The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Germany to the north-west and west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the north-east. Prague is the capital and largest city, with 1.3 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia and Moravia, and Czech Silesia The Czech state, formerly known as Bohemia (Čechy), was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia, at that time under the dominance of the powerful Great Moravian Empire. In the 19th century the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and the core of the Republic ofCzechoslovakia , which was formed in 1918 following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I. After 1933, Czechoslovakia remained the only democracy in central Europe. Following the Munich Agreement and the Polish annexation of Zaolzie, Czechoslovakia fell under German occupation during World War II. By 1945, a major portion of the country was liberated by the Red Army, and the subsequent gratitude towards the Soviets, combined with disillusionment with the West for failing to intervene, led the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia to victory in the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup d'état, Czechoslovakia became a single-party communist state under Soviet influence. In 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended with an invasion by the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries (with the exception of Romania). Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution , when the communist regime collapsed and a multiparty parliamentary republic was formed. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia . The Czech Republic is a developed country with advanced high income economy and high living standards.
