| Czech Federative Republic Česká federativní republika |
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|---|---|---|---|
| — Federal subject — | |||
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| Country |  Czechoslovakia |
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| Capital | Prague | ||
| Government | |||
| - Premier | Michal Hašek (ČSSD) | ||
| - Governing parties | ČSSD – ČSNS – SZ | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| GRP (nominal) | (2019) | ||
| GRP per capita | (2019) | ||
The Czech Federative Republic (Czech: Česká federativní republika), also called by its short-form name, Czechia (Czech: Česko), is one of the two federal subjects of Czechoslovakia, located in the northwestern corner of the country. With an area of 78,866 square kilometres (30,450 sq mi) Czechia is the largest Czechoslovak states by land area. With 13 million inhabitants, it is Czechoslovakia's most-populous state. Czechia's main cities are Prague (its capital and largest city and also the federal capital), Brno, Plzeň and Ostrava.
The history of Czechia has its roots in the Duchy of Bohemia under Great Moravia, which in 1002 was formally recognized as an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1198 it became the Kingdom of Bohemia. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy. The Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire. In the 19th century, the Czech lands became more industrialized and were part of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the collapse of the Austria-Hungary after World War I. Following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically occupied the Czech lands. Czechoslovakia was restored in 1945, and Czechia finally became one of the two federal subjects of the Czechoslovak Federative Republic in 1946.
Politics[]
The politics of Czechia takes place within a framework of a federal multi-party parliamentary representative democratic republic. Two of the three main parties are, as on the federal level, the centre-right Republican Party (RS) and the centre-left Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD).
Executive[]
Michal Hašek (ČSSD), the current Premier of the Czech Federative Republic.
The Slovak State Government is the supreme executive authority of the state. It consists of the Premier of Czechia (Czech and Slovak: Premiér) and up to 17 state ministers. The Premier as head of government is elected for a period of four years by the Czech National Council.
Upon election, the Premier then appoints cabinet members of the State Government which requires subsequent confirmation by the National Council. In practical terms, the confirmation of the cabinet is an essential requirement for the Premier to govern, as until then the cabinet departments would be run by the (possibly defeated) predecessors. The Premier can be removed by the National Council, through a constructive vote of no confidence – namely the election of a successor.
According to the Czech Constitution, the Premier is the effective leader of the State Government, being responsible for the determination and formulation of policy guidelines. In this context, he chairs the cabinet meetings and may cast a tie-breaking vote in case of a stalemate between the ministers. In titular terms, the Premier is also regarded as head of the state of Czechia, thereby taking precedence over officials like the Speaker of the Czech National Council.
The State Government comprises the State ministries for interior, justice, education, science, finance, economic affairs, construction and transport, environment, agriculture, social affairs, health, and digital affairs.
As the leader of one of Czechoslovakia's two states, the Premier has traditionally been a major player in federal politics.
Michal Hašek of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) is the current Premier, heading a government coalition comprising the ČSSD, ČSNS and the ČSL.
Legislative[]
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| Thun Palace, the seat of the Czech National Council in Prague. | |
The state's unicameral legislative body is the Czech National Council (Czech: Česká národní rada), set up by Czech's constitution in 1946. It may pass laws within the competency of the state, e.g. cultural matters, the education system, matters of internal security, i.e. the police, building supervision, health supervision and the media; as opposed to matters that are reserved to Federal law.
Czechia uses the same electoral system as the Federal level in Czechoslovakia, which is proportional representation. Every four years the citizens of Czechia vote in a general election to elect 150 members of the National Council. Only parties who passes the electoral threshold of 4% of the votes cast may be represented in parliament.
The National Council, the parliamentary parties and groups consisting of at least 7 members of parliament have the right to table legal proposals for deliberation. The law that is passed by the National Council is delivered to the Premier, who, together with the ministers involved, is required to sign it and announce it in the Law and Ordinance Gazette.
Tomáš Hanzel of the ČSSD is the current speaker of the Czech National Council. As of the 2018 election, the ČSSD is the largest party in the Council. The ČSSD formed a government coalition with the ČSNS and the Greens.
Administrative divisions[]
| Administrative regions of the Czech Federal Republic | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abb. | Region name in English |
Region name in Czech |
Administrative seat |
Population | Size | Governor (Hejtman) |
| PHA |  Praguea (Praha) (I)
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Hlavní město Praha | Prague | Jaroslav Dvořák (ČSNS) | ||
| STČ |  Central Bohemian Region (II)
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Středočeský kraj | Prague | Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová (RS) | ||
| ČBK |  České Budějovice Region (III)
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Českobudějovický kraj | České Budějovice | Martin Kuba (RS) | ||
| PLK |  Plzeň Region (IV)
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Plzeňský kraj | Plzeň | Ilona Mauritzová (RS) | ||
| KVK |  Karlovy Vary Region (V)
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Karlovarský kraj | Karlovy Vary | Josef März (SDVP) | ||
| ULK |  Ústí nad Labem Region (VI)
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Ústecky kraj | Ústí nad Labem | Oldřich Bubeníček (KSČ) | ||
| LBK |  Liberec Region (VII)
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Liberecký kraj | Liberec | Martin Puta (SLK) | ||
| HKK | File:Hradec Kralove Region CoA (WFAC).svg Hradec Králové Region (VIII) | Královéhradecký kraj | Hradec Králové | Martin Červíček (RS) | ||
| PAK | File:Pardubice Region CoA (WFAC).svg Pardubice Region (IX) | Pardubický kraj | Pardubice | Antonín Fryč (SD) | ||
| JIK | File:Jihlava Region CoA (Munich Goes Sour).svg Jihlava Region (X) | Jihlavský kraj | Jihlava | Jiří Běhounek (ČSSD) | ||
| BRN | File:Brno Region CoA (WFAC).svg Brno Region (XI) | Brněnský župa | Brno | Marek Šlapal (ČSSD) | ||
| ZLK |  Zlín Region (XII)
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Zlínský župa | Zlín | Jiří Čunek (ČSL) | ||
| OLK |  Olomouc Region (XIII)
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Olomoucký župa | Olomouc | Jiří Zemánek (ČSSD) | ||
| SLK |  Silesian Region (XIV)
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Slezský kraj | Ostrava | Miroslav Novák (ČSSD) | ||
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