The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe and a member of the EU. It has a rich cultural heritage, including famous writers and intellectuals. The country was under Habsburg and communist control before becoming a democracy in 1989. It has a thriving economy, but also struggles with corruption. The Czech Republic is known for its museums, galleries, café culture, and beer.
The Czech Republic is located in Central Europe and is a member of the European Union (EU). This landlocked country is bordered by Poland to the north and Germany to the west and northwest. Austria and Slovakia are located on the southern and eastern borders, respectively. The nation’s capital is Prague, by the way a popular area for noble tourists with an eye for art, architecture and even romance.
The Czech Republic has its origins in the late 9th century Bohemian country, unified by the Přemyslid dynasty. While the state was part of the Holy Roman Empire during the life of the confederacy, it should be noted that it came under increasing Habsburg control during the 16th and 17th centuries, due in part to wars in the region. When the Roman Empire finally fell, Bohemia was absorbed into the Austrian Empire, then Austria-Hungary. The state was then reborn, together with neighboring Slovakia, as Czechoslovakia in 9, after the First World War.
Czechoslovakia turned to communism for 40 years starting in 1948. The country’s adoption of communism is theorized to have been influenced by the public’s favorable attitude towards the communist Soviet Union, which helped liberate the country by the Germans during the war. However, communism did not gain deep enough support in the country, and Czechoslovakia eventually returned to democracy through a non-violent revolution, also called the Velvet Revolution, in 1989. The Czech Republic then seceded from Slovakia on January 1, 1993 in peaceful settlements .
Interestingly, perhaps as a holdover from its communist days, the Czech Republic is one of the most secular countries in the European Union, second only to Estonia. According to a census conducted in 2001, almost 60% of the country is agnostic, atheist or non-religious. Four years later, in 2005, a survey shows that only 19% of the population actually believe in a God, although 50% believe in some sort of “life force”.
Currently, the Czech Republic is thriving and is very proud of its cultural heritage. Being the city of the likes of Franz Kafka and Albert Einstein, as well as Milan Kundera, Vaclav Havel, Ivan Klima and Arnost Lustig, there is no denying that the country is imbued with much academic and intellectual energy. This energy is tirelessly transferred to the country’s many museums and galleries, as well as universities and other educational institutions. For a while in the last century, Prague, with its lofty cathedrals and gothic church spiers, was even seen as a sort of thinker’s paradise, where independent minds met to discuss the rise and fall of the world. .
Some of the most famous museums and galleries in the Czech Republic include the Národní muzeum v Praze (National Museum in Prague) and the České muzeum výtvarných umění v Praze (Czech Museum of Fine Arts in Prague), with their extensive collections of medieval works, Classical and Baroque art. Prague also boasts a thriving café culture, world-class restaurants and exceptional nightclubs to rival those of New York or London. In the countryside, hiking, cave exploration and agritourism are popular.
The Czech Republic enjoys a robust economy. It is at 80% of the EU average in terms of GDP per capita. Unfortunately, it also has some of the highest corruption rates among the countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The country has a temperate climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. It is famous for puppets and marionettes and quite well known for its beer. In fact, the pilsen style of brewing originated here.
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