Czech Republic

G

Culture

Germanic, Jewish, and Czech cultures have combined through centuries of history in what is now the Czech Republic. What resulted was a rich and diverse culture with distinct art, music, and literature. As a major city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Prague was especially important in European culture. Indigenous Czech literature has a long and distinguished pedigree, with notable recent figures including Jaroslav Hašek and Karel Čapek. The new republic’s first president, Václav Havel, was a famed playwright and leader in the Czech intellectual world before entering politics, while the Czech poet Jaroslav Seifert won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1984.

Composers such as Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Leoš Janáček, and Bohuslav Martinů helped make the Czech contribution to 19th- and 20th-century classical music especially important, while significant modern Czech painters included Alphonse Mucha and František Kupka. Important German-speaking Jewish cultural figures who were also native-born Czech include the composer Gustav Mahler and the novelist Franz Kafka.

The Czech Republic retained the largest libraries and document and treasure collections from the former Czechoslovakia. In particular, the National Museum and its library, the library of the Charles University, and the library of the Czech Republic all have extensive collections. In addition, the Premonstratensian Monastery of Strahov in Prague is well known for its collection of notable documents and treasures.

The country has 12 listed World Heritage Sites. They include the historical centres of Prague (inscribed in 1992), Ceský Krumlov (1992), and Telč (1992). Also of note are the Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora (1994); the Church of St Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec in Kutná Hora (1996); Litomyšl Castle (1999); the Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape (1996); Holašovice Historical Village Reservation (1998); the Gardens and Castle at Kroměříž (1998); Holy Trinity Column at Olomouc (2000); the Tugendhat Villa in Brno (2001), designed by Ludwig Mies van de Rohe in the International Style; and the Jewish Quarter and St Procopius’ Basilica in Třebíč (2003).

IV

Economy

The Czech government continued the economic reforms begun by its predecessor, the government of Czechoslovakia, following the Czech Republic’s separation from Slovakia. This can be attributed to the continuity in the Czech leadership. The primary economic measures for creating a market-based economy (privatization, development of infrastructure, and industrial restructuring) remained at the forefront of economic stabilization. In order to make the transition smoother, the Czech and Slovak governments agreed to maintain a common currency and a customs union, as well as an open border. While the customs union and open border were maintained at first, the two republics soon began using separate currencies. Trade between the two republics fell by one third by mid-1993, and trade with other countries also fell, despite an agreement made with Poland and Hungary to set up a free-trade zone. The Czech Republic was granted membership of the International Monetary Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development following separation from Slovakia.

Upon separation, the Czech government instituted tax reform that was meant to improve tax-collection methods. In January 1993 the government also introduced a value-added tax designed to widen the tax base and shift the tax burden away from enterprises. As expected, the tax led to increases in the prices of basic goods and some inflation. In order to encourage foreign investment, the Czech government also sponsored a special agency charged with acquainting foreign businesses with Czech business practices, and matching up foreign and Czech companies. Foreign investment into the republic increased significantly, with almost 10,600 joint ventures operating by mid-1993. However, by 1997 there were signs that the Czech economy was no longer following its former smooth transition to full free-market status, with a currency crisis in May and a political scandal linked to privatization in November.

The Czech economy is split between the trade and service sector and the manufacturing and industry sector, which together account for 95 per cent of all employment (57 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively). The annual gross national product (GNP) of the Czech Republic in 2004 was US$93,289 million (World Bank estimate), or US$12,790 per capita. The annual national budget in 2006 included revenues of US$43,753 million and expenditure of US$50,704 million.

A

Agriculture and Forestry

The Czech Republic boasts in general far more advanced agriculture than most of the other former Communist states in Europe, though yields are still mostly below those in Western Europe. After a period of decline, agricultural output in 1995 showed an improvement for the first time in four years. Dissolution of former state farms and the settlement of restitution claims have both played an important part in the wide-ranging land reform measures that have been implemented. By 1995 over 98 per cent of agricultural land was operated by the private sector, either by means of leaseholds granted by the Land Fund, or by outright ownership. In 2005 there were 3 million hectares (8 million acres) of arable land under cultivation. The principal crops grown are wheat, barley, maize, rye, sugar beet, and potatoes. Agricultural production (in tonnes) in 2006 included 3.51 million, wheat; 3 million, sugar beet; 2 million, barley; 0.69 million, potatoes; 74,811, rye; and 606,366, maize. Livestock in 2006 included some 2.84 million pigs, 1.37 million cattle, 148,412 sheep, and 15.6 million poultry birds.

The Czech Republic has considerable forest reserves, although these have been heavily damaged in recent years by acid rain from the country’s coal-burning power plants. An extensive reforestation programme is under way. Total roundwood production in 2006 was about 17.7 million cu m (624 million cu ft).

B

Mining

Mining in the Czech Republic concentrates on the country’s chief mineral resources, coal and iron. The main coalfields are located at Chomutov, Most, Karlovy Vary, Ostrava, Plzeň, and Kladno. Coal production in 2003 amounted to around 63.9 million tonnes. In the early 1990s about 111,000 tonnes of iron ore was produced annually.

C

Manufacturing

The Czech provinces were historically the major industrial belt of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Czechoslovakia was known between the two world wars as a centre of light industry. Major manufacturing industries now include metallurgy, machinery, transport equipment, and other forms of engineering. The Škoda car company is an important producer with a wide European market. Other major manufactures include chemicals and food products. Diversification since the demise of Communism in Czechoslovakia has included a revival in traditional craft-based industries, such as footwear, glass, and textiles.