Compare Czech Republic (2008) - British Virgin Islands (2003)

Compare Czech Republic (2008) z British Virgin Islands (2003)

	Czech Republic (2008)	British Virgin Islands (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 (Prague)*, Stredocesky Kraj, Ustecky Kraj, Vysocina, Zlinsky Kraj	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Age structure	0-14 years: 14.1% (male 738,391/female 698,999) 15-64 years: 71.2% (male 3,657,877/female 3,627,493) 65 years and over: 14.7% (male 588,531/female 917,453) (2007 est.)	0-14 years: 21.9% (male 2,401; female 2,358) 15-64 years: 73.1% (male 8,181; female 7,709) 65 years and over: 5% (male 578; female 503) (2003 est.)
Agriculture - products	wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry	fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish
Airports	122 (2007)	3 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 45 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 18 (2007)	total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 77 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 26 under 914 m: 50 (2007)	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002)
Area	total: 78,866 sq km land: 77,276 sq km water: 1,590 sq km	total: 153 sq km land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the island of Anegada
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than South Carolina	about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC
Background	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. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.	First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency.
Birth rate	8.96 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	15 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Budget	revenues: $69.49 billion expenditures: $75.8 billion (2007 est.)	revenues: $121.5 million expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997)
Capital	name: Prague geographic coordinates: 50 05 N, 14 28 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October	Road Town
Climate	temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters	subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds
Coastline	0 km (landlocked)	80 km
Constitution	ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993	1 June 1977
Country name	conventional long form: Czech Republic conventional short form: Czech Republic local long form: Ceska Republika local short form: Cesko	conventional long form: none conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI
Currency	-	US dollar (USD)
Death rate	10.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	4.46 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Debt - external	$61.74 billion (30 June 2007)	$36.1 million (1997)
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Richard W. GRABER embassy: Trziste 15, 11801 Prague 1 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [420] 257 022 000 FAX: [420] 257 022 809	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Petr KOLAR chancery: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 274-9100 FAX: [1] (202) 966-8540 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	in 2006, Austrian public protests for the Czech Republic to close the Temelin nuclear power plant resulted in an Austrian parliamentary motion threatening international legal action	none
Economic aid - recipient	$278.7 million in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004)	NA%
Economy - overview	The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in 2000-07 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and domestic investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases. The current account deficit has declined to around 3.3% of GDP as demand for automotive and other products from the Czech Republic remains strong in the European Union. Rising inflation from higher food and energy prices are a risk to balanced economic growth. Significant increases in social spending in the run-up to June 2006 elections prevented, the government from meeting its goal of reducing its budget deficit to 3% of GDP in 2007. Negotiations on pension and additional healthcare reforms are continuing without clear prospects for agreement and implementation. Intensified restructuring among large enterprises, improvements in the financial sector, and effective use of available EU funds should strengthen output growth. The pro-business Civic Democratic Party-led government approved reforms in 2007 designed to cut spending on some social welfare benefits and reform the tax system with the aim of eventually reducing the budget deficit to 2.3% of GDP by 2010. Parliamentary approval for any additional reforms could prove difficult, however, because of the parliament's even split. The government withdrew a 2010 target date for euro adoption and instead aims to meet the eurozone criteria around 2012.	The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959.
Electricity - consumption	59.72 billion kWh (2005)	35.43 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	24.99 billion kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	12.35 billion kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	77.38 billion kWh (2005)	38.1 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source	-	fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Elbe River 115 m highest point: Snezka 1,602 m	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Sage 521 m
Environment - current issues	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	limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments)
Environment - international agreements	party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	-
Ethnic groups	Czech 90.4%, Moravian 3.7%, Slovak 1.9%, other 4% (2001 census)	black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed
Exchange rates	koruny per US dollar - 20.53 (2007), 22.596 (2006), 23.957 (2005), 25.7 (2004), 28.209 (2003)	the US dollar is used
Executive branch	chief of state: President Vaclav KLAUS (since 7 March 2003) head of government: Prime Minister Mirek TOPOLANEK (since 9 January 2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Petr NECAS (since 9 January 2007), Martin BURSIK (since 9 January 2007), and Alexandr VONDRA (since 9 January 2007) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last successful election held 15 February 2008 (after earlier elections held 8 and 9 February 2008 were inconclusive; next election to be held in February 2013); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Vaclav KLAUS reelected president on 15 February 2008; Vaclav KLAUS 141 votes, Jan SVEJNAR 111 votes (third round; combined votes of both chambers of parliament)	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Tom MACAN (since 14 October 2002) head of government: Chief Minister Orlando SMITH (since 17 June 2003) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor
Exports	20,930 bbl/day (2004)	NA (2001)
Exports - commodities	machinery and transport equipment 52%, chemicals 5%, raw materials and fuel 9% (2003)	rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand
Exports - partners	Germany 32%, Slovakia 8.5%, Poland 5.7%, France 5.5%, Austria 5.1%, UK 4.8%, Italy 4.6% (2006)	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Fiscal year	calendar year	1 April - 31 March
Flag description	two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side note: identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia	blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful)
GDP	-	purchasing power parity - $320 million (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 2.4% industry: 39.7% services: 57.9% (2007 est.)	agriculture: 1.8% industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $16,000 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	5.7% (2007 est.)	1% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates	49 45 N, 15 30 E	18 30 N, 64 30 W
Geography - note	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	strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Heliports	1 (2007)	-
Highways	-	total: 177 km paved: 177 km unpaved: 0 km (2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 4.3% highest 10%: 22.4% (1996)	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
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; significant consumer of ecstasy	transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center
Imports	203,700 bbl/day (2004)	NA (2001)
Imports - commodities	machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003)	building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery
Imports - partners	Germany 32.5%, Netherlands 6.8%, Slovakia 6.2%, Poland 6.1%, Russia 5.7%, Austria 5%, Italy 4.4%, France 4.3% (2006)	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Independence	1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Industrial production growth rate	9% (2007 est.)	NA
Industries	metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments	tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center
Infant mortality rate	total: 3.86 deaths/1,000 live births male: 4.21 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	total: 18.8 deaths/1,000 live births male: 21.86 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	2.6% (2007 est.)	2.5% (2002)
International organization participation	ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC	Caricom (associate), CDB, ECLAC (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	-	16 (2000)
Irrigated land	240 sq km (2003)	NA sq km
Judicial branch	Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction
Labor force	5.35 million (2007 est.)	4,911 (1980)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 4.1% industry: 37.6% services: 58.3% (2003)	agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Land boundaries	total: 2,290.2 km border countries: Austria 466.3 km, Germany 810.3 km, Poland 761.8 km, Slovakia 251.8 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 38.82% permanent crops: 3% other: 58.18% (2005)	arable land: 20% permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (1998 est.)
Languages	Czech 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (2001 census)	English (official)
Legal system	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	English law
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 20-21 and 27-28 October 2006 (next to be held in October 2008); Chamber of Deputies - last held 2-3 June 2006 (next to be held by June 2010) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ODS 41, CSSD 12, KDU-CSL 11, others 15, independents 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - ODS 35.4%, CSSD 32.3%, KSCM 12.8%, KDU-CSL 7.2%, Greens 6.3%, other 6%; seats by party - ODS 81, CSSD 74, KSCM 26, KDU-CSL 13, Greens 6; note - seats by party as of December 2007 - ODS 81, CSSD 72, KSCM 26, KDU-CSL 13, Greens 6, unaffiliated 2 (former CSSD members)	unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, one member from each of 9 electoral districts, four at-large members; members serve four-year terms) elections: last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 76.42 years male: 73.14 years female: 79.88 years (2007 est.)	total population: 76.06 years male: 75.07 years female: 77.1 years (2003 est.)
Literacy	definition: NA total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA% female: NA%
Location	Central Europe, southeast of Germany	Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico
Map references	Europe	Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 3 NM
Merchant marine	registered in other countries: 1 (St Vincent and The Grenadines 1) (2007)	total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) 19,203 GRT/28,864 DWT ships by type: cargo 1 (2002 est.)
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of the UK
Military branches	Army of the Czech Republic (ACR): Joint Forces Command (includes Army and Air Forces), Support and Training Forces Command (2007)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	1.46% (2007 est.)	-
National holiday	Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918)	Territory Day, 1 July
Nationality	noun: Czech(s) adjective: Czech	noun: British Virgin Islander(s) adjective: British Virgin Islander
Natural hazards	flooding	hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October)
Natural resources	hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber	NEGL
Net migration rate	0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	10.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Pipelines	gas 7,010 km; oil 547 km; refined products 94 km (2007)	-
Political parties and leaders	Association of Independent Candidates-European Democrats or SNK-ED [Helmut DOHNALEK]; Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Jiri CUNEK]; Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Mirek TOPOLANEK]; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Jiri PAROUBEK]; Union of Freedom-Democratic Union or US-DEU [Jan CERNY]; Green Party [Martin BURSIK]; Independent Democrats (NEZDEM) [Vladimir ZELEZNY]; Party of Open Society (SOS) [Pavel NOVACEK]; Path of Change [Jiri LOBKOWITZ]	Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL]
Political pressure groups and leaders	Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS [Milan STECH]	NA
Population	10,228,744 (July 2007 est.)	21,730 (July 2003 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	NA%
Population growth rate	-0.071% (2007 est.)	2.1% (2003 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Road Town
Radio broadcast stations	AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000)	AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998)
Railways	total: 9,597 km standard gauge: 9,597 km 1.435-m gauge (3,041 km electrified) (2006)	0 km
Religions	Roman Catholic 26.8%, Protestant 2.1%, other 3.3%, unspecified 8.8%, unaffiliated 59% (2001 census)	Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991)
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.056 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.008 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.641 male(s)/female total population: 0.951 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.15 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: privatization and modernization of the Czech telecommunication system got a late start but is advancing steadily; access to the fixed-line telephone network expanded throughout the 1990s; mobile telephone usage increased sharply beginning in the mid-1990s and there are now about 120 mobile telephones per 100 persons domestic: 93% of exchanges now digital; existing copper subscriber systems 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: country code - 420; satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar (2007)	general assessment: worldwide telephone service domestic: NA international: submarine cable to Bermuda
Telephones - main lines in use	3,217,300 (2005)	10,000 (1996)
Telephones - mobile cellular	12.15 million (2006)	NA
Television broadcast stations	150 (plus 1,434 repeaters) (2000)	1 (plus one cable company) (1997)
Terrain	Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country	coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly
Total fertility rate	1.22 children born/woman (2007 est.)	1.72 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate	6.6% (2007 est.)	3% (1995)
Waterways	664 km (principally on Elbe, Vltava, Oder, and other navigable rivers, lakes, and canals) (2006)	none

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