Portal:Czech Republic

Panoramic view of Prague from Petřín Tower

Welcome to the Czech Portal!
Vítejte na Českém portálu!

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 Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia. It was formally recognized as an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire.

During the 19th century, the Czech lands underwent significant industrialization. Following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I, most of the region became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a parliamentary democracy during the entirety of the interwar period. After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically took control over the Czech lands. Czechoslovakia was restored in 1945 and three years later became an Eastern Bloc communist state following a coup d'état in 1948. Attempts to liberalize the government and economy were suppressed by a Soviet-led invasion of the country during the Prague Spring in 1968. In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country and restored democracy. On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Czech Republic is a unitary parliamentary republic and developed country with an advanced, high-income social market economy. It is a welfare state with a European social model, universal health care and free-tuition university education. It ranks 32nd in the Human Development Index. The Czech Republic is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the European Union, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Prague residents putting up a barricade, 6 May. In the background, a German-language sign has been painted over.

The Prague uprising (Czech: Pražské povstání) was a partially successful attempt by the Czech resistance movement to liberate the city of Prague from German occupation in May 1945, during the end of World War II. The preceding six years of occupation had fuelled anti-German sentiment and the rapid advance of Allied forces from the Red Army and the United States Army offered the resistance a chance of success.

On 5 May 1945, during the end of World War II in Europe, occupying German forces in Bohemia and Moravia were spontaneously attacked by civilians in an uprising, with Czech resistance leaders emerging from hiding to join them. The Russian Liberation Army (ROA), a collaborationist formation of ethnic Russians, defected and supported the insurgents. German forces counter-attacked, but their progress was slowed by barricades constructed by the insurgents. On 8 May, the Czech and German leaders signed a ceasefire allowing all German forces to withdraw from the city, but some Waffen-SS troops refused to obey. Fighting continued until 9 May, when the Red Army entered the nearly liberated city. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected picture

The Maiden by Gustav Klimt, 1913. Collection of the National Gallery Prague.

Source: Národní Galerie v Praze, PD

In this month

Crown of Saint Wenceslas (replica)

14 August 2002 – Water in the Vltava reaches peak level during the 2002 European floods, in which 17 people in the country die and around 200,000 are evacuated from their homes
15 August 1744 – Frederick the Great leads a Prussian invasion of Bohemia as part of the War of the Austrian Succession
20 August 1968 – The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia takes place in response to the Prague Spring reform movement
26 August 1992 – Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar meet at Villa Tugendhat and agree to the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
28 August 1867 – The Bohemian Crown Jewels (replica of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas pictured) are returned to Prague from Vienna

More anniversaries...

Selected biography -

Jágr with the Czech Republic in 2010

Jaromír Jágr (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjaromiːr ˈjaːɡr̩] ^ⓘ; born 15 February 1972) is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger and owner of Rytíři Kladno of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames, serving as captain of the Penguins from 1998-2001 and the Rangers, between 2006 and 2008.

After leaving the Rangers in 2008, he played three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Avangard Omsk. He returned to the NHL in 2011 with the Flyers and remained in the league for seven more years before being assigned by the Flames in 2018 to HC Kladno. Having played in 37 professional seasons (as of 2024) and over 2,000 professional games, Jágr has had the longest playing career in professional ice hockey history. He is the most productive European player who has ever played in the NHL and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
John Amos Comenius Petr Čech Dominik Hašek Pavel Nedvěd Gregor Mendel Tomáš Rosický Franz Kafka Bedřich Smetana Emanuel Moravec Gustav Mahler Fredy Hirsch Antonín Kinský Vlastimil Koubek Petra Kvitová Martin Miller (actor) Vratislav Lokvenc Vladimír Remek Leoš Janáček Libor Michálek Vojtěch Jarník Markéta Vondroušová Zdeňka Wiedermannová-Motyčková

Did you know?

...that the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc was inscribed on the World Heritage List as "one of the most exceptional examples of the apogee of Central European Baroque artistic expression"?
... that the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic is the highest award presented by the Czech Minister of Defence?
... that Czech international footballer Jan Suchopárek dislocated his shoulder while attempting a bicycle kick?
... that Czech actress Anna Letenská was killed by the Nazis for her alleged participation in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich?

General images

The following are images from various Czech Republic-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Bronze sword, Urnfield culture, c. 1200 BC (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 2Czech kings Ottokar II, Wenceslas II and Wenceslas III from the Přemyslid dynasty (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 3Emperor Francis Joseph I. (reigned 1848–1916) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 4Beheading of 27 Bohemian nobles at the Old Town Square in Prague, 1621 (contemporary illustration) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 5Map of protected areas of the Czech Republic: national parks (grey) and protected landscape areas (green) (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 6Semi-detached villa in Brno by Otto Eisler, according to MoMA's Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, is a defining building of the International style. (from Czech architecture)
Image 7Frgál, a type of koláč baked in Moravian Wallachia (from Czech cuisine)
Image 8Zelňačka (from Czech cuisine)
Image 9The coat of arms of the Přemyslid dynasty (until 1253–1262) (from Bohemia)
Image 10Writer Božena Němcová (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 11The extent of the Protestant Reformation (1545–1620) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 12Library of Clementinum, a former Jesuit College, built in 1722 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 13Empress Maria Theresa (reignet 1740–1780) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 14A panorama of Zittau (from Bohemia)
Image 15St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle, John of Luxembourg laid the foundation stone in 1344 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 16Svíčková na smetaně (marinated tenderloin), served here with dumplings and cream (from Czech cuisine)
Image 17Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, philosopher, Czechoslovak president in the years 1918–1935 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 18Adria Palace (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 19Grand Café Orient in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 20King George of Podebrady, one of the first promoters of united Europe (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 21Stone sculpture of a Celtic man, found in Mšecké Žehrovice (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 22A panorama of Kłodzko, the capital city of Kłodzko Land, which is referred to as "Little Prague" (from Bohemia)
Image 23Cubist lamp by Emil Králíček, Jungmannovo náměstí, next to the Gothic Church of Our Lady of the Snows (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 24Vladislaus Hall at the Prague Castle, built from 1490 to 1502 by Benedikt Rejt (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 25Rotunda of St. George from the beginning of the 12th century on Mount Říp (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 26The radical Hussites became known as Taborites, after the town of Tábor that became their center. (from Bohemia)
Image 27Monument to Master Jan Hus, a religious reformer and philosopher in Prague (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 28Monument to the village of Lidice murdered by the Nazis (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 29Bohemia as the heart of Europa regina; Sebastian Münster, Basel, 1570 (from Bohemia)
Image 30Buděticko Nature Park with Rabí Castle (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 31Europe after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 32Vepřo-knedlo-zelo (roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 33Prague-style beef goulash (from Czech cuisine)
Image 34Baroque St. Nicholas Church in Malá Strana, built between 1704 and 1755 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 35The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 36An 1892 map showing Bohemia proper outlined in pink, Moravia in yellow, and Austrian Silesia in orange (from Bohemia)
Image 37Bohemian city Karlovy Vary (from Bohemia)
Image 38Christmas cookies (vánoční cukroví) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 39Řežabinec a Řežabinecké tůně National Nature Reserve (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 40Iconic brutalist Transgas building, demolished in 2019 (from Czech architecture)
Image 41Nakládaný hermelín (marinated cheese) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 42Detailed map of Bohemia, 1742 (from Bohemia)
Image 43The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia (from Bohemia)
Image 44The Kingdom of Bohemia in 1618 with other Bohemian Crown lands within the Holy Roman Empire (1618) (from Bohemia)
Image 45Václav Havel, playwright, dissident and president from 1989 to 2003 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 46Venus of Dolní Věstonice, the oldest ceramic article in the world (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 47Svíčková na smetaně served with dumplings, whipped cream and cranberries (from Czech cuisine)
Image 48House of the Black Madonna (from Czech architecture)
Image 49Linguistic map of interwar Czechoslovakia (c. 1930) (from Bohemia)
Image 50The National Theater from 1881 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 51Obložené chlebíčky, a type of snack or appetizer (from Czech cuisine)
Image 52Bohemia (westernmost area) in Czechoslovakia 1918–1938 (from Bohemia)
Image 53Duchy of Bohemia, around 1029 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 54Church of Saint Agnes of Bohemia (Spořilov) (from Czech architecture)
Image 55Hroby Nature Monument in Radenín (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 56John Amos Comenius (1592–1670), Czech philosopher and school reformer (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 57Apple strudel with raisins (from Czech cuisine)
Image 58A "traditional Bohemian platter" at a restaurant in central Prague, consisting of roast duck, roast pork, beer sausage, smoked meat, red and white cabbage, bread, bacon and potato dumplings (from Czech cuisine)
Image 59Great Moravia during the reign of Svatopluk I (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 60Kačina Castle in Chotkov (from Czech architecture)
Image 61Territories ruled by Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1273 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 62Saint Wenceslas, Czech prince (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 63Russian occupation in 1968 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 64Entrance to Moravian Karst PLA (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 65Korozluky Castle (from Czech architecture)
Image 66Lands of the Bohemian Crown (until 1635), map by Josef Pekař, 1921 (from Bohemia)
Image 67Territory under the control of the Přemyslids, c. 1301 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 68Cubist architecture in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 69Copper engraving of the Second Defenestration of Prague from Theatrum Europaeum by Matthäus Merian. (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 70Municipal House (from Czech architecture)
Image 71Pilsner Urquell in a branded mug (from Czech cuisine)
Image 72Dacian Influence over Bohemia (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 73Fried bramboráky (potato pancakes) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 74Emperor and King Charles IV. Luxembourg (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 75Fried cheese, served with tartar sauce and side salad (from Czech cuisine)

Related portals

Topics

Czech lands: Bohemia • Moravia • Czech Silesia

History: Únětice culture • Boii • Marcomanni • Samo • Great Moravia • Přemyslid dynasty • Lands of the Bohemian Crown • Czech lands (1526–1648) • 1648–1867 • 1867–1918) • Czechoslovakia • Czech Republic

Geography: Lakes • Protected areas • Regions • Rivers

Law: Judiciary • Law enforcement • Supreme Court of the Czech Republic

Politics: Administrative divisions • Government • Constitution • Elections • Foreign relations • Army • Parliament • Political parties • President • Prime Minister

Economy: Banks • Czech koruna • Energy • Oil and gas deposits • Stock Exchange • Tourism • Transport

Culture: Architecture • Art • Cinema • Cuisine • Demographics • Education • Language • Literature • Media • Music • Philosophy • Prostitution • Public holidays • Religion • Sport • Television • Video games

Symbols: Flag • Coat of arms • National anthem (Kde domov můj)

Lists: Outline of the Czech Republic • List of Czech Republic–related topics

WikiProjects

WikiProject Czech Republic

WikiProject Europe

Featured and good content

	Featured articles		Dominik Hašek • Earth-grazing meteoroid of 13 October 1990 • Franz Kafka • Gustav Mahler • Bedřich Smetana • The Bartered Bride
	Good articles		Patrik Berger • FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 • Reinhard Heydrich • Leoš Janáček • Vlastimil Koubek • Libor Michálek • Pavel Nedvěd • Panzer 35(t) • Polish minority in the Czech Republic • Prague Spring • Punch-up in Piestany • Randy Blythe manslaughter case • The Brothers Grimm (film) • Winton Train • Zaolzie