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The Czech Republic (IPA: /ˈtʃɛk riˈpʌblɨk/) (Czech: Česká republika (help·info), short form in Czech: Česko, IPA: ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe and a member state of the European Union. The country has borders with Poland to the north, Germany to the northwest and southwest, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague (Czech: Praha), a major tourist destination. The country is composed of the historic regions of Bohemia and Moravia, as well as parts of Silesia.

The Czech lands were under Habsburg rule from 1526, later becoming part of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary. The independent republic of Czechoslovakia was created in 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I. After the Munich Agreement, German occupation of Czechoslovakia and the consequent disillusion with the Western response and liberation of major part of Czechoslovakia by the Red Army, the Communist party gained the majority in 1946 elections. Following a coup in 1947, Czechoslovakia became a Communist party- ruled state from 1948 until the 1989 Velvet Revolution. On 1 January 1993, the country peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Czech Republic is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy. President Václav Klaus is the current head of state. The Prime Minister is the head of government (currently Mirek Topolánek). The Parliament has two chambers — the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. It is also a member of the OECD, the Visegrád group and the Council of Europe.

The country is the first former member of the Comecon and the first present member of the Visegrád countries to achieve the status of a developed country (2006) according to the World Bank. The Czech Republic also ranks best compared to the former Comecon members in international surveys, including the Human Development Index and quality of life.

Name

See also: Names of the Czech Republic and Czech lands

After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Czech portion found itself without a common single-word name in English. In 1993, The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggested the name Czechia as an official alternative in all situations other than formal official documents and the full names of government institutions, however this has not become widely used. The official website of the Czech Republic (www.czech.cz) run by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not use the name Czechia as of 2005. Its Czech equivalent is Česko.

Read more at Wikipedia.org