The Czech Republic is a country in central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west. Prague is the capital and largest city. Most of the people in the Czech Republic belong to a Slavic group called Czechs.

Two regions - Bohemia in the west and Moravia in the east-make up most of the republic. The country also includes a small part of a region called Silesia, which extends from the northern section of the Czech Republic into Poland.

The area that is now the Czech Republic has been an industrial center since the 1800's. In 1918, at the end of World War I, the area became part of the newly created nation of Czechoslovakia. From 1948 until 1989, when Communists ruled Czechoslovakia, the nation's people had one of the highest standards of living in Communist central and eastern Europe. However, their prosperity declined in the 1980's, and dissatisfaction with the Communist government grew. In 1989, after mass protests, the country's top Communist leaders resigned. Non-Communists took over the Czechoslovak government. Soon after the Communists left office, tensions began to build between Czechoslovakia's two main ethnic groups, the Czechs and the Slovaks. In mid-1992, Czech and Slovak leaders decided to split Czechoslovakia into two nations, one for Czechs and one for Slovaks. On Jan. 1, 1993, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were formed to replace Czechoslovakia.