The population is fairly evenly distributed across the country. Most of the residents live in smaller cities. Prague (Praha) is the only city with over a million residents. Birth rates are low and the proportion of older people in the population is growing. The population is increasing in Prague and in parts of Bohemia. As more people move from the Czech Republic than there, the number of residents has decreased slightly in the 2010s.
The majority of the residents are Czech, of which a small number prefer to call themselves Moors and an even smaller group of Silesians. The largest national minority group is Slovaks. However, almost one in four residents chose not to state nationality in the 2011 census.
- COUNTRYAAH.COM: Key populations estimated size and data of Czech Republic, including population density of how many people per square mile. Also included are facts for population and language.
In reality, the Roma may be the largest minority group. In the 2011 census, only about 12,000 of those polled stated that they were Roma, but according to other calculations, 250,000 to 300,000 Roma live in the Czech Republic. The majority are believed to choose to call themselves Czech because Roma are discriminated against. The Roma are grappling with problems such as sky-high unemployment, low educational attainment and poor housing conditions. The government has adopted several national plans to try to improve the conditions of the Roma, but progress has been poor.
Before World War II, some 120,000 Jews lived in the present Czech Republic. More than 25,000 Jews escaped and thus escaped the Nazi extermination camps. Of the others, only 14,000 survived. Today, 10,000 Jews are estimated to live in the Czech Republic.
After the war, between two million and three million so-called Sudetis (see Modern History) were deported, who mainly lived in the western parts, and their property was seized.
In 2014, some 440,000 foreign nationals resided in the country. Most of them were Ukrainians (26 percent), Slovaks (19 percent), Vietnamese (19 percent), Russians, Poles and Germans.
Because of its central location, the Czech Republic in the 1990s became a transit country for people trying to get to Western Europe. After the country became an EU member in 2004, few people have applied for asylum in the country, although there has been some increase from 2014. The Czech Republic has received criticism from human rights organizations for its strict asylum policy (see Current policy). Both UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and the Council of Europe have criticized the Czech Republic for routinely blocking refugees for up to 90 days under adverse conditions. In 2015, more than 1,200 asylum seekers arrived, almost half of whom came from Ukraine. Syrians and Cubans were each the second largest group with 9 percent.
Like the closely related Slovak, the Czech is a West Slavic language written in Latin letters. The language has many German loan words.
Czech pronunciation rules
Á á = far a, C c = ts, Č č = tj, with clear t, Ď ď = dj, with clear d, É é = approximately as ä, Ě ě = je, Í í = far i, Ň ň = nj, Ó ó = far y, Ř ř = much like “rge” in bourgeoisie, Š š = sch, Ť ť = tj, with clear t, but softer than č, Ú ú = far o, Ý ý = far in, Ž ž = toning sch, as in French je
FACTS – POPULATION AND LANGUAGE
Population
A clear majority of Czechs, minorities of Slovaks, Ukrainians, Poles, Vietnamese and Germans (almost every fourth resident chose not to state nationality at the 2011 census)
Number of residents
10 591 323 (2017)
Number of residents per square kilometer
137 (2017)
Percentage of residents in the cities
73.7 percent (2017)
Nativity / birth
10.7 per 1000 residents (2016)
Mortality / mortality
10.2 per 1000 residents (2016)
POPULATION GROWTH
0.2 percent (2017)
fertility rate
1.6 number of children born per woman (2016)
Percentage of women
50.8 percent (2017)
Life expectancy
78 years (2016)
Life expectancy for women
81 years (2016)
Life expectancy for men
76 years (2016)
Language
Czech is officially language 1
- Otherwise spoken include German, Slovak, Romani, Polish and UkrainianSources
2012
December
The Minister of Defense is allowed to go
Karolína Peake is dismissed after a week in the post of Minister of Defense. She is the tenth minister who has been forced to resign since the coalition government took office in 2010. However, Peake remains as deputy prime minister.
September
Liquor is prohibited after death
The government bans all liquor sales with more than 20 percent alcohol content since 19 people died of illegal liquor with life-threatening methanol. Black liquor is estimated to account for up to one fifth of all liquor sales in the Czech Republic. At the same time, the Czech Republic can be regarded as one of Europe’s most drug-liberal countries. Since January 2010, it is permissible to hold small amounts of heroin, cocaine and LSD.
May
A new bourgeois party is formed
A new party, the Liberal Democrats, called Lidem (“For the People”) is founded by Karolína Peake since she left the VV. Several of the founders come from the VV.
Savings packages are assumed
The government formally approves a savings package that includes, among other things, reduced pensions.
April
Protests against savings policy
Major trade union-led protests are being held against the government’s plans for tax increases and welfare cuts. Nearly 100,000 protesters are participating in Prague. The protests also target widespread corruption in society.
Former minister is convicted of corruption
Former Minister of Transport Vít Bárta from the VV is sentenced to conditional prison sentence for corruption.
March
The Czech Republic says no to the EU financial pact
The Czech government, like the UK, chooses to remain outside the financial pact signed by the other EU leaders for the time being. The purpose of the Pact is to strengthen the Member States’ budgetary discipline and prevent new debt crises.
February
Direct election of the president is introduced
The Senate approves a proposal for constitutional reform, which means that the President of the Czech Republic will in the future be elected directly by the people, instead of as before by Parliament. The incumbent President Václav Klaus opposes the reform.
January
Ukrainian opposition leader is granted asylum
Imprisoned Ukrainian opposition leader Julia Tymoshenko’s husband, Oleksandr Tymoshenko, is granted political asylum in the Czech Republic (see Ukraine: Calendar).
Confiscated property is returned to the Catholic Church
After a tough political battle, the government decides that property confiscated by the former communist regime should be returned to the Catholic Church for a 30-year period. In addition, the church will receive compensation with the equivalent of close to SEK 2.5 billion.