The Czech Republic is situated in the geographic centre of Europe. Its area is 78.866 square kilometres. It is an inland state in the distance of 326 kilometres from the Baltic and 322 kilmetres from the Adriatic sea. It borders on Germany (810 kilometres), Poland (762 kilometres), Austria (466 kilometres) and Slovakia (265 kilometres). The highest point of it is the top od Snezka in the Giant Mountains (1602 metres), the lowest one is a place close by Hrensko on the Elbe (117 metres). The Czech Republic is divided into three countries - Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Its administrative language is Czech. Many people speak partway English and German. Main cities are:Ceske Budejovice, Usti nad Labem,Brno,Havirov,Hradec Kralove,Karlovy Vary, Karvina, Liberec, Lidice, Olomouc, Ostrava, Pardubice, Plzen, Prague, Telc.
Holidays, culture, etc.
New Year?s Day (1 January) is a public holiday and is celebrated with fireworks and parties. Small marzipan pigs, or cards in the shape of pigs, are given out for good luck. Other public holidays include Easter Monday, End of World War II (8 May), the day of Saints Cyril and Methodius (the brothers who introduced Christianity and created the Cyrillic alphabet used before the current Latin one; 5 July), Jan Hus Day (6 July), Founding of the First Republic in 1918 (28 October), and Christmas (25?26 December). On Christmas Eve, a traditional meal of carp is served in honor of the Czechs? Catholic heritage. The carp can be bought live on any street corner in the days before Christmas, and Czechs traditionally keep the carp alive in the bathtub for several days before preparing it to be eaten on Christmas Eve. Vanocka, a fruit bread, is eaten in the days leading to Christmas and during Lent.
January 1 - New Year
Easter Monday
May 1 - The Day of Work
May 8 - The liberation from fascism
July 5 - The advent of Constantine and Method, the apostles of christianity, to Bohemia
July 6 - The Day of Mr. Jan Hus
September 28 - st. Wenceslas
October 28 - The proclamation of the independent Czechoslovak Republic
November 17 - Tha Day of Students
December 24 - Christmas Eve
December 25 - Christmas Day
December 26 - Boxing Day
