Czech facts
Location and geography
Location: Central Europe
Neighbors: Austria, Germany, Poland, Slovakia
Area: 78,866 square kilometers / 30,450 square miles (about the size of Scotland or the US state of Maine)
Regions: two main regions, Bohemia and Moravia
Highest point: Mount Sněžka, 1,602 meters above sea level
Politics
Political system: parliamentary democracy
Head of state: president, elected directly by the people. Current president is Miloš Zeman.
Head of government: prime minister, exercising supreme executive power
NATO member since March 1999
EU member since May 2004
Schengen member since December 2007
Demography
Population: 10.5 million
Capital: Prague, population 1.2 million people
Language: Czech. The Czech language is a Slavic tongue, similar to Polish and closely related to Russian. (Everyone in the film business speaks English.)
Economy
Currency: Koruna, or crown, abbreviated CZK or Kč
VAT: 21%; Certain goods and services are taxed at a reduced rate of 15%.
GDP: $19,800 per capita
Work force: 5.4 million people
Other practical data
International dialing code: +420
Time zone: GMT +2, April–October; GMT +1, November–March
Temperature: Celsius (20°C is approx. 68 Fahrenheit)
Electricity: 230 volts
System of measures: metric
1 mile = 1.6 kilometers (km), 1 foot = 0,48 meter (m), 1 inch = 2.54 centimeters (cm), 1 pound = 454 grams (g), 1 gallon (US) = 3.79 liters (l), 1 gallon (UK) = 4.54 liters