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The 2011 Census of the Czech Republic was conducted by the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) in 2011 in accordance with Regulation no. 763/2008 of the European Parliament and Council which states that censuses must be carried out in all Member States once every ten years starting in 2011 with more frequent censuses decided by the European Commission. [1]
The Parliament of Czech Republic passed Act no. 296/2009, requiring that a Census be conducted in early 2011. The act obligating participation and precise completion of the census would only be applicable to the 2011 Census, not other censuses that would be mandated in the future. Those who refused to partake in the census or provided false information to the Census would be fined 10,000 CZK. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek told the Chamber of Deputies that the cost of the census would be CZK 2.5 billion. [2]
Information given during the census must have been valid up to midnight Saturday, March 26, 2011 (known as the "decisive moment"). [3]
The first preliminary results of the census were published at the beginning of 2014. [4]
The Census was conducted in two main steps:
Counting paper sheets prior to processing were converted into electronic form and anonymized. Anonymised data was electronically transmitted to the National Archives.
Compared to the previous census experienced fewer questions on car ownership/rentership or television, but questions regarding one's computer at home and internet connection, and registered partnership were included. Questions about marriage and employment were less detailed and questions about religious faith, religious affiliation and nationality were not required. [5]
Czech Statistical Office, to ensure that work of the census workers (delivery of forms, collecting completed forms and enter data into the computer) was conducted timely and accurately, hired the Czech Post Office to assign census workers. By referendum, employees of municipal authorities, Czech Post and other volunteers became direct contractors with the CSO, as in the previous census. Most census workers were Czech Post workers who volunteered to distribute forms during their shifts. Critics found that many postmen were forced to volunteer under the threat of layoffs, were paid less despite doing more work (90 CZK / h with 10% tax; externs hired CSO were supposed to pay several times higher), and that the activities were organized chaotically. Census workers spent 3 minutes per household on average. The Czech Statistical Office and the Czech Post Office refused to comment on the issue of overloading their employees with census duties. [6] The Czech Post Office had problems obtaining 14,000 workers for the census, of which two-thirds were to be external. [7] Finally, around 9500 census workers were used. External volunteers were mainly family members of Czech Post staff, and other volunteers were university-educated people aged around 50 years, majored in statistics and sociology. [8]
In 2011, the first census enumerators checked the accuracy of records and performed a preliminary summary. [5]
The Czech Statistical Office conducted a trial census with a "decisive moment" at midnight April 17 (the date where the information given in the census must be valid) in preparation for the 2011 census. Around 0.5% of the population participated in the Trial census. Its aim was to verify the accuracy of all phases of the census and evaluate experiences, especially to verify that forms from the national census were easy to fill out. [9] During the test census, 6.4% of the affected population submitted the form via the Internet. Based on experience from the test census, the electronic form was modified. It also showed that older respondents did not understand the term "registered partnership" and considered it equivalent to marriage. [9] The test census encountered some minor problems with the distribution of forms which also occurred during the 2011 census. [9]
Respondents who wished to enroll as a faith jediism were allowed to in the 2011 census according to the CSO. [4] In response to this move, several Czech pagan groups contacted the CSO with requests for the allocation of its own census code for paganism. [10] Those requests were granted on February 2, 2011. [11] Respondents could have filled out section 12 by declaring a particular faith and a particular church or religious community, while also having the option of only "zaškrnout" ("faithful but not to any church or religious society"). In the electronic form, respondents did not have to select from a list of churches or religions and were not limited to registered churches and religious societies Czech Statistical Office have not disclosed the methodology, so it is not publicly known how the statistical evaluation of data would account the unlisted religions/churches or "zaškrnout" options.
The distribution of forms was accompanied by many problems. For example, in many places, census workers did not arrive in time that citizens have were asked to come so people were often repeatedly forced to wait unnecessarily and in a large queue at the post office, and even those who wanted to fill in a form over Internet. Some commissioners, inconsistent with the policy authorized by officials, advised a visit in the morning or after an excessively long period of time to prevent long lines. Czech Statistical Office also expressed dissatisfaction with the unreliability of the Czech Post. Czech Post, however, reported that all work is carried out as standard, and the situation was stabilized by census commissioners. The Call Center of the Czech Post had funding to handle only a fraction of questions and comments that they had received (e.g. March 8, only 6000 questions/comments were responded to from just 60,000 that were received), but after increased funding, responses were increased by 15%. [12] [13] [14]
Preparation for the census was accompanied by controversy in the media, especially on webzines, blogs and Internet chat rooms, where many support the call for a boycott. The Party of Free Citizens established a website known as "I can not be numbered! " in which it presents arguments against the census and linked a number of like-minded articles on the web. The common objections were that instead of filling out the forms printed for the entire population, a questionnaire survey should be used on a sample of the population, which would have allowed for some European regulation.
A ČTK report published on March 24, 2011, reported that out of a sample of 1,248 respondents, 98% of respondents were aware that the census takes place, 29% did not know about the mandatory participation and a fine for absence, and a third of respondents disagreed with the fact that the census is beneficial. 70% of respondents considered the CSO a good guarantor of privacy. People with less education and with a lower socioeconomic position were less likely to believe the benefits of census data protection and guarantees. Young people and uneducated people were less likely to know that the census is mandatory. [15]
Klára Burešová Kunovice, a student of public finance and political science, filed a constitutional complaint against the census on March 16, 2011, with the law firm of Klára Samková. [2]
The petitioner argued that the census was illegal for the following reasons:
Significant media reported on a constitutional complaint, but the report by ČTK only contained comments by Deputy CSO engineer Stanislav Drápal of Economics, who stated that she had a chance to succeed. The opinion of any attorney was not reported by ČTK nor Reuters. [16] [17]
The complaint was assigned to the Fourth Chamber of the Constitutional Court, led by Judge Vlasta Formánková. [18]
On 1 August 2011 the Constitutional Court rejected the complaint as unjustified, stressing that it was a legal obligation to complete the census in the current manner. [19]
On September 22, 2011, administrative proceedings were initiated against 233 persons who were found, after a thorough investigation, to have deliberately not met the legal obligation to complete the census. They were charged with a financial penalty of up to 10 000 CZK.
By Thursday, December 15, 2011, the CSO published the preliminary results of the 2011 Census. The Czech population was increasing mainly due to foreigners and the total at that date was 10,562,214 inhabitants. The Census also found that the number of foreigners living in the Czech Republic has increased by 360 percent since 2001. [20]
Most citizens no longer had to proclaim their nationality. One of the exceptions were Moravians who reported by their nationality on the Census. Reports showed that 522,474 citizens were Moravians, an increase from the previous census. [21] The share of believers in individual churches had fundamentally changed. Many Czech refused to answer the census question regarding religious association, [22] although there was an increase in the number of people identifying themselves as Jedis. [23] There were significant increases in the number of university students and people with no education. It was also found that citizens returned to traditional solid fuels, or wood heating. Using coal as the heat source decreases compared to the last census. Municipalities sold off most of their public housing, thus significantly increasing the number of privately owned apartments.
According to the schedule, the CSO published other results in Q3 2012. In Q4 2012, detailed information on households and dwellings for the whole country and region was released as well as further basic information about the districts and municipalities. In the 1st quarter of 2013, detailed data for counties, cities and municipalities became available. In Q2 2013, data regarding transportation to work became available. The Statistical Lexicon of Municipalities and Housing Census Atlas was released 2nd half of 2013. Total data for the Czech Republic was forwarded to the European Commission CSO at the turn of 2013 and 2014.
Demographic features of the population of the Czech Republic include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations.
Moravians are a West Slavic ethnographic group from the Moravia region of the Czech Republic, who speak the Moravian dialects of Czech or Common Czech or a mixed form of both. Along with the Silesians of the Czech Republic, a part of the population to identify ethnically as Moravian has registered in Czech censuses since 1991. The figure has fluctuated and in the 2011 census, 6.01% of the Czech population declared Moravian as their ethnicity. Smaller pockets of people declaring Moravian ethnicity are also native to neighboring Slovakia.
In some national population censuses which include a question on religious identity, media report numerous respondents giving their religion as Jedi after the quasi-religious order in the Star Wars science fiction franchise. While a few individuals claim to practise Jediism sincerely, the answer can also be a joke or protest against the religion question. While giving false information on a census form is often illegal, any religion question is sometimes an exception; in any case, prosecutions are rare. The Jedi census phenomenon sprang from a 2001 urban legend spread by chain email prior to the separate censuses that year in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The email asserted that any religion passing a minimum threshold would be entitled to some form of official recognition. Other reasons proffered include "do it because you love Star Wars" or "just to annoy people". The 2001 censuses recorded Jedi as 1.5% of New Zealanders, 0.37% of Australians, and 0.8% of Britons. Later censuses there and elsewhere have recorded smaller proportions. In some cases any "Jedi" responses are collected under "other" rather than reported separately.
Plzeň Region is an administrative unit (kraj) in the western part of Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is named after its capital Plzeň. In terms of area, Plzeň Region is 7,561 km2, the third largest region in the Czech Republic. However, with a population of about 585,000 inhabitants it is only the ninth most populous region. After the South Bohemian Region it is the second least densely populated region. The region can be roughly divided into two parts: a highly industrialized north-eastern part with a strong engineering tradition around Pilsen and a more hilly and rural south-western part with smaller-sized manufacturing companies processing natural resources.
The South Moravian Region, or just South Moravia, is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic, located in the south-western part of its historical region of Moravia. The region's capital is Brno, the nation's 2nd largest city. South Moravia is bordered by the South Bohemian Region to the west, Vysočina Region to the north-west, Pardubice Region to the north, Olomouc Region to the north-east, Zlín Region to the east, Trenčín and Trnava Regions, Slovakia to the south-east and Lower Austria, Austria to the south.
Hradec Králové Region is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic located in the north-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Hradec Králové. The region neighbours the Pardubice Region in the south, the Central Bohemian Region in the south-west, and the Liberec Region in the west. It also shares a 208 km long international border with Polish Lower Silesian Voivodeship in the north and the east.
Olomouc Region is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western and central part of its historical region of Moravia (Morava) and in a small part of the historical region of Czech Silesia. It is named for its capital Olomouc.
Ústí nad Labem Region or Ústecký Region is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western part of the historical land of Bohemia, and named after the capital, Ústí nad Labem. It covers the majority of the former North Bohemia province and is part of the broader area of North Bohemia.
České dráhy, often shortened to ČD, is the major railway operator in the Czech Republic providing regional and long-distance services.
Miroslav Kalousek is a Czech politician, former leader of KDU-ČSL and TOP 09, and a member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 1998 until his resignation in 2021. He served twice as Finance Minister in the cabinets of Mirek Topolánek and then again from 2010 to 2013 in the government of Petr Nečas.
Hinduism is a minority faith in the Czech Republic followed by 0.02% (2,024) of the population as of 2021. Hindus are represented by three communities: Czech Hindu Religious Society, Hare Krishna Movement and Vishva Nirmala Dharma.
Romani people are an ethnic minority in the Czech Republic, currently making up 2–3% of the population. Originally migrants from North Western India sometime between the 6th and 11th centuries, they have long had a presence in the region. Since the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the Romani population have experienced considerable hardship, having been a main target of Nazi extermination programs during World War II, and the subject of forced relocation, sterilisation, and other radical social policies during the Communist era. In the successor state, the Czech Republic, challenges remain for the Romani population with respect to education and poverty, and there are frequent tensions with the white majority population over issues including crime and integration.
The Czech Statistical Office is a central state administration authority of the Czech Republic. It is an office independent of the country's government, whose main tasks are the collection, processing and dissemination of statistical data and the organization of elections in the Czech Republic and the population census.
Czechoslovaks is a designation that was originally designed to refer to a united panethnicity of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks. It has later adopted two distinct connotations, the first being the aforementioned supra-ethnic meaning, and the second as a general term for all citizens of the former Czechoslovakia regardless of ethnicity. Cultural and political advocates of Czechoslovak identity have historically ascribed the identity to be applicable to all people of Czech and Slovak heritage both in the country and in the diaspora.
Doksany is a municipality and village in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. It is known for a Premonstratensian Doksany Convent.
Řeporyje is a cadastral area of Prague. Most of it belongs to the municipal district of the same name, the rest belonging to Prague 13. Řeporyje became part of Prague in 1974, before which it was recorded as a městys.
Horní Maxov is a village in the town of Lučany nad Nisou in Jablonec nad Nisou District. It can be found roughly 2 km (1.2 mi) northwest from Lučany nad Nisou. As of 2008, there were 157 addresses registered here. In 2001, the village had 138 inhabitants. It lies between the Maxovski ridge and the Bramberk observation tower on Krásný Hill, 797 m (2,615 ft). The highest peak of Horní Maxov is Slovanka, 820 m (2,690 ft), part of the Maxovski ridge.
Škoda Transportation a.s. is a Czech engineering company that continues the legacy of Škoda Works' rolling stock manufacturing that started at the end of 19th century in Plzeň. Following the first world war, the Works commenced locomotive production in a separate factory dedicated to that purpose. This factory became a separate company in the 1990s. Today, Škoda Transportation develops and manufactures electric rail vehicles for urban and railway transport.
The 2021 Census of the Czech Republic took place between 27 March and 9 April 2021. It was conducted by the Czech Statistical Office at a cost estimated to be 2.23 billion Czech koruna. Failure to complete the census could lead to a fine of 10,000 Czech koruna.
Iva Ritschelová was a Czech economist and academic who served as chair of the central state statistical administration body Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) from 2010 to 2017. She had previously worked at the CZSO at its Ústí nad Labem branch in its Department of Environmental Statistics as well as the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and the Statistical Division of the United Nations' (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization. Ritschelová was also vice-rector and later rector of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem.