Czechia (the Czech Republic)

The Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe. Its territory spans about 79,000 square kilometres and its population is mostly composed of ethnic Czechs (10.5 million). It is a high-income, advanced economy. The country joined the European Union in 2004, and is a member of the Schengen Area, NATO and the United Nations.

Basic facts about Czechia

• Official name: The Czech Republic (Česká republika [ˈt͡ʃɛskaː ˈrɛpublika])
• Area: 78.871 km² (30.452 sq mi)
• Population: 10.51 million (2021)
• Capital: Prague (Praha), 1,309 million inhabitants (2019)
• Official language: Czech, a West Slavic language

Location

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast.

Climate

The climate is moderately continental, with cold winters, during which the temperature is often below freezing, and warm summers, during which nights remain cool. Daytime high temperatures tend to be near 17 °C (62-63 °F) early in May but will warm to 19-20 °C (66-68 °F) near the end of the month. A few of the warmer afternoons, especially near the end of May, can reach up to nearly 26 °C (79 °F).

Time zone

As in most European countries, the time zone during the summer is CEST (Central European Summer Time), which is two hours ahead of GMT, i.e. UTC+2.

Currency

The Czech Republic is a part of the economy of the European Union, but uses its own currency, the Czech koruna, instead of the euro.

The koruna, or crown (Kč/CZK) is divided into 100 haléře/hellers. Hellers have now been withdrawn from circulation, and the smallest unit of physical currency is 1 Kč.

Foreign currency can be exchanged in numerous exchange offices as well as in banks. Some places may accept euros, but the rate will be less favourable than in an exchange office.

Please remember that 1 euro is around 25 CZK and 1 US dollar is around 23 CZK.

Telephone

Czechia’s country code is +420.

Prague

Prague (in Czech: Praha [ˈpraɦa]) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people.

It has an airport, Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG), and railway stations (see the page Practical information).