The Czech Republic is a land-locked country in Central Europe, bordering Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Poland. There have been human settlements in the area since prehistoric time. Celtic, Germanic and Slavic tribes migrated to the area in the millennia before Christ. A Bohemian or Czech state emerged during the 9th century and became, under the name the Kingdom of Bohemia, a regional power in the Middle Ages.

In the 16th Century Bohemia fell under Habsburg rule and was part of the Austrian Empire and later of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, an independent state of present day Czech Republic and Slovakia was formed under the name Czechoslovakia. After World War II, Czechoslovakia became a socialist state and part of the Soviet dominated eastern bloc. In 1989, Czechoslovakia returned to democracy through the peaceful Velvet Revolution. In 1993, the country peacefully split into the independent Czech and Slovak republics. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.

Inhabitants: 10,300,000
Area: 79,000 km2
Capital: Prague (1,200,000 inhabitants)
Languages: Czech
Religion: atheist (52%), Roman Catholics (39%), Protestants (5%), others (4%)
GDP (PPP) per capita: $23,100
Government: Government Republic
Climate: Temperate, continental climate with hot summers and cold winters