Czech Republic

Hi, my name is Natalia and my talk is going to be about the Czech Republic.

It is a State of the European Union. Bordered on the north by Poland, east by Slovakia, on the south by Austria and west by Germany. In 1993, Czechoslovaquia split into two: the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

First of all, the official language is Czech, but there is also widespread use of German.

Secondly, the Czech Republic is made up of thirteen regions and a capital city called Prague. The main cities are Brno, Ostrava, Plzen or Pilsen.

The Czech economy is currently one of the most prosperous and stable among the emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. It is a centralized economy. This economy has a diversified industry. The industry occupies about a third of the workforce. Furthermore in 2005 economic growth in the Czech Republic was three times faster than most EU countries. The currency is the Euro.

The climate in the Czech Republic, because of his situacion, is a mixture of various climates: Ocean Climate and Continental one. Winters are harsh and snowfall is common, while summers are warm. The average winter temperature is around two degrees Celsius below zero, but it can easily reach at least twenty degrees, and in the summer the average temperature is twenty degrees with highs of thirty five degrees.

Finally, I will talk about the history of the Czech Republic. During the reign of Charles the fourth, Luxembourg, Bohemia lived its golden age. Charles became the monarch in the capital of the Holly Roman Empire. In 1348 Carolina University in Prague was founded. After Charles the fourth's death, a period of political instability begins. Bohemia suffered devastating wars, such as The Thirty Years War in 1756.

After the Second World War, the Czechs, together with their neighbours, the Slovaks, were united to form the independent republic of Czechoslovakia, that became a socialist state. It adopted a multiparty system and Czechoslovakia began to leave the socialist economy.

In January 1993, Czechoslovakia was divided in two by parliamentary decision. Since then, the Czech Republic on the one hand, an the Slovak Republic on the other, are two independent countries. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1998 and the European Union in 2004.

And this is all over this country. Thanks for your attention!