Claim: The Czech Republic's capital is its largest city, Prague.

The Czech Republic -LRB- -LSB- ˈtʃɛkiə -RSB- , ; Česko , -LSB- ˈt͡ʃɛsko -RSB- -RRB- , is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west , Austria to the south , Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast . The Czech Republic covers an area of 78866 km2 with a mostly temperate continental climate and oceanic climate . It is a unitary parliamentary republic , has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague , with over 1.2 million residents . The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia , Moravia , and Czech Silesia .   The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire . After the fall of the Empire in 907 , the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty . In 1002 , the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire , becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century . Besides Bohemia itself , the king of Bohemia ruled the lands of the Bohemian Crown , he had a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor , and Prague was the imperial seat in periods between the 14th and 17th century . In the Hussite wars of the 15th century driven by the Protestant Bohemian Reformation , the kingdom faced economic embargoes and defeated five consecutive crusades proclaimed by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church .   Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526 , the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary . The Protestant Bohemian Revolt -LRB- 1618 -- 20 -RRB- against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years ' War . After the Battle of the White Mountain , the Habsburgs consolidated their rule , eradicated Protestantism and reimposed Roman Catholicism , and also adopted a policy of gradual Germanization . With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 , the Bohemian Kingdom became part of the Austrian Empire and the Czech language experienced a revival as a consequence of widespread romantic nationalism . In the 19th century , the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and were subsequently the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia , which was formed in 1918 following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I.   The Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II , and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States . The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war . The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections . Following the 1948 coup d'état , Czechoslovakia became a one-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 in a Soviet-led invasion .   The first separate Czech republic was created on 1 January 1969 , under the name Czech Socialistic Republic within federalization of Czechoslovakia , however the federalization was implemented only incompletely . Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution , when the communist regime collapsed and a democracy and federalization was deepened . On 6 March 1990 , the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic . On 1 January 1993 , Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved , with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic .   The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union -LRB- EU -RRB- in 2004 ; it is a member of the United Nations , the OECD , the OSCE , and the Council of Europe . It is a developed country with an advanced , high income economy and high living standards . The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development . In 2017 , Czech citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 168 countries and territories , ranking the Czech passport 9th in the world -LRB- after 25 other countries -RRB- . The Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country , while achieving strong performance in democratic governance . It has the lowest unemployment rate of EU members .