Czechoslovakia

federal republic in transition to a confederative republicIndependence 28 October 1918 (from Austro-Hungarian Empire)

Czechoslovakia as the 1991 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 71 fields, one of 3 editions from 1990 to 1992.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalPrague

Area127,870 km2

Populationas each edition published it

15.72 million July 1991 · 15.68m in 1990

Fertility ratechildren per woman

1.9 children per woman 1991 · 2 in 1990

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

11 deaths per 1,000 live births 1991 · 11 in 1990

Corrected. Source files these entries under Slovakia. Czechoslovakia is a separate state that dissolved in 1993. All corrections

Geography

12 fields

Total area

127,870km2

land area: 125,460 km2Comparative area: slightly larger than New York State

Land boundaries

3,446km total

Austria 548 km, Germany 815 km, Hungary 676 km, Poland 1,309 km, USSR 98 km

Climate

temperate;
cool summers;
cold, cloudy, humid winters

Terrain

mixture of hills and mountains separated by plains and basins

Natural resources

coal, timber, lignite, uranium, magnesite, iron ore, copper, zinc

Land use

arable land 40%;
permanent crops 1%;
meadows and pastures 13%;
forest and woodland 37%;
other 9%;
includes irrigated 1%

Environment

infrequent earthquakes;
acid rain;
water pollution;
air pollution

Note

landlocked;
strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe;
Moravian Gate is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in central Europe

People

14 fields

Population

15,724,940

(July 1991), growth rate 0.3% (1991)

Per 1,000 population(1991)

Birth

14Death

Ethnic divisions

Czech 62.9%Slovak 31.8%Hungarian 3.8%Polish 0.5%German 0.3%Ukrainian 0.3%Russian 0.1%other 0.3%

Religion

Roman Catholic 50%Protestant 20%Orthodox 2%other 28%

Labor force

8,200,000

(1987); industry 36.9%, agriculture 12.3%, construction, communications, and other 50.8% (1982)

Literacy

99%

(male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1970 est.)

Nationality

noun--Czechoslovak(s); adjective--Czechoslovak

Organized labor

Czech and Slovak Confederation of Trade Unions (CSKOS); new independent trade unions forming

Government

Federal republic in transition to a confederative republic

17 fields

Long-form name

Czech and Slovak Federal Republic;
note--on 23 March 1990 the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was renamed the Czechoslovak Federative Republic;
Slovak concerns about their status in the federation prompted the Federal Assembly to approve the name Czech and Slovak Federative Republic on 20 April 1990;
on 23 April 1990 the name was modified to Czech and Slovak Federal Republic

Type

federal republic in transition to a confederative republic

Administrative divisions

2 republics (republiky, singular--republika); Czech Republic (Ceska Republika), Slovak Republic (Slovenska Republika)

Independence

28 October 1918 (from Austro-Hungarian Empire)

Constitution

11 July 1960;
amended in 1968 and 1970;
new Czech, Slovak, and federal constitutions to be drafted in 1991-92

Legal system

civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes, modified by Communist legal theory;
no judicial review of legislative acts;
has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction;
legal code in process of modification to bring it in line with Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory

National holiday

National Liberation Day, 9 May (1945) and Founding of the Republic, 28 October (1918)

Legislative branch

bicameral Federal Assembly (Federalni Shromazdeni) consists of an upper house or Chamber of Nations (Snemovna Narodu) and a lower house or Chamber of the People (Snemovna Lidu)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court Chief of State--President Vaclav HAVEL;
(interim president from 29 December 1989 and president since 5 July 1990);
Head of Government--Premier Marian CALFA (since 10 December 1989);
Deputy Premier Vaclav VALES (since 28 June 1990);
Deputy Premier Jiri DIENSTBIER (since 28 June 1990);
Deputy Premier Jozef MIKLOSKO (since 28 June 1990);
Deputy Premier Pavel RYCHETSKY (since 28 June 1990) Civic Forum, Vaclav KLAUS, chairman;
Public Against Violence, Fedor GAL, chairman;
Christian and Democratic Union, Vaclav BENDA;
Christian Democratic Movement, Jan CARNOGURSKY;
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), Pavol KANIS, chairman;
KSC toppled from power in November 1989 by massive antiregime demonstrations, minority role in coalition government since 10 December 1989

Suffrage

universal at age 18 President--last held 5 July 1990 (next to be held July 1992);
results--Vaclav HAVEL elected by the Federal Assembly;
Federal Assembly--last held 8-9 June 1990 (next to be held June 1992);
results--Civic Forum/Public Against Violence coalition 46%, KSC 13.6%;
seats--(300 total) Civic Forum/Public Against Violence coalition 170, KSC 47, Christian and Democratic Union/Christian Democratic Movement 40, Czech, Slovak, Moravian, and Hungarian groups 43

Communists

760,000 party members (September 1990); about 1,000,000 members lost since November 1989

Other political or pressure groups

Czechoslovak Socialist Party, Czechoslovak People's Party, Czechoslovak Social Democracy, Slovak Nationalist Party, Slovak Revival Party, Christian Democratic Party;
over 80 registered political groups fielded candidates in the 8-9 June 1990 legislative election

Member of

BIS, CCC, CSCE, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, IIB, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Rita KLIMOVA;
Chancery at 3900 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 363-6315 or 6316;
US--Ambassador Shirley Temple BLACK;
Embassy at Trziste 15, 125 48, Prague 1 (mailing address is AMEM, Box 5630, APO New York 09213-5630);
telephone [42] (2) 536641 through 536649

Flag

two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side

Economy

Czechoslovakia is highly industrialized and has a well-educated and skilled labor force.

16 fields

Inflation, consumer prices

(1990 est.)

Unemployment rate

0.8%

officially · (1990)

External debt

$7.6billion

hard currency indebtedness (September 1990)

Budget

Revenues

$17.1 billionExpenditures

$16.8 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $1.5 billion (1991)

Czechoslovakia is highly industrialized and has a well-educated and skilled labor force. Its industry, transport, energy sources, banking, and most other means of production are state owned. The country is deficient, however, in energy and in many raw materials. Moreover, its aging capital plant lags well behind West European standards.

Industry contributes almost 50% to GNP and construction contributes 10%. About 95% of agricultural land is in collectives or state farms. The centrally planned economy has been tightly linked in trade (80%) to the USSR and Eastern Europe. Growth has been sluggish, averaging less than 2% in the period 1982-89.

GNP per capita is the highest in Eastern Europe. As in the rest of Eastern Europe, the sweeping political changes of 1989-90 have been disrupting normal channels of supply and compounding the government's economic problems. Having eased restrictions on private enterprise in 1990 and having adjusted some key prices, Czechoslovakia is now implementing a broad two-year program to make the difficult transition from a command to a market economy. Inflation and unemployment are beginning to rise, albeit from comparatively low levels.

GNP

$120.3 billion, per capita $7,700; real growth rate - 2.9% (1990 est.)

Exports

$14.4 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--machinery and equipment 42.7%;
fuels, minerals, and metals 16.4%;
agricultural and forestry products 12.5%, other 28.4%;
partners--USSR, GDR, Poland, Hungary, FRG, Yugoslavia, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, US

Imports

$14.3 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--machinery and equipment 38.6%;
fuels, minerals, and metals 24.1%;
agricultural and forestry products 16.4%;
other 20.9%;
partners--USSR, GDR, Poland, Hungary, FRG, Yugoslavia, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, US

Industrial production

growth rate - 3.3% (1990 est.); accounts for almost 50% of GDP

Electricity

23,000,000 kW capacity; 90,000 million kWh produced, 5,740 kWh per capita (1990)

Industries

iron and steel, machinery and equipment, cement, sheet glass, motor vehicles, armaments, chemicals, ceramics, wood, paper products, footwear

Agriculture

accounts for 7% of GNP (includes forestry);
largely self-sufficient in food production;
diversified crop and livestock production, including grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit, hogs, cattle, and poultry;
exporter of forest products

Economic aid

donor--$4.2 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1954-89)

Currency

koruna (plural--koruny); 1 koruna (Kc) = 100 haleru

Exchange rates

koruny (Kcs) per US$1--27.65 (January 1991), 17.95 (1990), 15.05 (1989), 14.36 (1988), 13.69 (1987), 14.99 (1986), 17.14 (1985)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Airports, 158 total, 158 usable

permanent-surface runways

40runways 2,440-3,659 m

19runways 1,220-2,439 m

Networkskm

Highways

73,540 (1988)Railroads

13,103 (1988)Inland waterways

475

Highways: ; including 517 km superhighway · Railroads: ; 12,855 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 102 km 1.520-meter broad gauge, 146 km 0.750- and 0.760-meter narrow gauge; 2,861 km double track; 3,798 km electrified; government owned · Inland waterways: (1988); the Elbe (Labe) is the principal river

Railroads

13,103 km total;
12,855 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 102 km 1.520-meter broad gauge, 146 km 0.750- and 0.760-meter narrow gauge;
2,861 km double track;
3,798 km electrified;
government owned (1988)

Highways

73,540 km total; including 517 km superhighway (1988)

Inland waterways

475 km (1988); the Elbe (Labe) is the principal river

Pipelines

crude oil, 1,448 km;
refined products, 1,500 km;
natural gas, 8,100 km

Ports

maritime outlets are in Poland (Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin), Yugoslavia (Rijeka, Koper), Germany (Hamburg, Rostock);
principal river ports are Prague on the Vltava, Decin on the Elbe (Labe), Komarno on the Danube, Bratislava on the Danube

Merchant marine

24 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 363,002 GRT/ 565,813 DWT; includes 15 cargo, 6 bulk

Civil air

47 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

4 million telephones;
25% of households have a telephone;
stations--60 AM, 16 FM, 39 TV (11 Soviet TV relays);
4.4 million TVs (1990)

Defense Forces

Czechoslovak People's Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense, Border Guard

3 fields

Defense expenditures

26.9billion koruny

NA% of GDP (1991); note--conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading results

Branches

Czechoslovak People's Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense, Border Guard

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 4,066,419;
3,110,958 fit for military service;
140,620 reach military age (18) annually

Central Intelligence Agency. “Czechoslovakia.” The World Factbook 1991. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/czechoslovakia/1991.

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