Czechia

Czechia is a country in the middle of Europe.

It has no seaside. It has hills, forests and rivers. There are many old castles. The capital city is called Prague.

Czechia is a country in the middle of Europe. Its full name is the Czech Republic, and Czech people often call it Česko. It has no coast, so it is landlocked. Its neighbors are Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria.

The country is made of old regions with their own history: Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the east and a small part of Silesia in the northeast. Castles and old town centers dot the countryside. The capital, Prague, sits on the Vltava River. About 10.9 million people lived in Czechia in the middle of 2026.

The Czech Republic comprises the historical provinces of Bohemia and Moravia and the southern tip of Silesia, often called together the Czech Lands. Since 2016 the government has promoted Czechia, a translation of the Czech informal name Česko, as the short English name. The country is landlocked, bordered by Poland, Slovakia, Austria and Germany, and covers about 78,900 km².

Britannica notes that castles such as Karlštejn and many medieval town centers survive across the country. The Czech Statistical Office's provisional figures put the population at 10.904 million at the end of June 2026, down 12.2 thousand since January, as deaths (57.6 thousand) outnumbered births (36.5 thousand) and net migration (8.9 thousand) did not make up the difference. About three-quarters of people live in towns and cities.

Prague is the biggest city in Czechia.

A big river runs through it. A long stone bridge crosses the river. It has statues all along it. A huge castle sits on a hill above the city.

In the 1300s Prague was a royal and imperial capital. Its old towns were built between the 1000s and the 1700s, and UNESCO lists the historic center as a World Heritage Site. On a hill above the river stands Prague Castle, a group of palaces, churches, courtyards and gardens that covers about 45 hectares. The kings of Bohemia lived there, and today it is the official home of the country's president.

Charles Bridge, a stone bridge with 16 arches, was built between 1357 and 1402. Thirty statues line it, and only people on foot may cross it today. Outside Prague, Karlštejn Castle once guarded the royal crown, and in Olomouc a 35-meter column from the early 1700s rises in a town square.

UNESCO inscribed the Historic Centre of Prague in 1992: the Old Town, Lesser Town and New Town were built between the 11th and 18th centuries, and many monuments, including Hradčany Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge, date mostly from the 14th century under Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Prague Castle began in the late 9th century; St. Vitus Cathedral, begun in 1344, was not finished until 1929. Charles Bridge (1357–1402), designed by Petr Parléř to replace the flood-damaged Judith Bridge, was Prague's only bridge over the Vltava until 1841; its 30 statues are mostly Baroque, and it has been closed to vehicles since 1965.

Beyond the capital, Český Krumlov (also 1992) grew around a 13th-century castle on the Vltava and kept its medieval plan through more than five centuries of peaceful change. Olomouc's Holy Trinity Column (2000), 35 m high, is UNESCO's outstanding example of a column type specific to central Europe. Brno, Moravia's largest city, was where Gregor Mendel did his 19th-century genetic experiments; Ostrava is the leading coal-mining and steel center.

Mountains go almost all the way around Bohemia.

The tallest one is called Sněžka. Big rivers start in Czechia and flow to other countries. Forests of oak, beech and spruce cover many hills.

Most of Czechia is a high, rounded basin called the Bohemian Plateau, with ranges of mountains around its edges. The Ore Mountains form the border with Germany, and the Giant Mountains in the north hold the highest peak, Sněžka, about 1,603 meters tall. Southeast of the plateau, the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands include the Moravian Karst.

Czechia lies where several of central Europe's rivers begin. The Elbe, joined by the Vltava, flows north into Germany. The Morava flows south to the Danube, and the Oder flows north into Poland. Oak, beech and spruce forests grow at higher and higher levels, and there are many mineral springs.

The Bohemian Massif occupies most of the country: a roughly oval elevated basin, the Bohemian Plateau, encircled by six groups of mountains, from the Šumava (Bohemian Forest) in the southwest and the Ore Mountains (Krušné hory) in the northwest to the Sudeten system in the northeast. The lowest point, 117 m, is where the Elbe breaks through the Ore Mountains. Sněžka, in the Giant Mountains (Krkonoše), is the highest; in 2014 the Land Survey Office measured its natural summit at 1,603.296 m and found it lies just inside Poland, with the highest point on Czech territory about 10 cm lower on the border. In the east rise the westernmost ranges of the Western Carpathians.

Czechia lies in the headwater area of the central European watershed: the Elbe, joined by the Vltava, flows north into Germany, the Morava flows south toward the Danube, and the Oder flows north into Poland. The climate mixes continental and oceanic influences; mean annual temperatures range from 7 °C at Cheb to 9 °C at Brno, and precipitation from 450 mm in central Bohemia to more than 1,500 mm in the Krkonoše. Oak, beech and spruce dominate successive forest zones up to a timberline near 1,400 m.

Lynx and wolves live in Czechia.

Otters swim in rivers and wetlands. Storks and big owls live there too. Some wild sheep called mouflon live in special parks.

Czechia's wild animals include bears, wolves, lynx and wildcats. Smaller animals such as marmots, otters, martens and minks live in the forests and wetlands, and pheasants, partridges, wild geese and ducks are common.

Some rarer birds, such as eagles, ospreys, storks, eagle owls and bustards, are generally protected. Mouflon, a kind of mountain sheep, are bred in game reserves. In the Giant Mountains, Krkonoše National Park, set up in 1963, protects glacial landscapes, Alpine plants and rare animals such as the Alpine shrew.

Britannica describes Czech wildlife as extensive and varied: large mammals include bears, wolves, lynx and wildcats (Felis silvestris), and smaller ones include marmots, otters, martens and minks. Game birds such as pheasants, partridges, wild geese and ducks are common, while rarer species, among them eagles, vultures, ospreys, storks, eagle owls, bustards and capercaillies, are generally protected.

Rare or endangered species such as the mouflon are bred in game reserves, and nature reserves protect the Šumava Forest, the Moravian Karst and the Jizera Mountains, with controlled access for visitors. Krkonoše National Park, established in 1963, protects glacial landscapes, Alpine vegetation and relict boreal-Arctic species such as the Alpine shrew (Sorex alpinus), although Britannica notes that the park has also been extensively developed as a ski resort. High in the Krkonoše, the tree cover below the timberline is little more than dwarf pine, and the Alpine zone holds grasses and low-growing bushes.

About 10.9 million people live in Czechia.

Most people speak Czech. Children go to school from age 6. Dumplings, soups and apple strudel are well-known foods. At Christmas, many families eat fish.

About 10.9 million people lived in Czechia in 2026, and about three in every four live in towns and cities. Czech is the official language. It is a Slavic language written in the Latin alphabet, and it is so close to Slovak that Czechs and Slovaks can understand each other. Smaller groups speak Romani, German and Polish.

Favorite foods include potato and sauerkraut soups, chicken and pork with bread or potato dumplings, and for dessert fruit-filled dumplings, apple strudel and honey cake. On Christmas Eve, many families eat carp. Children must go to school for 10 years, from age 6 to 16, and Charles University in Prague was founded in 1348.

The Czech Statistical Office counted 10.904 million people at the end of June 2026 (provisional). Britannica gives Czechs as roughly two-thirds of the population; many Moravians see themselves as a distinct group within that majority, and there are Slovak, Polish, German and Roma minorities. Czech, a literary language since the late 13th century, is official; it and Slovak are mutually intelligible West Slavic languages written in the Latin alphabet. In the early 21st century almost nine-tenths of Czechs claimed no religious affiliation and about one-tenth were Roman Catholic.

Southern Bohemia and southeastern Moravia keep local cuisines and folk costumes for special occasions, and traditional wooden architecture survives in some rural areas. Staples include potato and sauerkraut soups, chicken and pork with houskové and bramborové knedlíky (bread and potato dumplings), and fruit dumplings, strudel and honey cake; Moravia produces wine and Bohemia has a brewing tradition dating to the early 19th century. Schooling is compulsory for 10 years, from 6 to 16, and Charles University (1348) and the Czech Technical University (1707) are among central Europe's oldest universities.