nse expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $457 million, 5.6% of
GDP (1995)

________________________________________________________________________

CZECH REPUBLIC

@Czech Republic:Geography

Location: Central Europe, southeast of Germany

Map references: Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe

Area:
total area: 78,703 sq km
land area: 78,645 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than South Carolina

Land boundaries: total 1,880 km, Austria 362 km, Germany 646 km,
Poland 658 km, Slovakia 214 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none; landlocked

International disputes: Liechtenstein claims restitution for l,600
square kilometers of Czech territory confiscated from its royal family
in 1918; Sudeten German claims for restitution of property confiscated
in connection with their expulsion after World War II versus the Czech
Republic claims that restitution does not preceed before February 1948
when the Communists seized power; unresolved property issues with
Slovakia over redistribution of property of the former Czechoslovak
federal government

Climate: temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters

Terrain: two main regions: Bohemia in the west, consisting of rolling
plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; and Moravia
in the east, consisting of very hilly country

Natural resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite

Land use:
arable land: NA%
permanent crops: NA%
meadows and pastures: NA%
forest and woodland: NA%
other: NA%

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Environment:
current issues: air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia
centered around Zeplica and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present
health risks; acid rain damaging forests
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air
Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea

Note: landlocked; strategically located astride some of oldest and
most significant land routes in Europe; Moravian Gate is a traditional
military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in
central Europe

@Czech Republic:People