ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Czech Republic. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Czech Republic. In 2001, the Czech Republic continued to fulfill requirements for membership in the European Union (EU), which the country expects to join early this decade. The Czech Republic has a solid record of free and fair elections. The Czech Republic's Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms gives minorities the right to help resolve matters retaining to their group. Freedom of expression is honored in the Czech Republic, although the Charter prohibits threats against individual rights, state and public security, public health, and morality.
