Czech Republic in brief

Czech Studies at SSEES | Czech Language | More about Czech Republic

The Czech Republic (pop. 10.3 mil.) is, by European standards, a medium-sized country - slightly larger than Benelux, slightly smaller than Austria, almost twice the size of Switzerland. It shares frontiers with four countries: Germany to the West, Poland to the North, Slovakia to the East and Austria to the South. Its capital, Prague, lies at the intersection of lines drawn North-South from Stockholm to Rome and West-East from Penzance to Kiev, which places it, and the country, in the heart of Europe, a point often reiterated by Czechs themselves as part of the denial that they are any part of 'Eastern Europe'.

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• The word dollar owes its origin to a small town in West Bohemia, Jáchymov, in German Sankt Joachimsthal, where the silver for the first thalers was mined.



• The Czechs' main contribution to the good life is undoubtedly beer. Besides the two or three brands commonly to be encountered in UK shops many others are imported and sold through a small number of outlets. Several UK beers rely for their quality on Saazer hops, imported from Žatec in Bohemia.



• For all that their numbers (10 million plus) mean that the Czechs far exceed many other nations in Europe (Danes, Dutch, Finns, Scots, for example), they suffer from a 'small-nation complex'. This makes them (a) inordinately proud of even their slightest achievement, (b) inclined to self-pity at being prone to abuse by others. Accordingly some feel a stronger emotional affinity with the Scots, Irish and Welsh than with the English.



• Related to the above, Czechs always want to be in the forefront, up with the best. At different times this has meant that the writer of these notes knew far more Czech than English possessors of digital watches, word-processors or satellite dishes when these things were new. Now it's broadband.



• The national sports are football and ice hockey, which they call simply hokej. We specify it as played on ice to distinguish it from the unspecified (grass) version, which the Czechs in turn specify as pozemní hokej, played 'on the ground'.

Links relating to the Czech Republic

• London Czech Centre: www.czechcentre.org.uk
• Republic Embassy in the UK: www.czechembassy.org.uk
• All About Czech Language and Culture: www.bohemica.com
• Official site for the Czech Republic: www.czech.cz
• CIA World Factbook - Czech Republic: www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ez.html
• SSEES Internet Resources on the Czech Republic

This page last modified Thursday 16 December 2010.