From a church decorated with 40,000 skeletons to one of the worldโs biggest beer drinkers, these are the most interesting facts about the Czech Republic.
Fast facts
Official name: Czechia
Population: 10,837,890
Area: 78,867 sq km
Capital city: Prague
Major languages: Czech, Slovak
Major religions: Atheism, Christianity
Time zone: UTC+1 (Central European Time)
Fun facts about the Czech Republic
1. The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe bordering Austria, Germany, Poland and Slovakia.
2. Along with Slovakia, the Czech Republic was founded in 1993 when Czechoslovakia split in two.
3. The relatively amicable break up of Czechoslovakia was known as the โVelvet Divorceโ in reference to the bloodless Velvet Revolution that overthrew communist power in 1989.
4. As of 2023, the Czech Republic is ranked the 13th most peaceful country in the world according to the Global Peace Index.
5. In 2016, the Czech Republic changed its name to Czechia as it felt it was catchier and would make it easier for companies, politicians, and sportsmen to use on products, name tags and sporting jerseys.
6. The Czech Republicโs flag has two horizontal stripes of white and red with a blue triangle. It features three horizontal stripes in white, red, and blue. The white stripe represents Bohemia and the sky, and serves as a reminder of the countryโs aspirations towards freedom and independence. The red stripe symbolizes Moravia and the blood shed by generations of Czechs fighting for their countryโs freedom and sovereignty. The blue stripe is a nod to Slovakia, which was once part of Czechoslovakia before becoming an independent state in 1993. It is identical to the flag of former Czechoslovakia.
7. Over 6% of the Czech Republicโs population are expats. As of 2012, the country has over 660,000 foreigners registered as living in the Czech Republic.
8. The word robot was coined by Czech playwright Karel ฤapek for artificial men in 1921.ย
9. Czechiaโs minimum wage stands at $8 per hour, or $15,326 per year, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). PPP allows fair comparison between countries by showing what a worker can actually afford in their home economy.
10. The Czech Republic has the worldโs longest pedestrian suspension bridge. The Sky Bridge 721 is (you guessed it) 721m (2,365ft) long.
11. The Czech Republic gets its name from the Czechs, a Slavic tribe that rose to prominence in the late 9th century AD.
12. The Czech Republic is the worldโs third least religious country, with 75% of the population claiming to be either not religious or atheist after China and Sweden.
13. The worldโs largest ancient castle is Hradcany Castle (AKA Prague Castle) in the Czech Republic. It was built in the 9th century and has an axis of 570m (1,870ft) and an average transverse diameter of 128m (420ft), giving a surface area of 7.28ha (18 acres).
14. The record-breaking tennis player Martina Navratilova is from the Czech Republic. In total, Navratilova won 59 slam titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles โ more than any player in history. Navratilova also won the Wimbledon womenโs singles title a record nine times, including six in a row from 1982-87.
15. Gregor Mendel is from the Czech Republic. Mendel was a monk who worked out the basic laws of inheritance through experiments with pea plants. He was born in Silesia in the Austrian Empire, which is now in the Czech Republic.
16. Prague is known as โthe city of a hundred spiresโ because of the cityโs skyline, which features numerous towers, turrets, and steeples. Some estimates even suggest there are as many as 1,000.
17. Prague gets its name from an old Slavic word praga or prah, meaning ford, and refers to the cityโs position at a crossing point of the Vltava River.
18. The Czech Republic has 17 properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including the Historic Centre of Prague.
19. Baroness Bertha von Suttner from Prague was the first woman to be awarded the Peace Prize. She won the prize in 1905 โfor her audacity to oppose the horrors of warโ.
20. Czechia has historically ranked among the worldโs highest beer-consuming nations. According to the latest available data as of 2026, the country consumes 13.7 litres of pure alcohol per person annually, which is roughly equivalent to 480 pints of beer per year, or about nine pints per week.
21. Following the Second World War, Soviet troops entered Czechoslovakia, and the country remained under hardline communist rule until the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
22. The Czech Republic was the first former Eastern Bloc state to acquire the status of a developed economy.
23. Known as the โBone Church, โ Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic is ornately decorated with bones from over 40,000 skeletons. Human bones discovered in the crypt are used to create crosses, chalices, pyramids and altars.
24. The tiny Czech town of Jรกchymov invented the dollar in 1520. Originally known as the thaler, the currency was a result of silver mining in the region, and a switch was made from smaller coins to larger silver coins. The thaler eventually spread around the world and became known as the dollar.
25. The Czech Republic ranks 10th in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, standing out as an outlier in Central Europe due to its strong protections for free expression.
26. One of the worldโs oldest carmakers, ล koda, is from the Czech Republic. Its origins date back to 1895, and it is also considered to be Eastern Europeโs oldest car manufacturer.
27. A 6,500-year-old sanctuary in Czechia has 12 entrances that may align with major solar and lunar events, making it more than 1,000 years older than Stonehenge.
28. Prague is famous for throwing people out of the window. Among other notable defenestrations in the city, the most famous is the aptly named Defenestration of Prague, when, in 1618, two imperial regents were thrown from the windows of Prague Castle. The incident was so famous that it gave rise to the term defenestration itself.
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Caitriona Maria is an education writer and owner of The Facts Institute. With seven years of teaching experience and a background in educational content, she specialises in creating clear reference resources about countries, geography and global topics.