Machinery and transport equipment 52%, chemicals 5%, raw materials and fuel 9% (2003)
Export Partners
Germany 36.2%, Slovakia 9.1%, Austria 6.1%, Poland 5.5% (2004)
Import Commodities
Machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003)
Import Partners
Germany 36.2%, Austria 5.6%, Italy 5.4%, France 4.8%, Netherlands 4.7%, Slovakia 4.7% (2004)
Transportation
Railways
9,520 km
Highways
127,204 km
Pipelines
Gas 7,020 km; oil 547 km; refined products 94 km (2004)
Airports
120 (2004 est.)
Ports and Harbors
Decin, Prague, Usti nad Labem
Communication
Phone Code
+420
Internet Abbreviation
.cz
Other
Short History
Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia.
During the interwar years, the new country's leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic,
most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence.
In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face."
Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its
freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.
