The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec.
The Czech Republic is a Central European country, a member of the European Union, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United Nations. It entertains diplomatic relations with 191 countries of the world, around half of which maintain a resident embassy in the Czech capital city, Prague.
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated on the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.4 million people.
Václav Havel was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on 31 December, before he became the first president of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003. He was the first democratically elected president of either country after the fall of communism. As a writer of Czech literature, he is known for his plays, essays and memoirs.
Václav Havel Airport PragueCzech pronunciation:[ˈlɛcɪʃcɛˈvaːt͡slavaˈɦavlaˈpraɦa], formerly Prague Ruzyně International Airport, is an international airport of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. The airport was founded in 1937 when it replaced the Kbely Airport as the city's principal airport. It was reconstructed and extended in 1956, 1968, 1997, and 2006. In 2012, it was renamed after the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel. It is located at the edge of the Prague-Ruzyně area, next to Kněževes village, 12 km (7 mi) west of the centre of Prague and 12 km (7 mi) southeast of the city of Kladno.
Miloš Zeman is a Czech politician who served as the third president of the Czech Republic from 2013 to 2023. He also previously served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party from 1993 to 2001, he is credited with the revival of the party into one of the country's major political forces. Zeman briefly served as the President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1996 to 1998.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Czech Republic are granted some protections, but may still face legal difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT residents. In 2006, the country legalized registered partnerships for same-sex couples, and a bill legalizing same-sex marriage was being considered by the Parliament of the Czech Republic before its dissolution for the 2021 Czech legislative election, when it died in the committee stage.
Brno University of Technology is a university located in Brno, Czech Republic. Being founded in 1899 and initially offering a single course in civil engineering, it grew to become a major technical Czech university with over 18,000 students enrolled at 8 faculties and 2 university institutes.
Fortuna Arena is a football stadium, in Prague-Vršovice, Czech Republic. The stadium has a capacity of 19,370 people and it is the biggest and the most modern football stadium in the Czech Republic.
Acted is a French international solidarity non-governmental organization (NGO), founded in 1993. It is headquartered in Paris.
People in Need (PIN) is a Czech nonprofit, non-governmental organisation based in Prague, Czech Republic. PIN implements humanitarian relief and long term development projects, educational programmes, and human rights programmes in crisis affected regions internationally. Its director is Šimon Pánek. As of 2022, PIN operates in 33+ countries.
Czech Centres is an organization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic consisting of offices in 26 countries throughout three continents. It was established for the promotion of the Czech history, culture, language, tourism and trade abroad. It is considered an active instrument of foreign policy of the Czech Republic through public diplomacy.
The International Visegrad Fund is an international donor organization promoting development and closer cooperation among the Visegrad Group (V4) countries—the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The main aim of the fund is to strengthen the ties among peoples and institutions in Central and Eastern Europe through giving support to regional non-governmental initiatives. The fund is the only institutionalized form of regional cooperation among the Visegrad Group countries.
Igor Blaževič is a European human rights campaigner of Bosnian origin living in the Czech Republic as the founder and longtime director of One World, the Europe's biggest human rights documentary International Film Festival and the director of the People in Need foundation. He is also the member of the steering committee of World Movement for Democracy. Currently he is a Programme Director at the Prague Civil Society Centre. Among other activities he is the director of the Educational Initiatives, training program for the Burma activists based in Thailand.
The Wathann Film Fest is a film festival held annually in Yangon, Myanmar, during the rainy season in September. With its launch in 2011, in a time of political transition after the general elections in 2010, it is the first film festival in Myanmar. Entries to the competition are categorized as Short Fiction, Documentary Film, or Other. Winners of the competition for each award are selected by a jury. The length of films is limited to 15 minutes for fiction, animation, experimental film or video art or 30 minutes for documentary film.
The cultural monuments of the Czech Republic are protected properties designated by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. Cultural monuments that constitute the most important part of the Czech cultural heritage may be declared national cultural monuments by a regulation of the Government of the Czech Republic. Government may also proclaim a territory, whose character and environment is determined by a group of immovable cultural monuments or archaeological finds, as a whole, as a monument reservation. Ministry of Culture may proclaim a territory of a settlement with a smaller number of cultural monuments, historical environment or part of a landscape area that display significant cultural values as a monument zone.
The Czech Land Forces are the land warfare forces of the Czech Republic. The Land Forces consisting of various types of arms and services complemented by air and special operations forces constitute the core of the Czech Armed Forces. Land Forces Command is located in Olomouc.
The Czech Republic and Taiwan maintain strong unofficial relations.
The Association for Democracy Assistance and Human Rights (DEMAS) (Czech: Asociace pro podporu demokracie a lidských práv) is a Czech organization founded in 2008 which is an amalgamation of 11 NGOs and 5 observer status organizations. DEMAS, and the organizations within focus on supporting democracy and upholding human and civil rights within the Czech republic and internationally. They state their mission as being "Ready to serve the cause of democracy, human rights and civil society whenever and wherever the need arises." Funding for DEMAS initially came mostly from the Czech Republic government, and through programs meant to offer funding for NGOs, such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). NED funding is given out by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. DEMAS is also funded by the European Union, European Commission, private donors, and other governmental grants and funds.
The Czech Army Central Band is a unit of the Czech Land Forces responsible for providing musical support to the Army of the Czech Republic and the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. Its parent organization is the Army Music Service of the Czech Armed Forces which heads all bands in the CAF. The band currently consists of 46 active musicians who are based in Prague. As of September 2018, the band is led by the Chief Director of Music, Gustav Foret and his deputy, Captain Richard Czuczor.
