The Czech Republic is a large, central European country. It borders Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. The capital of the Czech Republic is Prague. It is located in the west central portion of the continent.
It borders the North Sea in the west, Germany in the northwest, Poland in the northeast, and Slovakia in the southeast. Most of the population resides in the south and southeast, near the German border. The rest of the country is mountainous. It has an average of 1,500 sunny days per year.
The population of the Czech Republic is 10.44 million, including 7.21 million permanent oecd prague residents, 2.17 million second homes and 5.58 million tourists. Approximately 82% of the population is of Czech ancestry and speak the Czech language as their first language.
Although it was an independent nation from the 11th century until 1918, it was incorporated into the Austrian Empire in 1420. From 1815–1918 it was under the rule of Habsburg-ruled Austria-Hungary. During the late 19th and early 20th century it became the scene of bloody warfare as it was invaded by the Germans in World War I, the Austro-Hungarians in World War II, and the Soviets during the Cold War. In 1993, it regained its independence from the former USSR.