Country name:
conventional long form: Czech Republic
conventional short form: Czechia
local long form: Ceska republika
local short form: Cesko
etymology: name derives from the Czechs, a West Slavic tribe who rose to prominence in the late 9th century A.D.

Government type:
parliamentary republic

Capital:
name: Prague
geographic coordinates: 50 05 N, 14 28 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:
13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky (South Bohemia), Jihomoravsky (South Moravia), Karlovarsky (Karlovy Vary), Kralovehradecky (Hradec Kralove), Liberecky (Liberec), Moravskoslezsky (Moravia-Silesia), Olomoucky (Olomouc), Pardubicky (Pardubice), Plzensky (Pilsen), Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky (Central Bohemia), Ustecky (Usti), Vysocina (Highlands), Zlinsky (Zlin)

Independence:
1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia); note - although 1 January is the day the Czech Republic came into being, the Czechs commemorate 28 October 1918, the day the former Czechoslovakia declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as their independence day

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

Constitution:
history: previous 1960; latest ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993
amendments: passage requires at least three-fifths concurrence by members present in both houses of Parliament; amended several times, last in 2013; note - in mid-September 2017, the Law Commission of the Togolese National Assembly began discussion of a draft bill to amend the constitution (2017)

Legal system:
new civil code enacted in 2014, replacing civil code of 1964 - based on former Austro-Hungarian civil codes and socialist theory - and reintroducing former Czech legal terminology

International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship:
citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Czechia
dual citizenship recognized: no
residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Milos ZEMAN (since 8 March 2013)
head of government: Prime Minister Designate Andrej BABIS (since 6 December 2017); First Deputy Prime Minister Richard BRABEC (since 24 May 2017); Second Deputy Prime Minister Martin STROPNICKY (since 13 December 2017); note - the government of Prime Minister Bohuslav SOBOTKA (since 17 January 2014) resigned on 29 November 2017; BABIS' government was sworn in on 13 December but lost a confidence vote on 16 January 2018 and resigned the next day; President Milos ZEMAN accepted the resignation on 24 January 2018
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (limited to 2 consecutive terms); elections last held on 12-13 January 2018 with a runoff on 26-27 January 2018 (next to be held in January 2023); prime minister appointed by the president for a 4-year term
election results: Milos ZEMAN reelected president in the second round; percent of vote - Milos ZEMAN (SPO) 51.4%, Jiri DRAHOS (independent) 48.6%

Legislative branch:
description: bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (81 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed; members serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members directly elected in 14 multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote with a 5% threshold required to fill a seat; members serve 4-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held in 2 rounds on 7-8 and 14-15 October 2016 (next to be held in October 2018); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 20-21 October 2017 (next to be held by October 2021)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; CSSD 25, KDU-CSL 14, ODS 9, ANO 7, STAN 5, SZ 4, TOP 09 2, SLK 2, SZ 2, SPO 1, Movement for Prague 1, S.cz. 1, KSCM 1, other 5, independent 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - ANO 29.6%, ODS 11.3%, Pirates 10.8%, SPD 10.6%, KSCM 7.8%, CSSD 7.3%, KDU-CSL 5.8%, TOP 09 5.3%, STAN 5.2%, other 6.3%; seats by party - ANO 78, ODS 25, Pirates 22, SPD 22, KSCM 15, CSSD 15, KDU-CSL 10, TOP 09 7, STAN 6
note: Senate seats by party as of 20 May 2017 - CSSD 25, KDU-CSL 16, STAN and TOP 09 11, ODS 10, ANO 7, SPO 2, SZ 2, S.cz. 1, KSCM 1, Movement for Prague 1, independent 5

Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Supreme Court (organized into Civil Law and Commercial Division, and Criminal Division each with a court chief justice, vice justice, and several judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 15 justices); Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 28 judges)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges proposed by the Chamber of Deputies and appointed by the president; judges appointed for life; Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate; judges appointed for 10-year, renewable terms; Supreme Administrative Court judges selected by the president of the Court; unlimited terms
subordinate courts: High Court; superior, regional, and district courts

Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Pavel BELOBRADEK] Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Petr FIALA] Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP] Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Milan CHOVANEC] Dawn - National Coalition or Usvit-NK [Miroslav LIDINSKY] Free Citizens Party or Svobodni [Petr MACH] Freedom and Direct Democracy or SPD [Tomio OKAMURA] Green Party or SZ [Matej STROPNICKY] Mayors and Independents or STAN [Petr GAZDIK] Movement for Prague Movement of Dissatisfied Citizens or ANO [Andrej BABIS] Nestranici (Non-Partisans) or NK [Vera RYBOVA] North Bohemians or S.cz [Bronislav SCHWARZ] Party of Civic Rights or SPO [Jan VELEBA] Pirate Party or Pirates [Ivan BARTOS] Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 or TOP 09 [Jiri POSPISIL]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS [Josef STREDULA]

International organization participation:
Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Hynek KMONICEK (since 24 April 2017)
chancery: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 274-9100
FAX: [1] (202) 966-8540
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Stephen B. KING (since 6 December 2017)
embassy: Trziste 15, 118 01 Prague 1 - Mala Strana
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [420] 257 022 000
FAX: [420] 257 022 809

Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side
note: combines the white and red colors of Bohemia with blue from the arms of Moravia; is identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia

National symbol(s):
silver (or white), double-tailed, rampant lion; national colors: white, red, blue

National anthem:
name: "Kde domov muj?" (Where is My Home?)
lyrics/music: Josef Kajetan TYL/Frantisek Jan SKROUP
note: adopted 1993; the anthem was originally written as incidental music to the play "Fidlovacka" (1834), it soon became very popular as an unofficial anthem of the Czech nation; its first verse served as the official Czechoslovak anthem beginning in 1918, while the second verse (Slovak) was dropped after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993