CZECHOSLOVAKIA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 127,870 km2; land area: 125,460 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than New York State
Land boundaries: 3,446 km total; Austria 548 km, Germany 815 km,
Hungary 676 km, Poland 1,309 km, USSR 98 km
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Disputes: Nagymaros Dam dispute with Hungary
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
Population: 15,724,940 (July 1991), growth rate 0.3% (1991)
Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 11 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 77 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Czechoslovak(s); adjective--Czechoslovak
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%
Language: Czech and Slovak (official), Hungarian
Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1970 est.)
Labor force: 8,200,000 (1987); industry 36.9%, agriculture 12.3%,
construction, communications, and other 50.8% (1982)
Organized labor: Czech and Slovak Confederation of Trade
Unions (CSKOS); new independent trade unions forming
GOVERNMENT
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
Capital: Prague
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)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
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
Leaders:
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)
Political parties and leaders:
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
Elections:
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
Overview: 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.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate: officially 0.8% (1990)
Budget: revenues $17.1 billion; expenditures $16.8 billion,
including capital expenditures of $1.5 billion (1991)
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
External debt: $7.6 billion, hard currency indebtedness (September
1990)
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
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
Airports: 158 total, 158 usable; 40 with permanent-surface
runways; 19 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 37 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
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
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
Defense expenditures: 26.9 billion koruny, NA% of GDP (1991);
note--conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the
official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading
results