, and Austrian Silesia in orange (from Bohemia)
Image 4Russian occupation in 1968 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 5Václav Havel, playwright, dissident and president from 1989 to 2003 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 6Dacian Influence over Bohemia (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 7Obložené chlebíčky, a type of snack or appetizer (from Czech cuisine)
Image 8Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, philosopher, Czechoslovak president in the years 1918-1935 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 9Monument to Master Jan Hus, a religious reformer and philosopher in Prague (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 10Cubist lamp by Emil Králíček, Jungmannovo náměstí, next to the Gothic Church of Our Lady of the Snows (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 11Territories ruled by Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1273 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 12Grand Café Orient in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 13Map of protected areas of the Czech Republic: national parks (grey) and protected landscape areas (green) (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 14Korozluky Castle (from Czech architecture)
Image 15Kačina Castle in Chotkov (from Czech architecture)
Image 16Rotunda of St. George from the beginning of the 12th century on Mount Říp (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 17Writer Božena Němcová (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 18Svíčková na smetaně (Marinated tenderloin), served here with dumplings and cream (from Czech cuisine)
Image 19Emperor Francis Joseph I. (reigned 1848–1916) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 20A panorama of Zittau (from Bohemia)
Image 21Svíčková na smetaně served with dumplings, whipped cream and cranberries (from Czech cuisine)
Image 22The coat of arms of the Přemyslid dynasty (until 1253–1262) (from Bohemia)
Image 23A panorama of Kłodzko, the capital city of Kłodzko Land, which is referred to as "Little Prague" (from Bohemia)
Image 24Library of Clementinum, a former Jesuit College, built in 1722 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 25Buděticko Nature Park with Rabí Castle (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 26Stone sculpture of a Celtic man, found in Mšecké Žehrovice (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 27Lands of the Bohemian Crown (until 1635), map by Josef Pekař, 1921 (from Bohemia)
Image 28Venus of Dolní Věstonice, the oldest ceramic article in the world (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 29Detailed map of Bohemia, 1742 (from Bohemia)
Image 30Duchy of Bohemia, around 1029 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 31Great Moravia during the reign of Svatopluk I (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 32Baroque St. Nicholas Church in Malá Strana, built between 1704 and 1755 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 33House of the Black Madonna (from Czech architecture)
Image 34Vladislaus Hall at the Prague Castle, built from 1490 to 1502 by Benedikt Rejt (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 35Fried bramboráky (potato pancakes) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 36Monument to the village of Lidice murdered by the Nazis (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 37Territory under the control of the Přemyslids, c. 1301 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 38Prague-style beef goulash (from Czech cuisine)
Image 39Nakládaný hermelín (marinated cheese) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 40Fried cheese, served with tartar sauce and side salad (from Czech cuisine)
Image 41Zelňačka (from Czech cuisine)
Image 42The National Theater from 1881 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 43Apple strudel with raisins (from Czech cuisine)
Image 44Bohemia as the heart of Europa regina; Sebastian Münster, Basel, 1570 (from Bohemia)
Image 45Europe after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 46Beheading of 27 Bohemian nobles at the Old Town Square in Prague, 1621 (contemporary illustration) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 47Emperor and King Charles IV. Luxembourg (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 48Bohemia (westernmost area) in Czechoslovakia 1918–1938 (from Bohemia)
Image 49Bronze sword, Urnfield culture, c. 1200 BC (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 50The radical Hussites became known as Taborites, after the town of Tábor that became their center (from Bohemia)
Image 51Řežabinec a Řežabinecké tůně National Nature Reserve (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 52Hroby Nature Monument in Radenín (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 53Czech kings Ottokar II, Wenceslas II and Wenceslas III from the Přemyslid dynasty (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 54The extent of the Protestant Reformation (1545–1620) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 55King George of Podebrady, one of the first promoters of united Europe (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 56The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia (from Bohemia)
Image 57John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), Czech philosopher and school reformer (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 58Entrance to Moravian Karst PLA (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 59Pilsner Urquell in a branded mug (from Czech cuisine)
Image 60Copper engraving of the Second Defenestration of Prague from Theatrum Europaeum by Matthäus Merian. (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 61The Kingdom of Bohemia in 1618 with other Bohemian Crown lands within the Holy Roman Empire (1618). (from Bohemia)
Image 62St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle, John of Luxembourg laid the foundation stone in 1344 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 63Saint Wenceslas, Czech prince (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 64Vepřo-knedlo-zelo (Roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 65Frgál, a type of koláč baked in Moravian Wallachia (from Czech cuisine)
Image 66Church of Saint Agnes of Bohemia (Spořilov) (from Czech architecture)
Image 67Bohemian city Karlovy Vary (from Bohemia)
Image 68The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 69Empress Maria Theresa (reignet 1740–1780) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 70Cubist architecture in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 71A "traditional Bohemian platter" at a restaurant in central Prague, consisting of roast duck, roast pork, beer sausage, smoked meat, red and white cabbage, bread, bacon and potato dumplings. (from Czech cuisine)
Image 72Christmas cookies (vánoční cukroví) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 73Linguistic map of interwar Czechoslovakia (c. 1930) (from Bohemia)
Image 74Iconic brutalist Transgas building, demolished in 2019 (from Czech architecture)

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Topics

Czech lands: Bohemia • Moravia • Czech Silesia

History: Únětice culture • Boii • Marcomanni • Samo • Great Moravia • Přemyslid dynasty • Lands of the Bohemian Crown • Czech lands (1526–1648) • 1648–1867 • 1867–1918) • Czechoslovakia • Czech Republic

Geography: Lakes • Protected areas • Regions • Rivers

Law: Judiciary • Law enforcement • Supreme Court of the Czech Republic

Politics: Administrative divisions • Government • Constitution • Elections • Foreign relations • Army • Parliament • Political parties • President • Prime Minister

Economy: Banks • Czech koruna • Energy • Oil and gas deposits • Stock Exchange • Tourism • Transport

Culture: Architecture • Art • Cinema • Cuisine • Demographics • Education • Language • Literature • Media • Music • Philosophy • Prostitution • Public holidays • Religion • Sport • Television • Video games

Symbols: Flag • Coat of arms • National anthem (Kde domov můj)

Lists: Outline of the Czech Republic • List of Czech Republic–related topics

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WikiProjects

WikiProject Czech Republic

WikiProject Europe

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Featured and good content

	Featured articles		Dominik Hašek • Earth-grazing meteoroid of 13 October 1990 • Franz Kafka • Gustav Mahler • Bedřich Smetana • The Bartered Bride
	Good articles		Patrik Berger • FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 • Reinhard Heydrich • Leoš Janáček • Vlastimil Koubek • Libor Michálek • Pavel Nedvěd • Panzer 35(t) • Polish minority in the Czech Republic • Prague Spring • Punch-up in Piestany • Randy Blythe manslaughter case • The Brothers Grimm (film) • Winton Train • Zaolzie