Portal:Czech Republic

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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, and in 1918 most of it 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...)

View new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Gun laws in the Czech Republic in many respects differ from those in other European Union member states (see Gun laws in the European Union). The "right to acquire, keep and bear firearms" is explicitly recognized in the first Article of the Firearms Act. At the constitutional level, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms includes the "right to defend one's own life or life of another person also with arms under conditions stipulated by law".

In the Czech Republic, firearms are available to anyone, subject to acquiring a firearms license. Firearm licenses may be obtained in a way similar to a driving license; by passing a proficiency exam, medical examination and having no criminal record. Unlike in most other European countries, Czech firearms legislation also permits citizens to carry concealed weapons for self-defense; 260,027 out of 316,859 gun license holders have a concealed carry license (31 December 2023). The most common reason for firearm possession by Czech gun owners is for protection, with hunting and sport shooting being less common. Additionally, people can join government endorsed advanced shooting training courses with their privately owned firearms and become a civilian reservist. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

edit

Selected picture

A Saab JAS 39 Gripen of the Czech Air Force taking off in Čáslav

Photographer: Milan Nykodym, Czech Republic; License: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA

More pictures...

edit

In this month

1 May 2004 – The Czech Republic joins the European Union
9 May 1974 – The Prague Metro begins operation
14 May 1855 – The book The Grandmother by Božena Němcová is released
27 May 1942 – An assassination attempt (pictured) on acting Reichsprotektor Reinhardt Heydrich in Prague as part of Operation Anthropoid results in him dying on 4 June – the villages of Lidice and Ležáky are razed to the ground in response
29 May 1975 – Gustáv Husák becomes President of Czechoslovakia, remaining in office until 1989

More anniversaries...

edit

Selected biography - show another

Emanuel Moravec (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmoravɛts]; 17 April 1893 – 5 May 1945) was a Czech army officer and writer who served as the collaborationist Minister of Education of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia between 1942 and 1945. He was also chair of the Board of Trustees for the Education of Youth, a fascist youth organisation in the protectorate.

In World War I, Moravec served in the Austro-Hungarian Army, but following capture by the Russians he changed sides to join Russian-backed Serbian forces and then the Czechoslovak Legion, which went on to fight on the side of the White Army in the Russian Civil War. During the interwar period he commanded an infantry battalion in the Czechoslovak Army. As a proponent of democracy during the 1930s, Moravec was outspoken in his warnings about the expansionist plans of Germany under Adolf Hitler and appealed for armed action rather than capitulation to German demands for the Sudetenland. In the aftermath of the German occupation of the rump Czechoslovakia, he became an enthusiastic collaborator, realigning his political worldview towards fascism. He committed suicide in the final days of World War II. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
John Amos Comenius Petr Čech Dominik Hašek Jaromír Jágr Pavel Nedvěd Gregor Mendel Tomáš Rosický Franz Kafka Bedřich Smetana 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

edit

Did you know?

...that, although Mozart never visited Kroměříž, much of the Academy Award-winning film Amadeus was filmed at the local episcopal residence?
... that the leftist Czechoslovak Chemical Workers' Union was expelled from the OSČ trade union centre in 1922?
... that Czech international footballer Jan Suchopárek dislocated his shoulder while attempting a bicycle kick?
... that a 1926 voyage to Java inspired Czech poet Konstantin Biebl for the remainder of his life?

More did you know facts

Read more...

General images

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

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

Related portals

edit

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

edit

WikiProjects

WikiProject Czech Republic

WikiProject Europe

edit

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