Czech Republic
The ‘Czech Republic’ brings to mind the urban, architectural splendors of Prague, the folk-inspired compositions of Dvorak, the emboldened reforms of the Velvet Revolution. A leisurely trip through the rolling green hills of the Czech countryside, however, reveals yet another aspect of this picturesque land — its farming communities where one might come upon a farmer feeding her ducks much as her forebears have done for centuries. It is, though, a way of life in decline as farm prices make it hard to make ends meet and young people, feeling the pull of bright city lights, leave the land behind.
Photo © 2008 Harlen Persinger
CZECH REPUBLIC
Czech Republic/Ceská Republika
Central Europe, between Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria. Bohemia (west) rolling plains, hills and plateaus surrounded by low mountains, Moravia (east) very hilly. 78,867 km2 (slightly < SC), 39% arable.
Capital Prague (1.2M).
Population 10M (129km2).
Life expectancy 77 years.
HIV/AIDS < 0.1%.
Literacy 99%.
Lang(s) Czech 95%, Slovak 2%, other 2%, unspecified 1%.
Religions Roman Catholic 27%, Protestant 2%, other 3%, unspecified 9%, unaffiliated 59%.
Ethnic Groups Czech 90%, Moravian 4%, Slovak 2%, other 4%.
Gov’t Parliamentary Democracy
GDP/cap $25,900.
PCVs 1990-97; business, education, environment, health. Volunteers to date: 234..
Nat’l holiday Czechoslovak Founding Day, 28 October (1918)
Kralice egg design.
Copyright © Julie Olsen
Focus word for 2012 - "Friendship"
Czech: Pátelství (prah-tell-stvee)
Slovak: Priatel’stvo (pria-tell-stvoh)
Books
The Twelve Little Cakes
by Dominika Dery
Book Description
In this memoir, published in 2004, poet and playwright Dominika Dery tells of her life growing up in a village near Prague in the 1970s, as the daughter of dissidents in the wake of the 1968 "Prague Spring".
Kids' Books
The Three Golden Keys
by Peter Sis
Publisher: New York: Doubleday, 1994
ISBN-10: 0-385-47292-7
Unpaged
Ages 6-9
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