Czech Republic Overview

by microedu · Published February 3, 2021 · Updated September 9, 2021

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Considerable efforts have been made in the country to modernize research infrastructures and to involve companies more in research and development. In close cooperation with Germany, the focus is on the targeted implementation of future topics such as digitization, Industry 4.0 and new materials.

Population / geography

Country name	Česká republika Czech Republic Czech Republic
Land area	78,866 km²
Population	10,674,723(Estimate / as of July 2017)
Life expectancy	Men: 75.8 yearsWomen: 81.9 years (2017 estimate)
Age structure	0-14 years: 15.16% (male 831,150 / female 786,984) 15-24 years: 9.59% (male 527,232 / female 496,530) 25-54 years: 43.84% (male 2,403,333 / female 2,276,261) 55-64 years: 12.44% (male 646,106 / female 681,541) 65 years and older: 18.98% (male 842,384 / female 1,183,202) (2017 estimate)
Population growth	0.12%(2017 estimate)
Population groups	95.6% Czechs, 1.0% Ukrainians, 0.9% Slovaks, 0.5% Vietnamese, 0.3% Russians, 0.2% Poland, 0.2% Germans and around 200,000 to 250,000 Roma (2017 estimates)
Languages	Czech
Religions	44.7% without information 34.5% without confession 6.8% are believers without belonging to a religious community 10.4% Roman Catholic 0.5% Protestant 0.4% Czech-Hussite 0.2% orthodox 0.1% Jehovah’s Witnesses approx. 0.2% Jews approx. 0.1% Muslims Other: 2.1% (2011 census)
Time zone	UTC + 1 CETUTC + 2 CEST (March to October)
Currency	Czech crown (Kč or CZK) / 100 Haléřů (Heller)1 crown = 0.04 euros; 1 euro = 25.40 crowns
Prefix	+420

Sources: Countryaah.com

Politics / Administration

Country name	Česká republikaCzech Republic
Capital	Prague
Form of government	Republic, parliamentary democracy
Head of state	President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman(since March 2015).
Head of government	Prime Minister Andrej Babiš(since December 2017)
Foreign Minister	Tomáš Petříček(since October 2018)
Minister of Education / Research Minister	Minister for Education, Youth and Sport Robert Plaga(since December 2017)
Houses of Parliament	Two-chamber parliament: Poslanecká sněmovna Parlamentu České republiky / House of Representatives Senát Parlamentu České republiky / Senate
Ruling parties	Minority government ANO, 78, and Social Democrats ČSSD, 15 (based on a coalition agreement of July 10, 2018) Communists KSČM, 15 (tolerance of the minority coalition based on a “tolerance patent”)
Opposition parties	Citizen Democrats ODS, 25 Pirate party, 22 Freedom and Direct Democracy SPD, 22 Christian Democrats KDU-ČSL, 10 TOP09, 7 Mayoral movement STAN 6
Administrative structure	The Czech Republic is divided into 14 districts (“kraj”): Capital Prague Central Bohemian District Plzeň district Karlovy Vary district Ústí nad Labem district Liberec district District of Hradec Králové Pardubice district Highland district South Bohemian District South Moravian Region Olomouc district Moravian-Silesian District Zlín district
National holiday	National day October 28th(Establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918)

State building and current political developments

The Czech Republic is a parliamentary democracy with a bicameral system (House of Representatives and Senate). The head of state is the president, who has been directly elected since 2013. The president’s term of office is five years.

The first official after the founding of the state was the writer and civil rights activist Václav Havel, who died in 2011. He was followed in two terms from February 2003 to March 2013 by the former Prime Minister Václav Klaus. On March 8, 2013, the former Prime Minister Miloš Zeman was inaugurated as Czech President. He is the first Czech president to be directly elected in two rounds. On January 29, 2018, Zeman was appointed for a second term until 2023 by direct election.

The 200 members of the House of Representatives are elected every four years according to proportional representation.

The direct elections to the Senate take place every two years – then 1/3 of the 81 seats in the Senate are put up for election; the term of office of the senators is six years. The last elections to the Senate took place in October 2016. Above all, the Senate plays a decisive role in constitutional amendments and the appointment of constitutional judges. If the House of Representatives is dissolved, the Senate has transitional legislative powers.

The Czech Republic was decentralized at the end of 2003 with the creation of 14 districts (” kraje “). At the same time, local self-government was strengthened. As independent administrative units, the newly created districts have received more powers from the central government and have elected representatives who elect the district captain (” hejtman “) depending on the majority.

The election to the House of Representatives in October 2017 significantly changed its composition and contributed to what is likely to be lasting changes and to the fragmentation of the party landscape. In the local and sub-senate elections in October 2018, the tendency towards a weakening of the traditional, left parties (ČSSD, KSČM) continued. A processing of the electoral slips and a discussion about the future course takes place only with difficulty (in the case of the ČSSD) or not at all (KSČM). The minority government of Prime Minister Andrej Babišhas been in office since June 27, 2018. On July 12, 2018, she received the necessary trust from a majority of 105 MPs. Here the coalition of ANO and the social democratic ČSSD was dependent on the support of the communist KSČM. This was preceded by lengthy government negotiations between Andrej Babiš’s ANO movement and the ČSSD around its chairman Jan Hamáček.