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CZECHIA |
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National anthem |
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ETHNICITY. Bohemia, a kingdom in the west of central Europe consisting of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains, had already been settled in by the Slavs about the 6th century AD. Moravia, a separate kingdom in the east consisting of very hilly country, had been settled in by Germans and Celts about the 4th century and by the Avars about the 6th and 7th centuries. Both lands were definitely both settled in by the Slavs by the 8th century. After the Moravians had in the mid-9th century carved out of Poland, Bohemia and Hungary a kingdom which developed into a Great Moravia, this was destroyed by the Magyars in 906 AD. It was then Bohemia’s turn to take on the lead when it developed from a kingdom including Moravia and Poland in the mid-9th century to a kingdom also including parts of Hungary and Austria in the 13th century. From the 14th to the 20th century there occurred an interplay of religious, nationalistic and language elements which drove Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia to form themselves into Czechoslovakia in 1918. The events leading to WWII and after, up to the velvet divorce of 1991, have kept Europe in mind of the separate fabric of the territory and of its peoples to the present day. It is presently claimed that the population is made up of Germans, Hungarians, northern Italians, Romanians, Poles, Czechs, Carpatho-Ukranians (Ruthenians), Serbs, Croats, Slovaks and Slovenes. 10.3 million, as to 81.2% being Czech and 13.2% Moravian. As to the other 5.6%, Slovaks account for 3.1%, Polish 0.6%, German 0.5%, Silesian 0.4%, Gypsy or Roma 0.3%, Hungarian 0.2% and others 0.5% (where 0.1% correspond to some 10,300 persons).Oftentimes, Czechia has been subjected to criticism regarding its policies towards the Roma, who number some 350,000 and are not recognized as a national minority. They suffer disproportionately high levels of poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment. Even its attitude to refuse to revoke the Benes decrees made after WWII which led to the expulsion of 2.5 million ethnic Germans and Hungarians has intermittently marred relations with neighbouring countries. The religious divide is calculated at some 40% Roman Catholic, 5% Protestant (Hussites), 3% Orthodox and 12% other denominations including some 15,000 Jews mainly in Prague which has a renowned synagogue. About 40% are agnostics. Czech, is a language of the western Slavic family which separated itself from other Slavonic languages by gradual changes which mostly took place from the 10th through the 16th centuries. Other than in Czechia, Česky is also spoken in Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Austria and the Ukraine. Other minority languages are spoken according to the ethnic distribution of the population.Although Czech, as based on the central Bohemian literary dialect spoken in Prague, is the official language of Czechia, its dialects Bohemian, Moravian, and Silesian are widely in use. Both Czech and the dialects use the Latin alphabet with minor diacritical variations. It was ratified on the 16th December, 1992 to be effective on the 1st January, 1993 when Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic (now Czechia) and Slovakia in a velvet divorce.Post-Communist Czechoslovakia’s first president was playwright Vaclav Havel who had led the velvet revolution in 1989. His presidency was shortly interrupted at the time of the separation of Czechia and Slovakia which he definitively did not advocate. He later stayed on till February 2003 when his term as president came to an end. The incumbent President is Vaclav Claus since March 2003. He had earlier served as Prime Minister from 1992 to 1997 and Parliamentary speaker from 1998 to 2002. Former Interior Minister Stanislav Gross, leader of the ruling Social Democrat Party, has been nominated Prime Minister on July 26, 2004 after Vladimir Spidla resigned on June 30 over electoral apathy and domestic financial issues. At 34 the youngest prime minister in Europe, Mr Gross is leading a coalition government between his party, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union party. Elections to the Chamber of Deputies are due in June 2006.Parliament is bicameral, consisting of an 81-seat Senate and a 200-seat Chamber of Deputies. Both are elected by popular vote with suffrage at age 18. The Chamber is elected for four years and one-third of the Senate every two years, serving six-year terms. The capital is Prague. There are 13 kraje or regions and the capital is administratively considered as a hlavni mesto, Praha. The kraj names are Jihocesky Kraj, Jihomoravsky Kraj, Karlovarsky Kraj, Kralovehradecky Kraj, Liberecky Kraj, Moravskoslezsky Kraj, Olomoucky Kraj, Pardubicky Kraj, Plzensky Kraj, Stredocesky Kraj, Ustecky Kraj, Vysocina, Zlinsky Kraj. On the 1st May, 2004 Czechia joined the European Union. The national anthem is Kde domov muj? Where is my home? Words by J.K. Tyl, set to music by F.J. Skroup in 1834.Where Is My Home? Where is my home, where is my home? Bubbling water across the meadows, Rustling pinewoods among the crags, Glorious garden with spring blossom, It is like seeing paradise on earth. And this is that beautiful land, Czecha, my home, Czecha, my home.
Where is my home, where is my home? If you have met, in a heavenly land, Tender souls in agile frames, Clear in mind, swift and prosperous, Having a strength that frustrates all defiance! That is the Czechs’ glorious race of, Among the Czechs is my home, Among the Czechs is my home. The Prague Post - English-languageThe Prague Tribune - English-language; business and lifestyle Radio Prague - Czech Radio’s external service, including English CTK – news agency |
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COUNTRIES |
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CONTACT US |
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