T HE C ZECH R EPUBLIC

B ASIC INFORMATION Capital city: Prague Area: m 2 Population: inhabitans Density of population: 133 inhabitans per km 2 Minorities: Slovaks (1,9%) Poles (0,5%) Germans (0,4%) Romas, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Vietnameses, Russians, Bulgarians, Serbians... Language The official language is Czech others are Slovak, Polish, German and Russian

G EOGRAPHY Mountains Most of border areas are mountainous. The highest mountain is Sněžka (1, 602 m), which is located in the Giant Mountains (Krkonoše) in the north. Other significant mountains are the Ore Mountains (Krušné hory) in the west,the Bohemian Forest ( Šumava) in the south or the Ash Mountains (Jeseníky) and the Beskydy Mountains (Beskydy) in Moravian region. The greatest lowlands are in the south Moravia region and near Olomouc in Haná area.

Rivers Czech rivers flow to three different seas- the North Sea,the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. The longest rivers are the Vltava (433 km) and the Elbe (Labe) (370 km in the Czech Republic). The Vltava, which flows to the Elbe near Mělník, is favourite for canoeists. The Elbe is used for transporting freights. Long Moravian rivers are the Morava and the Dyje. The River Odra is located in Silesian region.

Lakes The Czech Republic hasn´t got so many lakes. The most famous are lakes in the Bohemians Forest, which are of glacial origin, for example Black Lake (Černé jezero) – the largest, Čertovo Lake or Lake Plešné. Another famous lake is Máchovo Lake, because of the Czech poet Karel Hynek Mácha and because of recreation.

Ponds A lot of ponds are located in South Bohemia in area Třeboň, where is the largest pond Rožmberk. These ponds are famous mainly for farming Czech carps. Dams Our dams were built because of protection before floods or as a place for relaxation and swimming. Borders The Czech Republic borders up with 4 states – with Germany (the longest borderline) in the north and in the west, with Austria in the south, with Slovakia in the south and in the east and with Polland in the east and in the north.

N ATURE Nature is picturesque in the Czech Republic. Our country is situated in mild climate zone, thus we have four regularly changing seasons, which is suitable for growing potatoes, corns and sugar beets. We have broad-leaved, mixed and coniferous forests, where live deers, red deers, hares and a lot of mates of birds live. We have 4 nature reserves –the Giant Mountains,the Bohemian Forest,the Bohemians Schwitzerland (České Švýcarsko) and the Podyjí. The nature is very disrupted in some areas, for example in north-western Bohemia because of extraction of coal or in Ostrava because of mining and engineering industry.

M ORAVIAN – S ILESIAN R EGION Moravian – Silesian region is located in the north – east of the Czech Republic. The biggest city is Ostrava (the third biggest city in the Czech Republic), which is known for its engineering industry and for historical mining centre. There is a new town hall with a tower, where you can see all Ostrava. The region is surrounded by the Beskydy Mountains, where you can visit the highest mountain of the region Lysá hora or Pustevny and Radhošť, where is the Statue of Radegast and the Chapel of Apostles. Hukvaldy Castle and Stramberk Tube belong among well-known monuments.You can taste local delicacy – Stramberk ears (Štramberské uši).

I NTERESTING C ITIES Karlovy Vary is the biggest and the most visited spa in the Czech Republic. There is a thermal spring, which has temperature about 72 °C. Healing spring treats diseases of digesting tract or disorder of glands with internal secretion. Pardubice are famous for horse races Velká Pardubická, which are held every October. Pardubice are renowned for production of gingerbread. Jablonec nad Nisou is a district city in the north.There is fashion jewellery and glass manufacture.

U NESCO SITES The Czech Republic has 12 monuments of world patrimony of Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). I think that the most beatiful is the capital city of Prague with its beatiful historical centre. Others are Olomouc, where is The Holy Trinity Column or Český Krumlov with 300 rennaissance and gothic buildings. or a castle and castle gardens in Kroměříž.

S PORT The most popular sports are football and ice- hockey. The football is more popular on the home level and the ice- hockey more on the national level. Czech ice – hockey players have been World champions for six times and they won the Olympic Games in Nagano in 1998.Nowadays, the best player is Jaromír Jágr. Other popular sports are tennis (Tomáš Berdych), athletics (Barbora Špotáková), basketball and volleyball. Czech people are keen bikers and they like in-line and hiking too.

M Y OPINIONS Positives One the one hand,the Czech Republic is quite a small country and we can travel over the whole republic. I think that people should know their country. The republic has a good location –it is located in the heart of Europe. We have 4 seasons. It is a big advantage for me, because we have beatiful sunny weather in the summer and snow in the winter. I love our wooden wonderful nature, where there are suitable conditions for hiking.

Negative On the other hand, our country hasn´t got a sea and higher mountains, which is a problem in winter, because it is short of snow for skiing. Czech language is very nice, but we can´t communicate with it in other states. Condition of our motorways and roads is horrible. I hate our political system and mainly our politicians, because they take only money and they do nothing. To sum it up, the life is quite difficult in the Czech Republic, but I like our country and I wouldn´t like to change it.