The Czech Republic, also known, as Czechia, is a land-locked country in Central Europe bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the east. It is a Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Republic, and its capital city is Prague. The country exhibits high development and has an advanced, high-income social market economy. It is a welfare state reputed for its top-notch universal health care and free university education.
Czechia was formerly part of Czechoslovakia, which was under the totalitarian regime of the communist party for 40 years. The collapse of communism in late 1989 relieved the country of all ties with the party and gave much room to rebuild and shape its social and economic structures. In 1993, Czechoslovakia was split into the independent states called the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic is now divided into 14 regions.
The Czech Republic became a member state of the European Union on 1 May 2004. It held the role of EU presidency for six months in 2009. Intra-EU trade accounts for 84 per cent of the Czech Republic’s exports, and in terms of imports, 76 per cent come from the EU Member States.
Although the current currency used is Czech koruna (CZK), the state is undergoing measures to adopt the euro. Czechia has been a Schengen Area member since 21 December 2007.
It has 21 representative members in the European Parliament and is represented by 12 members in the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Committee of the Regions.
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