Czech Life and Institutions Exam cheat sheet

The Czech Republic is landlocked in Central Europe; neighbours are Germany (west, both Bavaria and Saxony), Poland (north-east), Slovakia (east) and Austria (south).

Historical lands: Bohemia (Čechy), Moravia (Morava) and Czech Silesia (České Slezsko); the current constitution does not mention them, but they persist in culture and statistical units.

Highest peak: Sněžka (1,603 m) in the Krkonoše mountains on the Polish border; the Krkonoše are the highest range of the Sudetes system.

Major rivers: Vltava (longest, flows north through Prague into the Labe), Labe/Elbe (drains to the North Sea), Morava (drains to the Danube and Black Sea), Odra/Oder (drains to the Baltic).

Main mountain ranges: Šumava (Bohemian Forest) along the German/Austrian border, Krušné hory (Ore Mountains) on the Saxon border, Jeseníky in Moravia, Beskydy in the east.

Since 2000 there are 14 self-governing regions (kraje); the capital Prague is both a municipality and a region. Regions are further divided into municipalities with extended powers (ORP).

Protected areas: 4 national parks - Krkonoše, Šumava, Podyjí, České Švýcarsko (Bohemian Switzerland); the oldest protected landscape area is Český ráj.

Climate is temperate continental: warm summers, cold winters, more precipitation in mountains; the country lies on the European watershed between the North, Baltic and Black Seas.

Great Moravia (9th century) was the first major West Slavic state on Czech territory; Saints Cyril and Methodius brought Christianity and the Glagolitic script in 863.

Přemyslid dynasty ruled until 1306; St Wenceslas (Václav) is the patron saint, murdered around 935 by his brother Boleslav I.

Charles IV (r. 1346–1378) was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia; he founded Charles University (1348) and New Town of Prague, and issued the Golden Bull.

Jan Hus, a reformer, was burned at the Council of Constance in 1415; the Hussite wars followed (1419–1434), including the defenestration of Prague in 1419.

Battle of White Mountain (Bílá hora) in 1620 ended Bohemian Protestant revolt and started re-Catholicisation and Germanisation under the Habsburgs.

The Czech National Revival (late 18th–19th century) promoted the Czech language; key figures include Josef Dobrovský, Josef Jungmann, František Palacký and Božena Němcová.

Czechoslovakia was proclaimed on 28 October 1918 with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk as first president; the Munich Agreement of 1938 ceded the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.

Communist rule 1948–1989 ended with the Velvet Revolution in November 1989; Václav Havel became president. Czechoslovakia split peacefully on 1 January 1993 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Czech Republic is a parliamentary republic with a bicameral Parliament: the Chamber of Deputies (200 members, 4-year term) and the Senate (81 members, 6-year term, one third elected every 2 years).

The president is the head of state, elected directly by citizens since 2013 for a 5-year term, maximum two consecutive terms; the president appoints the prime minister and other ministers.

The prime minister heads the government, which must obtain a vote of confidence from the Chamber of Deputies within 30 days of appointment.

Legislative procedure: bills usually originate in the government, are passed by the Chamber of Deputies and then the Senate; the president may veto and return a bill, but the Chamber can override by absolute majority.

The Constitutional Court (Ústavní soud) in Brno has 15 judges appointed by the president with Senate consent for 10 years; it reviews constitutionality and protects fundamental rights.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms is part of the constitutional order; the constitution dates from 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993.

Self-government: 14 regions (kraje) with regional councils and governors (hejtman), and municipalities (obce) with councils and mayors; Prague has a special statute with the City Council and the Magistrate.

Judicial system: district, regional and high courts, the Supreme Court in Brno, and the Supreme Administrative Court in Brno; the Ombudsman (veřejný ochránce práv) is based in Brno.

The Czech Republic joined NATO on 12 March 1999 and the European Union on 1 May 2004 (along with nine other states in the 2004 enlargement).

The Czech Republic held the Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2009 and again in the second half of 2022.

The country is in the EU but not in the eurozone; the currency remains the Czech koruna (CZK). It is in the Schengen area since 2007.

The Czech Republic is a member of the Visegrád Group (V4) with Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, and of the OECD, UN, OSCE, Council of Europe and IMF.

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and EU law have primacy over conflicting national law; Czech courts may refer questions to the Court of Justice of the EU.

Czech citizens elect 21 Members of the European Parliament (since 2024) by proportional representation for a 5-year term.

The Czech Republic recognises the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and is bound by the European Convention on Human Rights.

Key foreign-policy priorities include transatlantic relations, EU neighbourhood policy, and support for human rights, notably the Eastern Partnership.

The Czech economy is a small open market economy, export-oriented, with a strong automotive sector (Škoda Auto) and engineering; Germany is the largest trading partner.

Currency: Czech koruna (CZK), issued by the Czech National Bank (ČNB), which sets monetary policy and supervises the financial market.

The main social security pillars are: pension insurance, sickness insurance, and state social support; contributions are paid by employees, employers and the self-employed.

The retirement age is gradually increasing; the pension system is pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financed by current contributors, with a voluntary supplementary pension savings scheme.

Health insurance is statutory and compulsory, administered by health insurance funds (the largest is VZP); care is largely free at the point of use for insured persons.

Employees pay 6.5% of gross salary for health insurance and 6.5% for social security; employers pay 9% and 24.8% respectively (rates as of the mid-2020s).

The minimum wage is set by government regulation; the Labour Code (zákoník práce) governs employment relationships, working time and termination.

Unemployment benefits are paid by the Labour Office (Úřad práce) to those who contributed to unemployment insurance for at least 12 months in the last 2 years.

Compulsory school attendance lasts 9 years, typically from age 6 to 15; the school year runs from 1 September to 30 June.

Education levels: pre-school (mateřská škola), primary (základní škola, grades 1–9), secondary (střední škola: gymnasium, vocational), and tertiary (university).

The school-leaving examination (maturita) concludes secondary education; it includes Czech language and literature and a foreign language or mathematics, plus optional subjects.

Higher education institutions are public, private or state; public universities offer free study in Czech, while studies in foreign languages may be charged.

The Czech Academy of Sciences (Akademie věd ČR) is the main public research institution; Charles University (founded 1348) is the oldest university in Central Europe.

The national library is the National Library of the Czech Republic in Prague (Klementinum); the National Museum and National Gallery are major cultural institutions.

Significant cultural figures: composers Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák; writers Karel Čapek (coined the word 'robot') and Jaroslav Hašek (The Good Soldier Švejk).

The Czech Republic has numerous UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Prague's historic centre, Český Krumlov, Kutná Hora and the Lednice–Valtice cultural landscape.

Public holidays include 1 January (restoration of the independent Czech state), 8 May (Liberation Day), 5 July (Saints Cyril and Methodius), 6 July (Jan Hus), 28 September (Czech Statehood Day), 28 October (Independent Czechoslovak State Day), 17 November (Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day).

Easter Monday is a public holiday; Easter traditions include pomlázka (whipping with braided willow twigs) and decorating eggs.

Christmas is celebrated on 24 December (Štědrý den) with a festive dinner, often carp and potato salad; 25 and 26 December are public holidays.

Saint Nicholas (Mikuláš) is celebrated on 5 December with angels and devils; Saint Barbara's Day (4 December) and Saint Lucy's Day (13 December) are folk traditions.

The Czech Republic is one of the least religious countries in Europe; a large share of the population reports no religion, while Roman Catholicism is the largest denomination.

Traditional food includes vepřo knedlo zelo (roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut), svíčková (beef in cream sauce), and fried cheese (smažený sýr).

Beer culture is strong; Czechs have among the highest per-capita beer consumption in the world, with brands such as Pilsner Urquell and Budvar.

Name days (svátek) are widely observed; each day of the calendar is associated with a saint or name, and people often celebrate their name day.

Czech is a West Slavic language, closely related to Slovak and Polish, written in the Latin alphabet with diacritics (háček, čárka, kroužek).

Czech has 7 grammatical cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, locative, instrumental) and grammatical gender (masculine animate/inanimate, feminine, neuter).

The standard language (spisovná čeština) differs from common spoken Czech (obecná čeština), which is used in everyday speech.

The Czech alphabet has 42 letters, including ch (a digraph) and ř (a unique sound); the letter ě marks palatalisation.

Literary history: the medieval Chronicle of Dalimil, Jan Hus's writings, the Bible of Kralice, the Baroque period under Habsburg rule, and the National Revival.

Major writers: Karel Hynek Mácha (Máj), Božena Němcová (Babička), Jaroslav Hašek, Karel Čapek, Bohumil Hrabal, Milan Kundera and Václav Havel.

The Czech language is the official language; Slovak is mutually intelligible and was widely understood during the common state, and the law allows its use in some administrative contexts.

Czech is regulated by the Czech Language Institute (Ústav pro jazyk český) of the Academy of Sciences.

The Czech Republic has public-service media: Czech Television (ČT), Czech Radio (Český rozhlas) and the Czech News Agency (ČTK); commercial broadcasters include TV Nova and Prima.

The media market is regulated by the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV); the public broadcaster is funded by licence fees and advertising limits.

Major daily newspapers include Mladá fronta DNES, Právo and Hospodářské noviny; online news portals such as iDNES and Seznam Zprávy are widely used.

Transport: the road network includes motorways (dálnice) and expressways; Prague has a metro (lines A, B, C), trams and buses, and the Czech Railways (České dráhy) operates the national rail network.

Prague's Václav Havel Airport is the main international airport; Brno, Ostrava, Karlovy Vary and Pardubice also have airports.

Driving: right-hand traffic, mandatory winter tyres in some conditions, a motorway vignette (dálniční známka) required for vehicles up to 3.5 t, and a zero-tolerance alcohol policy for drivers.

Emergency numbers: 112 (general), 150 (fire), 155 (ambulance), 158 (police); 156 is the municipal police in some cities.

Practical life: the postal service is Česká pošta, the main banks include ČSOB, Komerční banka and Česká spořitelna, and cash is still used but card payments are widespread.

EU/EEA citizens may stay in the Czech Republic without a visa and register for temporary residence if staying longer than 30 days; they have free access to the labour market.

Non-EU nationals need a visa or residence permit; a long-term visa is required for stays over 90 days, and a long-term residence permit for stays over one year.

A permanent residence permit (trvalý pobyt) can generally be granted after 5 years of continuous temporary residence; EU citizens may obtain it after 5 years of residence.

The Foreign Police (cizinecká policie) handles residence registration and checks; the Ministry of the Interior's Department for Asylum and Migration Policy (OAMP) decides on long-term residence permits.

Employment of foreigners: non-EU nationals generally need a work permit or employee card (zaměstnanecká karta); the employee card combines residence and work authorisation.

Integration: the Czech Republic offers free Czech language courses for some categories of foreigners and integration programmes through regional integration centres.

Rights: foreigners legally residing have access to healthcare through public health insurance (after meeting conditions), education for children, and protection under labour law.

Obligations: foreigners must carry identity documents, report changes of address and residence, and comply with the law; serious criminal offences can lead to expulsion and a ban on re-entry.

Czech is a West Slavic language with 7 grammatical cases, 3 genders and a complex system of verb aspect (perfective and imperfective).

The formal form of address uses the second-person plural (vy) with capitalised pronoun in writing; informal address uses the second-person singular (ty).

Common greetings: dobrý den (formal), ahoj (informal), dobré ráno (good morning), dobrou noc (good night); děkuji (thank you) and prosím (please/you're welcome).

Numerals and dates: Czech uses the day-month-year order and a comma as the decimal separator; thousands are separated by a space.

Czech literature includes Karel Hynek Mácha's romantic poem Máj, Božena Němcová's Babička, and Karel Čapek's drama R.U.R., which introduced the word 'robot'.

The Czech alphabet has 42 letters; the letter ř is unique to Czech, and ch is a separate letter sorted after h.

The language has two main varieties: standard Czech (spisovná čeština) and common Czech (obecná čeština), used in everyday conversation.

Czech is the official language; the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to use one's language in official communication and before courts for national minorities.

Public-service media: Czech Television (ČT), Czech Radio (Český rozhlas) and the Czech News Agency (ČTK); they are funded by licence fees and have public-service obligations.

The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) grants and supervises broadcasting licences; the Czech Telecommunication Office regulates electronic communications.

Public transport: Prague integrated transport (PID) covers metro, trams, buses and ferries; tickets are time-based and must be validated on boarding.

Rail: České dráhy (ČD) is the main national carrier; RegioJet and LEO Express operate competing long-distance services on some routes.

Roads: motorway vignettes are sold for 10 days, 1 month or 1 year; since 2021 electronic vignettes replace paper stickers for passenger cars.

Driving rules: right-hand traffic, mandatory use of seat belts, zero tolerance for alcohol, and winter tyres required in winter conditions or on marked roads.

Emergency numbers: 112 (integrated emergency), 150 (fire brigade), 155 (ambulance), 158 (police); 156 reaches municipal police in some cities.

Everyday services: Česká pošta provides postal services; the Czech Republic uses the country code +420 and the currency is the Czech koruna (CZK).