The 1991 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

#_Long-form name: Czech and Slovak Federal Republic; note—on 23 March 1990 the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was renamed the Czechoslovak Federative Republic; Slovak concerns about their status in the federation prompted the Federal Assembly to approve the name Czech and Slovak Federative Republic on 20 April 1990; on 23 April 1990 the name was modified to Czech and Slovak Federal Republic

      _#_Type: federal republic in transition to a confederative republic

      _#_Capital: Prague

      _#_Administrative divisions: 2 republics (republiky, singular—republika); Czech Republic (Ceska Republika), Slovak Republic (Slovenska Republika)

      _#_Independence: 28 October 1918 (from Austro-Hungarian Empire)

      _#_Constitution: 11 July 1960; amended in 1968 and 1970; new Czech, Slovak, and federal constitutions to be drafted in 1991–92

      _#_Legal system: civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes, modified by Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code in process of modification to bring it in line with Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory

      _#_National holiday: National Liberation Day, 9 May (1945) and Founding of the Republic, 28 October (1918)

      _#_Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet

      _#_Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly (Federalni

       Shromazdeni) consists of an upper house or Chamber of Nations

       (Snemovna Narodu) and a lower house or Chamber of the People

       (Snemovna Lidu)

      _#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court

      _#_Leaders:

      Chief of State—President Vaclav HAVEL; (interim president from 29 December 1989 and president since 5 July 1990);

      Head of Government—Premier Marian CALFA (since

       10 December 1989);

       Deputy Premier Vaclav VALES (since 28 June 1990);

       Deputy Premier Jiri DIENSTBIER (since 28 June 1990);

       Deputy Premier Jozef MIKLOSKO (since 28 June 1990);

       Deputy Premier Pavel RYCHETSKY (since 28 June 1990)

      _#_Political parties and leaders: Civic Forum, Vaclav KLAUS, chairman; Public Against Violence, Fedor GAL, chairman; Christian and Democratic Union, Vaclav BENDA; Christian Democratic Movement, Jan CARNOGURSKY; Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), Pavol KANIS, chairman; KSC toppled from power in November 1989 by massive antiregime demonstrations, minority role in coalition government since 10 December 1989

      _#_Suffrage: universal at age 18

      _#_Elections:

      President—last held 5 July 1990 (next to be held July 1992); results—Vaclav HAVEL elected by the Federal Assembly;

      Federal Assembly—last held 8–9 June 1990 (next to be held June 1992); results—Civic Forum/Public Against Violence coalition 46%, KSC 13.6%; seats—(300 total) Civic Forum/Public Against Violence coalition 170, KSC 47, Christian and Democratic Union/Christian Democratic Movement 40, Czech, Slovak, Moravian, and Hungarian groups 43

      _#_Communists: 760,000 party members (September 1990); about 1,000,000 members lost since November 1989

      _#_Other political or pressure groups: Czechoslovak Socialist Party, Czechoslovak People's Party, Czechoslovak Social Democracy, Slovak Nationalist Party, Slovak Revival Party, Christian Democratic Party; over 80 registered political groups fielded candidates in the 8–9 June 1990 legislative election

      _#_Member of: BIS, CCC, CSCE, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, IIB, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

      _#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Rita KLIMOVA; Chancery at 3900 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone [phone] or 6316;

      US—Ambassador Shirley Temple BLACK; Embassy at Trziste 15, 125 48, Prague 1 (mailing address is AMEM, Box 5630, APO New York 09213–5630); telephone [42] (2) 536641 through 536649

      _#_Flag: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side

      _*Economy #_Overview: Czechoslovakia is highly industrialized and has a well-educated and skilled labor force. Its industry, transport, energy sources, banking, and most other means of production are state owned. The country is deficient, however, in energy and in many raw materials. Moreover, its aging capital plant lags well behind West European standards. Industry contributes almost 50% to GNP and construction contributes 10%. About 95% of agricultural land is in collectives or state farms. The centrally planned economy has been tightly linked in trade (80%) to the USSR and Eastern Europe. Growth has been sluggish, averaging less than 2% in the period 1982–89. GNP per capita is the highest in Eastern Europe. As in the rest of Eastern Europe, the sweeping political changes of 1989–90 have been disrupting normal channels of supply and compounding the government's economic problems. Having eased restrictions on private enterprise in 1990 and having adjusted some key prices, Czechoslovakia is now implementing a broad two-year program to make the difficult transition from a command to a market economy. Inflation and unemployment are beginning to rise, albeit from comparatively low levels.

      _#_GNP: $120.3 billion, per capita $7,700; real growth rate - 2.9% (1990 est.)

      _#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9% (1990 est.)

      _#_Unemployment rate: officially 0.8% (1990)

      _#_Budget: revenues $17.1 billion; expenditures $16.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.5 billion (1991)

      _#_Exports: $14.4 billion (f.o.b., 1989);

      commodities—machinery and equipment 42.7%; fuels, minerals, and metals 16.4%; agricultural and forestry products 12.5%, other 28.4%;

      partners—USSR, GDR, Poland, Hungary, FRG, Yugoslavia, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, US

      _#_Imports: $14.3 billion (f.o.b., 1989);

      commodities—machinery and equipment 38.6%; fuels, minerals, and metals 24.1%; agricultural and forestry products 16.4%; other 20.9%;

      partners—USSR, GDR, Poland, Hungary, FRG, Yugoslavia, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, US

      _#_External debt: $7.6 billion, hard currency indebtedness (September 1990)

      _#_Industrial production: growth rate - 3.3% (1990 est.); accounts for almost 50% of GDP

      _#_Electricity: 23,000,000 kW capacity; 90,000 million kWh produced, 5,740 kWh per capita (1990)

      _#_Industries: iron and steel, machinery and equipment, cement, sheet glass, motor vehicles, armaments, chemicals, ceramics, wood, paper products, footwear