Czech Republic

The Czech Republic, short form in Czech, 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, 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. 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 Miloš Zeman is the current head of state. The Prime Minister is the head of government (currently Jiří Rusnok). 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.