Czech Republic

The largest castle in early medieval Europe, Hradany Castle was built at Prague, Czechoslovakia in the ninth century. It was destroyed by fire in 1303.

The world’s first vernacular hymnbook was published in Prague in 1501 containing 89 hymns in Czech.

The population of the Czech Republic has traditionally been irreligious for a very long time. Ever since the 1600's, the Czech people have been described as "tolerant and even indifferent towards religion".

The Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence was published by Czechoslovakia's Paris-based Provisional Government on October 18 1918. The creation of the document was prompted by the imminent collapse of the Habsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire, of which the Czech and Slovak lands had been part for almost 400 years, following the First World War.

Czech politicians peacefully took over command in Prague on October 28, 1918, which was later declared the birthday of Czechoslovakia, and followed up in other major cities over the next few days. The Slovaks followed two days later with the Martin Declaration, and the Austro-Hungarian state was dissolved the next day.

The Strahov Stadium in Prague was finished in 1934 for a gymnastics exhibition. When it was an active sports venue, it had a capacity of around 250,000, making it the largest stadium in the world.

After Czech resistance assassinated brutal Nazi Reinhard Heydrich during World War 2, the Czech town of Lidice was razed and nearly all of its citizens, pets and livestock were shot. In response to Hitler's desire to wipe Lidice off the map, Brazil, Venezuela, Panama and Mexico renamed towns to Lidice.

The Communist Party took control of the government in Czechoslovakia in 1948. Rather than sign the Ninth-of-May Constitution making his nation a Communist state, Edvard Beneš chose to resign as President of Czechoslovakia.

Student Jan Palach died on January 19, 1969 after setting himself on fire three days earlier in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest about the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turned into a major protest.

Former child actress Shirley Temple was the US ambassador to Czechoslovakia between 1989 and 1992.

Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved on December 31, 1992, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic (see flag below) and Slovakia. It is sometimes known as the Velvet Divorce, a reference to the bloodless Velvet Revolution of 1989 that led to the end of the rule of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the formation of a democratic government.

In 1993 the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the name Czechia be used for the country outside of formal official documents. This has not caught on in English usage.

The local language is Czech language. The Czech language is a Slavic language. It is related to languages like Slovak and Polish.

Czech Republic has no sea.

Czech Republic has been a member of the European Union since May 1, 2004

The highest point in the country is Sněžka at 5,256 ft.

The Czech Republic has one of the least religious populations in the world. According to the 2011 census, 34.2% of the population stated they had no religion and 45.2% of the population did not answer the question about religion.

The Czech Republic celebrates Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day on November 17th each year to honor two student protests against the Nazis (1939) and Soviets (1989).

People in the Czech Republic drink more beer per capita than any other country, an average of 262 pints a year.

Source Wikipedia