Czech Republic
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Country
names & abbreviations |
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Country name
short: Czech Republic
Country name long: Czech Republic
Local name short: Ceska Republika
Local name long: Ceska Republika
Former name:
Abbrevation:
Olympia: CZE
ISO_numerisch: 203
3er Codierung: CZE
2er Codierung: CZ
CIA-Kuerzel: EZ
Internet id: .cz
Vorwahl: +420
Nationality plate: CZ
Dependency Status: independant
Dependant Areas:
Independence: 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia); note - although 1 January is the day the Czech Republic came into being, the Czechs generally consider 28 October 1918, the day the former Czechoslovakia declared its independence
National Holiday: Czechoslovak Founding Day, 28 October (1918)
Nationality noun: Czech(s)
Nationality adjective: Czech
Capital: Prague
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Background |
Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.
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Flag |
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two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side (identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia) |
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International
disputes |
in February 2005, the ICJ refused to rule on the restitution of Liechtenstein's land and property assets in the Czech Republic confiscated in 1945 as German property; individual Sudeten Germans seek restitution for property confiscated in connection with their expulsion after World War II
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Illicit drugs |
transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and minor transit point for Latin American cocaine to Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for local and regional markets; susceptible to money laundering related to drug trafficking, organized crime
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