Prague

In Prague, people ride trams that rattle along the streets.

There are buses, and trains run under the ground. In summer, boats carry visitors along the river.

Inside the city, most people travel by tram, bus and metro, which are inexpensive. Prague's first electric trams were running by the 1890s, and its first railway arrived in 1845. Today it is one of the country's main railway junctions, with three main stations.

In summer, passenger boats cruise up and down the Vltava, a favorite with visitors. The international airport at Ruzyně, near the city, was expanded in the 1960s to serve as a hub at the center of Europe.

Britannica describes inexpensive, subsidized bus, tram and metro systems carrying much of the inner-city traffic; despite them, the number of cars and commercial vehicles has grown, prompting plans for a motorway system of 10 radial arteries. Electric streetcars arrived in the 1890s, and the first railway reached the city in 1845, eight years after its population passed 100,000.

Prague is one of the nation's major railway junctions, with three main stations and three freight circuits. The airport at Ruzyně was expanded and modernized in the 1960s as a hub for central Europe, a new port has been built where the Berounka joins the Vltava, and summer passenger boats on the river are a popular attraction. The compact historic core, with its bridges and museums, is a major center of jobs and traffic congestion.

Prague has four seasons.

Winters are cold and sometimes snowy. Summers are warm. Summer is also when the most rain falls.

Prague has a mid-continental climate, with cold winters and warm summers. In January, highs average about 3 °C and lows about −2 °C. In July, highs average about 25 °C and lows about 15 °C.

Prague is fairly dry, with about 435 millimeters of precipitation a year. The wettest months are in summer, from May to August, and the driest are in winter and early spring. The city's lowest point is 190 meters above sea level and its highest, White Mountain, is 380 meters.

Britannica describes a typically mid-continental climate, with average temperatures of 19.3 °C in July and −0.6 °C in January. World Meteorological Organization normals for 1981–2010 give mean daily maxima and minima of 2.6 °C and −2.4 °C in January and 25.3 °C and 14.5 °C in July.

The WMO's monthly totals add up to about 435 mm, peaking in July at about 64 mm and falling below 21 mm in January and February. The city spans 190 m above sea level at its lowest point to 380 m on White Mountain (Bílá hora), the hill where Protestant forces were defeated in 1620.

Prague is a city of music.

Every spring there is a big music festival. Mozart once lived here. Families visit the zoo, the parks and the many museums.

Prague is famous for music. Mozart lived here, and his opera Don Giovanni was first performed in the city. Every spring, a festival celebrates the music of Czech composers such as Smetana, Dvořák and Janáček. The city has two famous orchestras and more than 20 theaters.

Charles University, founded in 1348, is the oldest university in central Europe. The astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler worked in Prague, and Albert Einstein taught here in 1911–12. The writer Franz Kafka is closely linked with the city. Families enjoy its parks, a large zoo at Troja and boat trips on the river.

Britannica describes a renowned musical life, peaking each year at the internationally known spring festival, with the Czech Philharmonic and the Prague Symphony; Mozart's 'Prague' Symphony and Don Giovanni had their premieres here. The novelist Jaroslav Hašek set The Good Soldier Schweik in the U kalicha beer hall, and Franz Kafka's writings seem indissolubly linked with the city. There are more than 20 theaters, many museums and galleries, and film studios at Barrandov.

Charles University (1348) is central Europe's oldest; the Academy of Arts, the Academy of Music and the Czech Academy of Sciences (1952) add to a tradition that includes Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Albert Einstein, who taught here in 1911–12. Industry, led by machinery, is the largest employer, followed by commerce and construction. In the 1990s Prague modernized, reopened its stock market and became a major tourist destination, and it was a European City of Culture in 2000.