Czech Republic: Government#

Country nameconventional long form: Czech Republic
conventional short form: Czechia
local long form: Ceska republika
local short form: Cesko
etymology: name derives from the Czechs, a West Slavic tribe who rose to prominence in the late 9th century A.D.
Government typeparliamentary republic
CapitalPrague 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
Administrative divisions13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky (South Bohemia), Jihomoravsky (South Moravia), Karlovarsky (Karlovy Vary), Kralovehradecky (Hradec Kralove), Liberecky (Liberec), Moravskoslezsky (Moravia-Silesia), Olomoucky (Olomouc), Pardubicky (Pardubice), Plzensky (Pilsen), Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky (Central Bohemia), Ustecky (Usti), Vysocina (Highlands), Zlinsky (Zlin)
Independence1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia); note - although 1 January is the day the Czech Republic came into being, the Czechs commemorate 28 October 1918, the day the former Czechoslovakia declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as their independence day
National holidayCzechoslovak Founding Day, 28 October (1918)
Constitutionhistory: previous 1960; latest ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993
amendments: passage requires three-fifths concurrence by members present in both houses of Parliament; amended several times, last in 2013 (2016)
Legal systemnew civil code enacted in 2014, replacing civil code of 1964 - based on former Austro-Hungarian civil codes and socialist theory - and reintroducing former Czech legal terminology
International law organization participationhas not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenshipcitizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of the Czech Republic
dual citizenship recognized: no
residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Suffrage18 years of age; universal
Executive branchchief of state: President Milos ZEMAN (since 8 March 2013)
head of government: Prime Minister Bohuslav SOBOTKA (since 17 January 2014); First Deputy Prime Minister Andrej BABIS and Deputy Prime Minister Pavel BELOBRADEK (both since 29 January 2014)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (limited to 2 consecutive terms); elections last held on 11-12 January 2013 with a runoff on 25-26 January 2013 (next to be held in January 2018); prime minister appointed by the president for a 4-year term
election results: Milos ZEMAN elected president; percent of popular vote - Milos ZEMAN (SPO) 54.8%, Karel SCHWARZENBERG (TOP 09) 45.2%
Legislative branchdescription: bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (81 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in two rounds if needed; members serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held in two rounds on 7-8 and 14-15 October 2016 (next to be held in October 2018); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 25-26 October 2013 (next to be held in 2017)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party as of 15 October 2016 - CSSD 25, KDU-CSL 14, ODS 9, ANO 2011 7, STAN 5, SZ 4, TOP 09 2, SLK 2, S.cz. 2, KSCM 1, Nestranici 1, Citizens Together 1, SsCR 1, Pirate 1, Patriotic Citizens 1, Movement for Prague 1, SPO 1, Ostravak 1, independent 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - CSSD 20.5%, ANO 2011 18.7%, KSCM 14.9%, TOP 09 12%, ODS 7.7%, Usvit 6.9%, KDU-CSL 6.8% other 12.5%; seats by party - CSSD 50, ANO 2011 47, KSCM 33, TOP 09 + STAN 26, ODS 16, KDU-CSL 14, Usvit 8, independent 6
Judicial branchhighest court(s): Supreme Court (organized into Civil Law and Commercial Division, and Criminal Division each with a court chief justice, vice justice, and several judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 15 justices); Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 28 judges)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges proposed by the Chamber of Deputies and appointed by the president; judges appointed for life; Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate; judges appointed for 10-year, renewable terms; Supreme Administrative Court judges selected by the president of the Court; judge term unlimited
subordinate courts: High Court; superior, regional, and district courts
Political parties and leadersparties in parliament: ANO 2011 or ANO (Andrej BABIS)
Citizens Together
Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL (Pavel BELOBRADEK)
Civic Democratic Party or ODS (Petr FIALA)
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM (Vojtech FILIP)
Czech Pirate Party (Ivan BARTOS)
Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD (Bohuslav SOBOTKA)
Freeholder or SsCR (Petr BAJER)
Green Party or SZ (Matej STROPNICKY)
Liberal Reform Party or Ostravak (Eva SCHWARZOVA)
Mayors and Independents or STAN (Petr GAZDIK)
Mayors for Liberec Region or SLK (Marek PIETER)
Movement for Prague
Nestranici (Independents) or NK (Vera RYBOVA)
North Bohemians or S.cz (Bronislav SCHWARZ)
Ostravak (Magdalena KOZUBOVA, sec.)
Party of Civic Rights or SPO (Jan VELEBA)
Patriotic Citizens
Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 or TOP 09 (Miroslav KALOUSEK)
parties outside parliament: Dawn - National Coalition or Usvit (Miroslav LIDINSKY)
Free Citizens Party or Svobodni (Petr MACH)
Freedom and Direct Democracy or SPD (Tomio OKAMURA)
Political pressure groups and leadersCzech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS (Josef STREDULA)
International organization participationAustralia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the USchief of mission: Ambassador Petr GANDALOVIC (since 23 May 2011)
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
Diplomatic representation from the USchief of mission: Ambassador Andrew H. SCHAPIRO (since 30 September 2014)
embassy: Trziste 15, 118 01 Prague 1 - Mala Strana
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: (420) 257 022 000
FAX: (420) 257 022 809
Flag descriptiontwo equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side
note: is identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia
National symbol(s)double-tailed lion; national colors: white, red, blue
National anthemname: "Kde domov muj?" (Where is My Home?)
lyrics/music: Josef Kajetan TYL/Frantisek Jan SKROUP

note: adopted 1993; the anthem was originally written as incidental music to the play "Fidlovacka" (1834), it soon became very popular as an unofficial anthem of the Czech nation; its first verse served as the official Czechoslovak anthem beginning in 1918, while the second verse (Slovak) was dropped after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993