Matthew Funk Block 2 Geography Report 1-5-99 Location: Absolute: The center of the country of Czech Republic is located at 50 degrees North and 16 degrees East. Relative: The Czech Republic is in the North-Eastern Hemisphere. It is also located on the continent of Asia. The Czech Republic is in the geographic center of Europe. The country also shares borders with four other countries (Poland, Germany, Austria, and Solvakia). The Czech territory is placed between two principal mountain systems in Europe, The Hercynian and Alpine-Himalayan.
Place: Physical: The Czech Republic has four major mountain ranges, 3 of them are protected by the country. Krkonose (Giant Mountains) This range stretches 40 kilometers into Bohemian territory, thus creating a natural border between itself and Poland, and is also the Czech Republic's highest mountain range. The highest peak is Mt. Snezka.
Several of the other peaks reach elevations of over 1,500 meters. This range was proclaimed a national park in 1963. Hruby Jesenik (Ash Mountains) This range is the second highest of the ranges, and is located in northern Moravia. The highest peak in this range is called Praded Peak, and is 1,491 meters high.
This range is also protected and has been since 1969.Sumava (Bohemian Forest) This is the third highest range in the Czech Republic, the highest point in this range is Plechy Peak (1,373 meters above sea level). This range extends 125 kilometers into Bohemia from the border, thus creating a natural border with Germany. This range is also protected by the Czech Republic, and has been since 1962. It also was declared a national park in 1991. The end of the range that sticks into Germany is also protected.
Beskydy This range is located in the eastern part of the Czech Republic in northern Moravia. The highest point is 1,000 meters above sea level. It's terrain is rolling hillsides, forests, and pastures. This terrain is ideal for hiking, camping, skiing. The Czech Republic lies in the temperate climate zone of Europe, which makes pleasantly mild summers and winters with only moderate amounts of precipitation.
The lowlands temperature average in July is 20 degrees Celsius and in the mountains is 10 degrees Celsius. The lowland temperature average in January is -1 degrees Celsius and in the mountains is -6 degrees Celsius. The Czech Republic has many different kinds of vegetation. Spruce and fir trees are most common in the republic's forests, particularly at higher elevations, while mixed forests of oak, ash, and maple are characteristic in lower zones. The uncultivated lowlands are covered mostly with clover, reeds, and broom grass. Human: In 1997, the Czech Republic had a total population of 10.
3 million people, five million males and 5.3 million females.Three quarters of the people live in urban areas. The population density is 131 inhabitants per sq. kilometer, while the total growth in population in the Czech Republic is 0.
8 persons per 1,000 inhabitants. The capital, Prague, has a population of 1,213,800 people. Until 1994, an outstanding feature of the Czech Republic was its stable population growth, with the exception of the two world wars. Since 1994, however, the population has been decreasing and is expected to have fallen to around 10 million in the year 2020.
After World War II, the number of births fell from over 200,000 a year to less than 150,000 in 1970. In 1974 this figure had increased to 195,000 but by 1996 had fallen gradually to 90,000. The number of new born babies per 1,000 inhabitants was 8.8 % in 1996.
The number of deaths per 1,000 inhabitants gradually increased from World War II until 1983 (13.0%). Since then it has decreased and in 1996 it was only 10.9 %, thus corresponding to western European levels Thanks to its long rich history and the diversity of its natural environment, the Czech Republic is a great attraction to the millions of guests who visit it each year.The jewel in the Czech crown is Prague with its gorgeous and rich architectural styles but the country is also dotted with numerous historical city centers, castles, and chateaux. Outside the urban areas, deep woods, rock formations and limestone caves are among the many interesting sites the Czech Republic has to offer.
Since the Czech lands lie exactly on the border of Eastern and Western Europe, the country has come under the influence of several different cultures throughout the course of history. Each of these influences indelibly marked the face of the country with the architectural or artistic monuments. This accounts for the uniquely rich cultural heritage of this relatively small country.In addition, the Czech lands are extraordinary in Europe due to that they are particularly untouched by the large-scale destruction of war.
The number of people employed in 1996 was 4,941,000. That's about 48% of the country. Human-Environment Interaction: Wildlife is becoming scarce because of pollution and deforestation, but wolf, brown bear, wild boar, wildcat, white eagle, chamois, and fox are found in the mountainous Carpathian region. The most fertile soil is found in northern Bohemia and Moravia.
Coal is the most common and profitable natural resource in the Czech Republic, particularly brown coal and lignite. Increased excavation and use of coal have wreaked environmental havoc on air and water quality, which has subsequently affected the health of the populace. Magnetite, iron ore, and a few nonmetallic minerals are also common in parts of the republic. The terrain is outstanding for downhill and cross-country skiing as well as snowboarding. Unique granite rocks offer varying degrees of scaling difficulty.The terrain also offers many beautiful paths for mountain biking with views of unspoiled nature and historical monuments.
Also ideal conditions for windsurfing and sailing one of the many lakes. Movement: People: The Czech Republic is a land locked country so not much of the transportation relies on oceans or seas. Most of the means of transportation relies on rails and roads. The main intersection for transportation is the capital, Prague.This has created somewhat of an engineering problem caused by the steep hills and valleys surrounding Prague. The Czech Republic also has standard public transportation like busses, cars, trains, and bikes.
The roads in the Czech Republic usually meet the European Standards, but some side roads have problems like not being even, not putting the center line in the center, and misplaced signs. The United States Aviation Administration conducted an assessment in November 1995 of the Czech Republic's aviation department. They found it to be in compliance with their standards.So, as of 1995, you can take a flight from the United States to the Czech Republic. Goods: Russia is one of Czech Republic's main traders.
In the early 1960's U.S.S.R was responsible for more than one third of Czech's imports. Other imports came form Poland, Germany, Hungry, and China.
The main imports are fuels, raw materials, and foodstuffs.The main exports were engineering equipment. Although the Czech is a landlocked country, it has many other waterways like rivers and lakes. Many of the rivers are used to raft logs down them. Some of the rivers prove to be too windy and fast, so rafting logs doesn't always work.
Ideas: Political freedom after the year 1989 resulted in an enormous boom in all types of media, which had been censored for forty years.At present organizations monitoring freedom of the press rank the Czech Republic among those countries with the highest standards of press freedom. The Czech Republic has many types of media. For examples: Daily Periodicals, Weekly/Monthly Periodicals, Radio, Television, and the telephone. The Czech has 90 national/regional dailies, Many magazines, dual state and private broadcasting systems, and in 1996, they had 2,816,000 telephone participants. Regions: Formal: Most of the Czech Republics transportation is connected in the capital, Prague.
All or most of the many roads and rails radiate from this city. Also, the United States of America is connected the Czech Republic by means of the United States of America embassy located in the capital, Prague. If you are in the Czech Republic, United States citizens can go to the embassy to obtain updated information on travel and security within the Czech Republic. All of the cities in the Czech Republic are under the same national laws. The Czech Republic is divided into seven different regions: West Bohemia, North Bohemia, Central Bohemia, East Bohemia, South Bohemia, North Moravia, and South Moravia, they all have some similar attributes and are governed by the same government.
Functional: The Czech Republics communication system therefore has significance for much of the continent. The railways from Vienna and Budapest to Leipzig, Berlin, and Warsaw go through the Czech Republic.The Czechs own and exploit considerable sections of the Elbe and Danube international waterways which are used to transport many goods and people to other places.
