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Geography
The Czech landscape is quite varied; Bohemia to the west consists of a basin, drained by the Elbe (Czech: Labe) and Vltava rivers, surrounded by mostly low mountains such as the Sudeten with its part Krkonoe, where one also finds the highest point in the country, the Sněka at 1,602 metres (5,256 ft). Moravia, the eastern part, is also quite hilly and is drained predominantly by the Morava river, but also contains the source of the Oder (Czech: Odra) river. Water from the landlocked Czech Republic flows to three different seas: the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Black Sea.The local climate is temperate with warm summers and cold, cloudy, humid winters, typified by a mixture of maritime and continental influences.
Demographics
The majority of the inhabitants of the Czech Republic (95%) are Czechs and speak Czech, a member of the Slavic languages. Minorities include Slovaks, Germans, Roma, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Vietnamese, Poles and Jews. Slovaks in the Czech Republic comprise roughly 2% of the population.
Politics
Politics of the Czech Republic takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sněmovna) and the Senate.
Military
The Czech Armed Forces (Czech: Armáda České republiky) consists of Land and Air Forces and of specialized support units. The country has been a member of NATO since 1999. Military spending is around 1.8% of GDP (2005).
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Europe 
