24. Maturita topic The Czech Republic Veronika Kocmanová. 4.A

Basic Facts Location: in central Europe Capital city: Prague Population: 10.5 million people Area: 78 966 sq km Official language: Czech Borders: Poland, Slovakia, Germany, Austria A member of: NATO, United Nations (OSN), European Union, Visegrad Group

History the Celts and Teutons Slavic tribes – Samo´s Empire Great Moravia Empire Premyslian dynasty – prince Wenceslas Přemysl Otakar I. – the Golden Bull of Sicily Charles IV. – Charles Univerzity in 1348 Jan Hus – tried to reform the Catholic Church Empress Marie Terezie - enlightenment Queen Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk

Geography bordered with mountains it consists of three lands – Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia Sněžka - the highest peak (at 1603m) in Krkonoše M. Orlické M., Beskydy, Jizera M. rivers: Vltava – the longest (433 m) Labe – the most important (dams Lipno etc). Moravia, Dyje, Odra, Sázava

Climate temperate climatic zone humid continetal climate the four seasons cold winters and warm summers the heaviest rainfalls are during the summers → floods, gales

Population the important cities: Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň, Hradec Králové, Zlín one of the most atheistic lands majority ethnic groups: Czechs and Moravians minority groups: Silesians, Romes, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians and Russians language: Czech - lots of regional dialects

Political system parliamentary democracy three branches of power: 1) legislative = Parliament – 2 chambers a) the Chamber of Deputies (the lower ch.) b) the Senate (the upper ch.) 2) executive a) the president b) the cabinet – the Prime Minister

3) judicial a) the Constitutional Court b) the judicial system lots of political parties – Social Democrats, TOP 09, ANO

Economy industry - the most important - 38% people → the first place in the EU - car production – Škoda - electrical engineering, chemistry, food ind. agriculture - corn, potatoes, sugar beet - beef cattle, poultry, pigs, sheeps minig – coal, uranium

The Czech products cars Škoda – Mladá Boleslav the czech glass – Jablonec Bohemia crystal porcelain – Karlovy Vary shoes Baťa - Zlín beer Pilsner Urquell – Pilsner pianos Petrof – Hradec Králové

food - mineral water - olomoucké tvarůžky – Loštice - štramberské uši – Štramberk - valašský frgál – Palačov - Bohemia chips - hořické trubičky – Hořice - Pardubice gingerbread

The places of interest Prague, Telč, Český Krumlov - the historical centre the Church of Johann Nepomuk in Žďár nad Sáz.u St. Barbora´s Church in Kutná Hora Lednice – Valtice areal village Holašovice in the south Bohemia Kroměříž – the castle and gardens Litomyšl - the castle Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc Vila Tugendhat in Brno Třebíč – the synagogue and Basilica of St. Procopius