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					Czech Republic
		Population: 10.4 million (July 1995)		Area: 78,703 square kilometers			Capital: Prague
		Other cities: Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc		Language: Czech, Slovak			Religions: Roman Catholic (39.2%), Protestant (4.6%), Orthodox (3%), atheist (39.8%)

	Economy and Economic Data
		National Product per capita: $7,350 (1994) Currency: Czech koruna, 34.67 = $1 (December 1997) Average wage: Major industries: fuels, ferrous metallurgy, machinery, coal, motor vehicles, glass, armaments Agriculture: crop and livestock production, including grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit, hogs, cattle, and poultry Natural resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite Government Parlilamentary republic -- president, prime minister elected by parliament Head of State: President Vaclav Havel (since 26 January 1993) Prime Minister: Josef Tosovsky leads a caretaker government approved 28 January 1998 Parliament: bicameral National Council (Senate, 81 seats, and Chamber of Deputies, 200 seats) Elections:

Treaties and Agreements in Force

European Union: Associate member agreement

OECD: yes

World Bank: yes

IMF: yes

EBRD: yes

World Trade Organization: yes

World Health Organization: yes

Most-Favored-Nation status with United States: yes

International environmental agreements: Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands. Signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea

Recent policy developments in the Czech Republic

Articles related to the Czech Republic in the East/West Letter

• “Czech Health Reform Stalls: Collapse of governing coalition leaves legislation in doubt” by Steven Norton in E&H supplement, November/December 1997.
• “Klaus Falls, But Fallout Unclear: Caretaker Czech government after coalition resigns” by L. Stephen Joyce, Jr., November/December 1997.
• “Czech waste law, initially blocked by Senate, finally approved” in E&H supplement, July/August 1997.
• “Coming Home to Roost: Complacency Breeds Crisis for Czech Government” by Steven Norton, May/June 1997.
• “Czechs Struggle over Health Care: Czech National Health Care System Faces Financial Problems” by Kate Schecter in E&H supplement, January/February 1997.
• “The Ghost of Choices Past: The Czech Republic’s success obscured growing problems” by Steven Norton, November/December 1996.
• “A Little Glasnost, Please: Czech Senate elections reflect broader uncertainty” by Steven Norton, November/December 1996.
• “More is Less in Czech Vote: Conservatives Lose Majority, Form Minority Government” by Steven Norton in July/August 1996.
• “Tatra Saved from Bankruptcy by Acquisition” in March/April 1996.
• “New Battles between the Church and State” in October/November 1995.
• “Czechs Aim for Convertibililty: Czech Reform and the Convertibility of the Koruna” by Phil Barta in January/February 1995.
• “The Inner Dimension: Political and Personal Change in the Czech Republic” by Radovan Holub in November/December 1994.
• “Profile: Tatra’s Pribor Auto Plant” by Beth Fulkerson in November/December 1994.
• “Tatra Reaches a Juncture: One Czech Firm’s Meeting with the Marketplace” by Lynda Maillet and Steven Norton in September/October 1994.
• “The Importance of Being Earnest: GSR and the ‘Rescue’ of Tatra” by Beth Fulkerson in September/October 1994.
• “A Unit Learns to Spread its Wings: Tatra Foundry: Looking to the Future” by Lynda Maillet and Steven Norton in September/October 1994.
• “New Air Rules Worry Czech Firms: Air Pollution in the Czech Republic” by Lynda Maillet in July/August 1994.
• “Reform Speeds up in East Europe: Privatization update, part I” by Lynda Maillet in January/February 1994.
• “Why Not One Europe?: Central Europe & the European Community” by Phil Barta in July/August 1993.
• “Environmental Law in East Europe: Legislation Update: Catching Up with the West” in Winter 1993.
• “Czechoslovakia’s ‘Velvet Divorce’: Czechs and Slovaks Unhappy with the Split” by Phil Barta in Fall 1992.
• “Promising Signs in Czechoslovakia: CSFR at the Crossroads” by Thomas Sigel in Summer 1992.
• “Cleaning Up is Hard to Do: Foreign Investment & the Environment in Eastern Europe” by Lynda Maillet in Spring 1992.
• “The Voucher System in Action: Privatization in Czechoslovakia” by Lynda Maillet in Spring 1992.

Links to other Czech Republic-related web sites

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