Alzbeta

= The Czech Republic =

The Czech Republic is a small country in the middle of the Europe. Since 1.1. 1993 it is officialy called The Czech Republic after The Czechoslovakia was splited into The Czech Republic and Slovakia. The first people, who started to build first houses on this area, were the Slavs in the 7th century, so this country has a very long history.



Flag
The flag of The Czech Republic consits of three colors - red, blue and white, these are also the national colors.



The basic information

 * < Population ||= 10 674 947 ||
 * < Area ||= 78 866 km2 ||


 * Capital ||= Prague ||
 * President ||= Václav Klaus ||
 * Official language ||= Czech ||
 * Ethnic groups ||= 94,2% Czech 5,8% others ||
 * Currency ||= Czech koruna (CZK) ||
 * HDI ||= 0.841 ( very high ) ||

The National Anthem
" Kde domov můj?" = "Where is my home?" [|The Czech Anthem]

Lyrics Kde domov můj, kde domov můj? Voda hučí po lučinách, bory šumí po skalinách, v sadě skví se jara květ, zemský ráj to na pohled! A to je ta krásná země, země česká, domov můj, země česká, domov můj! || **English** Where is my home, where is my home? Water roars across the meadows, Pinewoods rustle among crags, The garden is glorious with spring blossom, Paradise on earth it is to see. And this is that beautiful land, The Czech land, my home, The Czech land, my home. ||
 * **Czech**

** Useful vocabulary **

 * Do you speak English? || Mluvíte anglicky? ||
 * I don't speak Czech. || Nemluvím česky. ||
 * I don't understand. || Nerozumím. ||
 * Thank you. || Děkuji. ||
 * You are welcome. || Není zač./ Prosím. ||
 * Excuse me. || S dovolením. ||
 * I'm sorry. || Promiňte. ||
 * Hello! || Dobrý den! ||
 * Good bye! || Na shledanou! ||
 * I'll have a beer please. || Dám si jedno pivo prosím. ||

Polka
The czech are known for their folk music. They are dancing a special dance, which is called Polka. It is easy to learn how to dance and it is played at the occasion like wedding, carnival, or ball. This genre is specific by 2/4 time signature and it is a pretty fast dance. The how do you dance it is basicly that you skip in the pairs (both partners stand facing to each other, the woman starts with her right leg, man with his left, then they go one and two (left, right, left or right, left, right) and in the another bar they switch the legs so women starts with her left and man with his right foot ). [|polka]

These are the folk costumes that are popular on the carnival.  The instruments that you can hear in this Polka music are clarinet, fiddle, cimbalovka and bass.



Another instrument which is really popular in czech folk music is called Dudy (Bagpipes). It is pretty hard to play this instrument, because you have to keep pushing the air in the sack. An interesting thing about pipes is that it is made from goatskin. The pipes are popular in Blata, Chodsko and Chebsko regions of Bohemia.



There is a lot of popular singers in the Czech republic. For the year 2010 was id Karel Gott and Lucie Bila, who are keeping the places for the best Czech singers for a verz long time. The most sold czech group for year 2010 is the group Kabat.

Food The typical czech food is called **Sirloin**. You can find it in every restaurant or a pub. It consist of bread dumplings, sirloin, and a sirloin sauce. Sometimes you see it with some cranberries and whipped cream on the top. Another popular food is **Fruit dumplings**. This is very sweet food and it consist of dough and the fruit that you put in the dough. On the top you put a quark, sugar and sometimes butter. The third main food that you shouldn´t miss if you would go to the Czech republic is called **Knedlo vepřo zelo** (pork, dumplings and cabbage).

In the Czech republic you also can find some desserts and one special food called **Chlebíček** **Medovník**

**Punčový dort**

**Štrůdl**

**Chlebíčky**

Money
The Czech are not using Euro yet, but the Czech crowns. There are different coins and bills. At every bill is a portrait of somebody important in the Czech history. Rate :
 * = 1 CAD dollar ||= 18,5 Kč ||
 * = 1 Euro ||= 24,8 Kč ||



The school system
Everybody has to go to the school for at least 9 years since the education reform in 18th century, when Maria Theresia have changed it. Students usually study for 13 years and finish the school by graduating. The primary school takes 5-9 years, depends when the child decides to leave the school and go to the high school (In 5, 7 or 9 grade). After the high school which can takes 4, 6 or 8 years the students try to go to the university. usually there are no fees for th university education. The most famous czech university is called Charles university (After the Czech king Charles 4. borned in the 14th century)

** Music in the Czech republic **
A couple of excellent musicians and composers were born in Bohemia or Moravia. One of the most famous is **Antonín Dvořák** (1841-1904), the author of Slavonic Dances and of the symphony From the New World. Another famous composer **Bedřich Smetana** (1824-1884) is the author of the Cycle of Symphonic Poems My Fatherland. Classical music fans probably know other composers **Leos Janáček** and **Zdeněk Fibich**. By the way, the famous song Roll out the Barrel was composed by another Czech **Jaroslav Vejvoda** in 1929.

Smetana Dvořák

**Ema Destinnová** (1878-1930) A great Czech soprano and patriot, also known as Emmy Destinn. She sang at some of the most prestigious opera houses in the world, including the Covent Garden, the Berlin Hofoper, and the New York Metropolitan Opera, and also sang with Enrico Caruso.



Film and Theatre
The Czech film Kolja ("Kolya" in English) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1996. The leading actor of the film Kolja (aside from Kolja himself), **Zdeněk Svěrák**, is the father of the film's director, **Jan Svěrák**.

The Czech film Musíme si pomáhat ("Divided We Fall"), directed by **Jan Hřebejk** (Jan Svěrák's schoolmate from the Prague Film Academy), was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2001.

Other Czech/Czechoslovak films that won or were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film are: Obchod na korze ("The Shop on Main Street", won in 1966), Lásky jedné plavovlásky ("The Loves of a Blonde", nominated in 1967), Ostře sledované vlaky ("Closely Watched Trains", won in 1968), Hoří, má panenko ("The Firemen's Ball", nominated in 1969), Vesničko má středisková ("My Sweet Little Village", nominated in 1985), Obecná škola ("The Elementary School", nominated in 1992).

The Academy Award winning film director **Miloš Forman** (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Hair, Ragtime, Valmont, Amadeus, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon) was born in Czechoslovakia and emigrated to the USA in 1968.

Miloš Forman The Czech Academy Award winning film Ostře sledované vlaky ("Closely Watched Trains") was based on a novel of the same name written by the Czech writer **Bohumil Hrabal** whose other works that were made into films include Postřižiny ("Cutting It Short"), Slavnosti sněženek ("The Snowdrop Festival"), Něžný barbar ("Tender Barbarian"), Skřivánci na niti ("Larks on a String"), Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále ("I Served the King of England").


 * Oskar Schindler** with whom you may be familiar from Spielberg's film Schindler's List was born in a Moravian town called Svitavy (now in Eastern Bohemia) in 1908.

The English playwright **Tom Stoppard**, who received an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love in 1999, was born Thomas Straussler in Zlín, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic).

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 1984 was awarded to the Czech poet **Jaroslav Seifert**.

Ice hockey, soccer and tennis
Czech most popular sports are soccer, hockey and tennis. There is a lot of famous players. It tennis is **Martina Navratilova**, **Ivan Lendl, Tomáš Berdych and** **Nicole Vaidišová**. In soccer games you can know **Pavel Nedvěd** and of course **Petr Čech**, who is playing for the English soccer team Chelsea at this time.

Petr Čech
 * And finally hockey: **

The Czech goalie **Dominik Hašek** (playing for the Buffalo Sabres) was voted NHL Most Valuable Player and awarded the Hart Trophy in 1997 and 1998, the Vezina Trophy in 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998, and the Jennings Trophy in 1994. Czech astronomers have named an **asteroid "Dominik"** after Dominik Hašek to thank the goalie for his contribution in the 1998 Winter Olympics. The **Czech hockey team** won the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and also won the World Ice Hockey Championship in the following three years (1999, 2000, 2001) and in 2005.
 * Patrik Eliáš** is a hockey player, double holder of the Stanley Cup and currently the captain of the New Jersey Devils. On August 31, 2006 Eliáš became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in the Czech Republic.
 * Jaromír Jágr ,** a professional ice-hockey player who played for the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins for several years was born in Kladno, Czechoslovakia.

Hašek Jágr

Did you know?
...The sugar cube was invented in the Czech town Dačice in 1843. ...The word "robot" comes from the Czech language (robota = "work", "hard work" in some dialects) and was first introduced in Karel Čapek's science-fiction play [|R.U.R.] (Rossum's Universal Robots). ...According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the prehistoric settlement of Dolní Věstonice in Southern Moravia is the oldest town in the world. It dates back to 27,000 BC, the Ice Age. ...Sigmund Freud was born and spent the first years of his life in what is now the Czech Republic. ...The soft contact lens was invented in Czechoslovakia by professor Otto Wichterle in 1961. ...The Prague Castle is the largest castle area in the world. Its three courtyards and a number of magnificent buildings cover over 7 hectares (18 acres).



...The word "Czech" is an adjective and therefore should not be used as the abbreviated name of the country. ...The Czech Republic is one of the countries with the highest density of castles in the world. ...The Hethitic language was first deciphered by Czech archaeologist Bedřich Hrozný in 1914. ...The Bata Shoe Organization was founded in Zlín, Czech Republic, in 1894 by Tomáš Baťa and is the largest shoe retailer and manufacturer in the world. ...The town square in České Budějovice is the second largest preserved town square in Europe.



...Ivana Trump is Czech and was born in Gottwaldov (now Zlín), Czech Republic.

Animals
The typical animals that you can find in the Czech republic are cows, deers, hens, and rabbits.



Beer
Beer is probably the most popular product for the Czech. You can drink the beer in evry pub or restaurant, or you can buy it in the superstore. The Czechs are the **#1 beer drinking nation** in the world, consuming the most beer per capita in the world (160 liters or 43 gallons). They have been drinking beer since at least 900 A.D.
 * Pilsner Urquell** is a brand-name Czech beer produced in Plzeň (or Pilsen) and is the original Pilsner.
 * Budweiser** is a brand-name Czech beer produced in České Budějovice (Budweis in German) and is the original Budweiser.
 * Václav Havel**, former president of the Czech Republic, liked to take visiting politicians to Prague pubs.

http://www.czech.cz/en/66719-famous-czech-sportsmen http://www.czechsite.com/czechs. http://www.myczechrepublic.com/basics// http://www.sfinance.cz/osobni-finance/kurzovni-listky/ http://www.google.cz/imghp?hl=cs&tab=wi http://www.youtube.com/