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"There are huge differences
between the USA and the Czech Republic in almost everything (lifestyle,
school system, law, transportation,...). I strongly encourage all Americans to
visit the Czech Republic, or another post-communist country to refutate often
wrong illusions of those countries."
Welcome to my website. My name is Michal Bachman and I
was born in 1984 in Liberec, Czech Republic. In August 2002, I arrived in Monett,
Missouri to study at the local high school. I am a senior and my stay is provided by
AFS organization.
A lot of people here have asked me the same questions,
therefore I decided to create this site, which is to teach you some basic
information about my country. If there's anything you haven't found here, feel
free to email me.
Web contains:
Basic Facts
The Czech Republic is situated approximately in the
geographical center of Europe and has an area of 78,864 sq. km/30450 sq. miles
(half Missouri). It shares borders with Germany, Poland, Austria, and Slovakia.
The highest point of elevation is the peak of Mt. Snezka (1,602 m (5256 ft)
above sea level) and the lowest point of elevation is near Hřensko where the
River Labe leaves Czech territory (117 m (384 ft.) above sea level).
It has a population of 10,300,000 (almost twice more than
Missouri). The official language is Czech. We drive on the right side of the
road. The capital is the city of Prague (Praha) with the population of
1,200,000. Over thirty-nine percent of the Czech people are atheist. Another
thirty-nine percent of the population are Roman Catholic with some Protestants.
The currency is Czech Crown (CZK); 1 USD is approximately
30 CZK. The average salary is about $4800 a year; prices of food and services
are much lower than in the USA, electronics and gas are more expensive.
The Czech Republic is a democratic country with
parliametary democracy. The
president is Valcav Havel, the prime minister is Vladimir
Spidla.
Since this web is focused on scientists, I can't forget
to mention two famous Czech scientists. The first one is Jaroslav Heyrovsky,
1959 Nobel Prize for Chemistry laureate and inventor of analytic method called
polarography; The second one is Otto Wichterle, the inventor of contact lenses
and nylon, things used by millions of people every day.
History (until 1918)
The Czech Republic
consists of the lands of Bohemia, Moravia, and part of Silesia. The Celts were
the first to arrive in the area, followed by German tribes, Slavs, and Avars.
In the ninth century the Slavic tribes of Morovia, Bohemia,
and Slovakia (as well as parts of Germany, Austria, Poland, and Hungary) formed
the Great Morovian Empire. During this time Christianity spread thoughout the
Empire and Slav culture flourished until the beginning of the tenth century when
the Empire was destroyed by Magyars from Hungary.
Czech lands came under the rule of the The
Premyslid Dynasty which grew in strength until the murder of King Wenceslas III
(1306). In 1310 Czech lands passed to the rule of John of Luxembourg who was
succeeded in 1346 by his son Charles IV. Charles was also the Holy Roman Emperor
and Prague became the Empire's capital city.
In 1458 Europe's first Protestant king, George of Podebrady,
became king of Bohemia. After George's death Bohemia passed to the Polish
prince, Vladislav II who became king of Bohemia and Hungary. Rule of the Czech
lands passed to Ferdinand I of the Austrian
Hapsburg family in 1526.
The Austrian Empire controlled Czech lands until the early
twentieth century. After the First World War (1914-1918), and the dissolution of
the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Czechoslovakia was formed from the Czech lands
and Slovakia.
History (20th & 21st century)
Czechoslovakia prospered until the eve of the Second
World War (1939-1945) when the Munich Agreement between Britain, France, Italy
and Germany forced Czechoslovakia to surrender the Sudetenland to Adolf Hitler
and Germany. Within six months of the Agreement Hitler occupied all of
Czechoslovakia.
Following the Second World War Czechoslovakia became a
communist state - part of Eastern Europe under the influence of the USSR. In
1968 Alexander Dubcek's government tried to introduce a more liberal form of
communism - this was known as the "Prague Spring". In August the USSR
occupied Czechoslovakia and removed Dubcek and government leaders from office.
The communist system of government collapsed in 1989 (the
Velvet Revolution) and Czechoslovakia became independent. Vaclav Havel became
Czechoslovakia's President. In 1993 the Czechs and Slovaks decided to separate
forming the separate countries of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.
The Czech Republic has applied to join the EU (2004). It's already a member of NATO (1999), UN (1948), GATT, CEFTA, RE, OECD, UNESCO,
UNICEF, WHO, and others.
Economics
Following the collapse of communism Czechoslovakia began
privatizing businesses owned by the State. The transfer to a market economy has
been relatively successful. Membership of the EU should benefit Czech businesses
many of whom already trade with EU countries.
The agricultural sector of the economy is less important to
the Czech economy than the service and industrial sectors. Agriculture caters
for the country's requirements for crops such as wheat, barley, rye, maize,
sugar beet, potatoes, and hops. Cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry are reared and
fish are farmed.
The main mineral is coal and the industrial sector produces
iron and steel, machinery, motor vehicles (Skoda), chemicals, optical
instruments, furniture, glass and ceramics, textiles, paper, beer (Pilsner
Urquell, Budweiser Bier), liqueur (Becherovka), and processed food.
Tourism is a growing industry in the service sector. The
Czech Republic has a wealth of historic buildings and beautiful spa towns to
attract the tourist.
National Symbols
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