British Indian Ocean Territory (2006) | Czech Republic (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | - | 13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky Kraj, Jihomoravsky Kraj, Karlovarsky Kraj, Kralovehradecky Kraj, Liberecky Kraj, Moravskoslezsky Kraj, Olomoucky Kraj, Pardubicky Kraj, Plzensky Kraj, Praha*, Stredocesky Kraj, Ustecky Kraj, Vysocina, Zlinsky Kraj |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 15.4% (male 809,697; female 768,747)
15-64 years: 70.6% (male 3,617,214; female 3,614,060) 65 years and over: 14% (male 554,922; female 884,576) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry |
Airports | 1 (2006) | 144 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2006) |
total: 44
2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 19 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 100
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 36 under 914 m: 62 (2002) |
Area | total: 54,400 sq km
land: 60 sq km; Diego Garcia 44 sq km water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands |
total: 78,866 sq km
land: 77,276 sq km water: 1,590 sq km |
Area - comparative | land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than South Carolina |
Background | Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order that had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia. | Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Now a member of NATO, the Czech Republic has moved toward integration in world markets, a development that poses both opportunities and risks. In December 2002, the Czech Republic was invited to join the European Union (EU). It is expected that the Czech Republic will accede to the EU in 2004. |
Birth rate | - | 9.01 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues: $16.7 billion
expenditures: $18 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | - | Prague |
Climate | tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds | temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters |
Coastline | 698 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | - | ratified 16 December 1992; effective 1 January 1993 |
Country name | conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory
conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT |
conventional long form: Czech Republic
conventional short form: Czech Republic local long form: Ceska Republika local short form: Ceska Republika |
Currency | - | Czech koruna (CZK) |
Death rate | - | 10.74 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $23.8 billion (2002) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Craig R. STAPLETON
embassy: Trziste 15, 11801 Prague 1 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [420] (2) 5753-0663 FAX: [420] (2) 5753-0583 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Martin PALOUS
chancery: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 274-9100 FAX: [1] (202) 966-8540 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles and New York |
Disputes - international | Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia; in 2001 the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1965 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; the UK resists the Chagossians' demand for an immediate return to the islands; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest island in the chain; | Liechtenstein's royal family claims restitution for 1,600 sq km of land in the Czech Republic confiscated in 1918; individual Sudeten German claims for restitution of property confiscated in connection with their expulsion after World War II; Austria has minor dispute with Czech Republic over the Temelin nuclear power plant and post-World War II treatment of German-speaking minorities |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $108 million; EU structural adjustment funds (2002) |
Economy - overview | All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The country makes money by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps. | One of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states, the Czech Republic has been recovering from recession since mid-1999. Growth in 2000-03 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a near doubling of foreign direct investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as interest rates drop and the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases. High current account deficits - averaging around 5% of GDP in the last several years - could be a persistent problem. Inflation is under control. The EU put the Czech Republic just behind Poland and Hungary in preparations for accession, which will give further impetus and direction to structural reform. Moves to complete banking, telecommunications, and energy privatization will encourage additional foreign investment, while intensified restructuring among large enterprises and banks and improvements in the financial sector should strengthen output growth. But revival in the European economies remains essential to stepped-up growth. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 55.6 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | - | 18.92 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | - | 9.38 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military | 70.04 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 76.1%
hydro: 2.9% nuclear: 20% other: 1% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m |
lowest point: Elbe River 115 m
highest point: Snezka 1,602 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks; acid rain damaging forests; efforts to bring industry up to EU code should improve domestic pollution |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol |
Ethnic groups | - | Czech 81.2%, Moravian 13.2%, Slovak 3.1%, Polish 0.6%, German 0.5%, Silesian 0.4%, Roma 0.3%, Hungarian 0.2%, other 0.5% (1991) |
Exchange rates | - | koruny per US dollar - 32.74 (2002), 38.04 (2001), 38.6 (2000), 34.57 (1999), 32.28 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Commissioner Tony CROMBIE (since January 2004); Administrator Tony HUMPHRIES (since February 2005); note - both reside in the UK cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: President Vaclav KLAUS (since 7 March 2003)
note: the Czech Republic's first president Vaclav HAVEL stepped down from office on 2 February 2003 having served exactly 10 years; parliament finally elected a successor on 28 February 2003 after two inconclusive elections in January 2003 head of government: Prime Minister Vladimir SPIDLA (since 12 July 2002), Deputy Prime Ministers Bohuslav SOBOTKA (since 20 August 2003), Cyril SVOBODA (since July 2002), Stanislav GROSS (since July 2002), Petr MARES (since July 2002) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term; last successful election held 28 February 2003 (after earlier elections held 15 and 24 January 2003 were inconclusive); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Vaclav KLAUS elected president on 28 February 2003; Vaclav KLAUS 142 votes, Jan SOKOL 124 votes (third round; combined votes of both chambers of parliament) |
Exports | - | 26,670 bbl/day (2001) |
Exports - commodities | - | machinery and transport equipment 44%, intermediate manufactures 25%, chemicals 7%, raw materials and fuel 7% (2000) |
Exports - partners | - | Germany 40.2%, Slovakia 7.1%, Austria 5.8%, UK 5.1%, Poland 5%, France 4% (2002) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag | two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side (identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia) |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $157.1 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 3.8%
industry: 41% services: 55.2% (2001) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $15,300 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 2% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 E | 49 45 N, 15 30 E |
Geography - note | archipelago of 55 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility | landlocked; strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe; Moravian Gate is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in central Europe |
Heliports | - | 2 (2002) |
Highways | - | total: 55,408 km
paved: 55,408 km (including 499 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 4.3%
highest 10%: 22.4% (1996) |
Illicit drugs | - | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and minor transit point for Latin American cocaine to Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for local and regional markets; susceptible to money laundering related to drug trafficking, organized crime |
Imports | - | 192,300 bbl/day (2001) |
Imports - commodities | - | machinery and transport equipment 40%, intermediate manufactures 21%, raw materials and fuels 13%, chemicals 11% (2000) |
Imports - partners | - | Germany 39.1%, Slovakia 6%, Austria 5.6%, Italy 5.4%, France 5.3%, Poland 4.1%, UK 4.1%, Russia 4% (2002) |
Independence | - | 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 3.5% (2002) |
Industries | - | metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: 5.37 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.85 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 0.6% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | - | ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | more than 300 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km | 240 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term |
Labor force | - | 5.203 million (1999 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture 5%, industry 35%, services 60% (2001 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 1,881 km
border countries: Austria 362 km, Germany 646 km, Poland 658 km, Slovakia 215 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
arable land: 40%
permanent crops: 3.04% other: 56.96% (1998 est.) |
Languages | - | Czech |
Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply | civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to bring it in line with Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory |
Legislative branch | - | bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms; one-third elected every two years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held in two rounds 25-26 October and 1-2 November 2002 (next to be held NA November 2004); Chamber of Deputies - last held 14-15 June 2002 (next to be held by NA June 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ODS 26, KDU-CSL 14, CSSD 11, US 9, KSCM 3, independents 18; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - CSSD 30.2%, ODS 24.5%, KSCM 18.5%, KDU-CSL & US-DEU coalition 14.3%, other minor 12.5%; seats by party - CSSD 70, ODS 58, KSCM 41, KDU-CSL 21, US-DEU 10 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 75.18 years
male: 71.69 years female: 78.87 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition: NA
total population: 99.9% (1999 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia | Central Europe, southeast of Germany |
Map references | Political Map of the World | Europe |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016 | - |
Military branches | - | Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Territorial Defense Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $1,190.2 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2.1% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 2,622,192 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 2,002,202 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 67,777 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | - | Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918) |
Nationality | - | noun: Czech(s)
adjective: Czech |
Natural hazards | NA | flooding |
Natural resources | coconuts, fish, sugarcane | hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber |
Net migration rate | - | 0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 7,020 km; oil 547 km; refined products 94 km (2003) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Christian and Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Miroslav KALOUSEK, chairman]; Civic Democratic Alliance or ODA [Michael ZANTOVSKY, chairman]; Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Mirek TOPOLANEK, chairman]; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Miroslav GREBENICEK, chairman]; Communist Party of Czechoslovakia or KSC [Miroslav STEPAN, chairman]; Czech National Social Party of CSNS [Jan SULA, chairman]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Vladimir SPIDLA, chairman]; Freedom Union-Democratic Union or US-DEU [Petr MARES, chairman]; Quad Coalition [Karel KUHNL, chairman] (includes KDU-CSL, US, ODA, DEU) |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions [Richard FALBR] |
Population | no indigenous inhabitants
note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960s and 1970s; in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; in November 2004, there were approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2006 est.) |
10,249,216 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
Population growth rate | - | -0.08% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Decin, Prague, Usti nad Labem |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000) |
Railways | - | total: 9,462 km
standard gauge: 9,363 km 1.435-m gauge (1,745 km electrified) narrow gauge: 99 km 0.760-m gauge (2002) |
Religions | - | Roman Catholic 39.2%, Protestant 4.6%, Orthodox 3%, other 13.4%, atheist 39.8% |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available
domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000) |
general assessment: privatization and modernization of the Czech telecommunication system got a late start but is advancing steadily; growth in the use of mobile cellular telephones is particularly vigorous
domestic: 86% of exchanges now digital; existing copper subscriber systems now being enhanced with Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) equipment to accommodate Internet and other digital signals; trunk systems include fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar |
Telephones - main lines in use | NA | 3.869 million (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 4.346 million (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 150 (plus 1,434 repeaters) (2000) |
Terrain | flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation) | Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country |
Total fertility rate | - | 1.18 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 9.8% (2002) |
Waterways | - | 303 km
note: the Labe (Elbe) is the principal river (2000) |