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Czech Republic 2013

Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The ‘Czech Republic’ brings to mind the urban, architectural splendors of Prague, the folk-inspired compositions of Dvorak, the emboldened reforms of the Velvet Revolution. A leisurely trip through the rolling green hills of the Czech countryside, however, reveals yet another aspect of this picturesque land — its farming communities where one might come upon a farmer feeding her ducks much as her forebears have done for centuries. It is, though, a way of life in decline as farm prices make it hard to make ends meet and young people, feeling the pull of bright city lights, leave the land behind.
Photo © 2008 Harlen Persinger

Czech Republic/Ceská Republika
Central Europe, between Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria. Bohemia (west) rolling plains, hills and plateaus surrounded by low mountains, Moravia (east) very hilly. 78,867 km2 (slightly < SC), 39% arable.

Capital Prague (1.2M).

Population 10M (129km2).

Life expectancy 77 years.

HIV/AIDS < 0.1%.

Literacy 99%.

Lang(s) Czech 95%, Slovak 2%, other 2%, unspecified 1%.

Religions Roman Catholic 27%, Protestant 2%, other 3%, unspeci­fied 9%, unaffiliated 59%.

Ethnic Groups Czech 90%, Moravian 4%, Slovak 2%, other 4%.

Gov’t Parliamentary Democracy
GDP/cap $25,900.

PCVs 1990-97; business, education, environment, health. Volunteers to date: 234.

Nat’l holiday Czechoslovak Founding Day, 28 October (1918)

Adult Books

The Twelve Little Cakes
by Dominika Dery

Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Trade; Softcover Ed edition (October 4, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1594481390

Book Description
In this memoir, published in 2004, poet and playwright Dominika Dery tells of her life growing up in a village near Prague in the 1970s, as the daughter of dissidents in the wake of the 1968 "Prague Spring".

Kids' Books

The Three Golden Keys
by Peter Sis

Format: Hardcover, unpaged
ISBN-10: 0-385-47292-7
Age Range: 6–9 years
Publisher: New York: Doubleday, 1994

Films

Film: The Firemen's Ball (Hori, ma panenko)
Director: Milos Forman (1967)

Music

Focus Word

Focus Word for 2013 - "Friendship"

Czech: Pátelství (prah-tell-stvee)
Slovak: Priatel’stvo (pria-tell-stvoh)

Kralice egg design.
Copyright © Julie Olsen

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