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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 German occupation of Czechoslovakia, disillusion with the Western response and occupation by the Red Army, the Communist party got a majority in 1946 elections. Czechoslovakia was a Communist state from 1948 until the 1989 Velvet Revolution. On 1 January 1993, the country peacefully split into the Czech and Slovak republics. 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 Visegrad group and the Council of Europe. History Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric human settlement in the area dating back to the Neolithic era. In the classical era, from the third century BC Celtic migrations, the Boii (see Bohemia) and later in the first century Germanic tribes of Marcomanni and Quadi settled there. During the Migration Period around the fifth century, many Germanic tribes moved westward and southward out of Central Europe. In an equally significant migration, Slavic people from the Black Sea and Carpathian regions settled in the area (a movement that was also stimulated by the onslaught of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Europe: Huns, Avars, Bulgars and Magyars). Following in the Germans' wake, they moved southward into Bohemia, Moravia, and some of present day Austria. During the seventh century the Frankish merchant Samo, supporting the Slavs fighting their Avar rulers, became the ruler of the first known Slav state in Central Europe. The Moravian principality arose in the eighth century (see Great Moravia). The Bohemian or Czech state emerged in the late ninth century when it was unified by the Přemyslids. The kingdom of Bohemia was a significant regional power during the Middle Ages. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire during the entire existence of this confederation. Religious conflicts such as the fifteenth century Hussite Wars and the seventeenth century Thirty Years' War had a devastating effect on the local population. From the sixteenth century, Bohemia came increasingly under Habsburg control as the Habsburgs became first the elected and then hereditary rulers of Bohemia. After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia became part of Austrian Empire and later of Austria-Hungary. Following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I, the independent republic of Czechoslovakia was created in 1918. This new country incorporated regions with majority German, Hungarian, Polish and Ruthenian speaking populations. Although Czechoslovakia was a centralist state, it provided what was at the time rather extensive rights to its minorities. However, it did not grant its minorities any territorial political autonomy, which resulted in discontent and strong support among some of the minorities to break away from Czechoslovakia. Adolf Hitler used the opportunity and, supported by Konrad Henlein's Sudeten German National Socialist Party, gained the almost wholly German speaking Sudetenland through the Munich Agreement. Poland occupied Polish inhabited areas around Český Těšín, while Slovakia gained greater autonomy, with the state being renamed to "Czecho-Slovakia". Eventually Slovakia broke away further in March 1939, allied to Hitler´s coalition and the remaining Czech territory was occupied by Hitler who installed the so-called Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which was proclaimed part of the Reich and where the Protectorate President and Prime Minister were subordinate to the Nazi Reichsprotektor ("imperial protector"). Approximately 390,000 citizens, including 83,000 Jews, were killed or executed, and hundreds of thousand of others were sent to prisons and concentration camps or forced labour. There was Czech resistance to Nazi occupation both home and abroad. The Czechoslovak government-in-exile and its army fighting against the Germans were acknowledged by Allies (Czech troops fought in Great Britain, North Africa, Middle East and Soviet Union).The Prague uprising ended the war. In 1945-1946 almost the entire German minority of Czechoslovakia, about 2.7 million people, were expelled to Germany and Austria. During this time, thousands of Germans were held in prisons, detention camps, and used in forced labour. In the summer of 1945, there were several massacres. Only 250,000 Germans who had been active in the resistance against the Nazis or were necessary for the economy were not expelled, though many of them emigrated later. Czechoslovakia uneasily tried to play the role of a "bridge" between the West and East. However, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia rapidly increased in popularity, particularly because of a general disappointment with the West (due to the pre-war Munich Agreement) and a favourable popular attitude towards the Soviet Union (due to the Soviets' role in liberating Czechoslovakia from German rule). In the 1946 elections, with 38% of the votes the Communists became the largest party in the Czechoslovak parliament. They formed a coalition government with other parties of the National Front, and moved quickly to consolidate power. The decisive step took place in February 1948. During a series of events characterized by communists as a "revolution" and by anti-communists as a "takeover", the communist People's Militias secured control of key locations in Prague, and a new, all-communist government was formed. For the next forty-one years, Czechoslovakia was a Communist state within the eastern bloc (see Czechoslovakia: 1948-1989). This period was marked by a variety of social developments. The Communist government nationalized the means of production and established a command economy. The economy grew rapidly during the 1950s and 60s, but slowed down in the 1970s and stagnated during the 80s. Meanwhile, the political climate was highly repressive during the 1950s (including numerous show trials), but became more open and tolerant in the 1960s, culminating in the Prague Spring. This was forcibly ended on 21 August 1968 when an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to introduce political pluralism and create "socialism with a human face". From then until 1989, the political establishment returned to censorship of opposition, but without the highly repressive measures of the 1950s. In November 1989, Czechoslovakia returned to a multi-party political system through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution". However, Slovak national aspirations strengthened until on January 1, 1993, the country peacefully split into the independent Czech and Slovak republics. Both countries went through economic reforms and privatizations, with the intention of creating a market economy. From 1991 the Czech Republic, (originally as part of Czechoslovakia, and now in its own right), has been a member of the Visegrad Group and from 1995 of the OECD. The Czech Republic joined NATO on March 12, 1999 and the European Union on May 1, 2004. Geography The Czech landscape is quite varied; Bohemia to the west consists of a basin, drained by the Labe (German: Elbe) and Vltava rivers, surrounded by mostly low mountains such as the Sudetes with its part Krkonoše, where one also finds the highest point in the country, the Sněžka at 1,602 metres (5,256 ft). Moravia, the eastern part, is also quite hilly and is drained predominantly by the Morava river, but also contains the source of the Odra (German: Oder) river. Water from the landlocked Czech Republic flows to three different seas: the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Black Sea. The Czech Republic also possesses a 30,000 m˛ exclave in the middle of the Hamburg docks which was awarded to Czechoslovakia by Article 363 of the Treaty of Versailles to allow the landlocked country a place where goods transported downriver could be transferred to seagoing ships; this territory reverts to Germany in 2018. Regions and districts The Czech Republic is divided into thirteen regions (kraje, singular kraj) and the Capital City of Prague (Hlavní město Praha). Each region has its own elected Regional Assembly (krajské zastupitelstvo) and hejtman (usually translated as hetman or "president"). In Prague, their powers are executed by the city council (Zastupitelstvo Hlavního města Prahy) and the mayor of Prague (primátor Hlavního města Prahy). The older seventy-three districts (okresy, singular okres) including three 'statutory cities' with the status of districts and the city-district-region of Prague (Hlavní město Praha) remain as territorial division and remain the seats of various branches of state administration Region - Capital - Population Capital of Prague - - 1,170,571 Central Bohemian Region (Středočeský kraj) - offices located in Prague (Praha) 1,144,071 South Bohemian Region (Jihočeský kraj) - České Budějovice 625,712 Plzeň Region (Plzeňský kraj) - Plzeň - 549,618 Karlovy Vary Region (Karlovarský kraj) - Karlovy Vary 304,588 Ústí nad Labem Region (Ústecký kraj) - Ústí nad Labem 822,133 Liberec Region (Liberecký kraj) - Liberec 427,563 Hradec Králové Region (Královéhradecký kraj) - Hradec Králové 547,296 Pardubice Region (Pardubický kraj) - Pardubice 505,285 Olomouc Region (Olomoucký kraj) - Olomouc 635,126 Moravian-Silesian Region (Moravskoslezský kraj) - Ostrava 1,257,554 South Moravian Region (Jihomoravský kraj) - Brno 1,123,201 Zlín Region (Zlínský kraj) - Zlín 590,706 Vysočina Region (Vysočina) - Jihlava 517,153 Tourism The Czech economy gets a substantial income from tourism: in 2001, the total earnings from tourism reached 118.13 billion CZK, making up 5.5% of GNP and 9.3% of overall export earnings. The industry employs more than 110,000 people - over 1% of the population.[5] There are several centres of tourist activity: The historic city of Prague is the primary tourist attraction, and the city is also the most common point of entry for tourists visiting other parts of the country.[6] Most other cities in the country attract significant numbers of tourists, but the spa towns such as Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně are particularly popular holiday destinations. Other popular tourist sites are the many castles and chateaux, such as those at Karlštejn, Konopiště and Český Krumlov. Away from the towns, areas as Český Ráj, Šumava and the Krkonoše mountains attract visitors seeking outdoor pursuits. The country is also famous for its love of puppetry and marionettes. The Pilsner style beer originated in Western Bohemian city of Plzeň. Part of the information are from www.wikipedia.org respecting the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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