FACTS

Location: Central Europe, southeast of Germany

Area (only Total) total: 78,866 sq km

Climate: temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters

Terrain: Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country

Population: 10,220,911 (July 2008 est.)

Main Language (only first): Czech

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital (Name): Prague

Capital (Time Difference): UTC+1

Independence: 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)

National holiday: Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918)