Elevation extremes: lowest point: Elbe River 115 m highest point: Snezka 1,602 m
Natural resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber
Land use: arable land: 40% permanent crops: 3.04% other: 56.96% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
240 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
flooding
Environment - current issues: air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks; acid rain damaging forests; efforts to bring industry up to EU code should improve domestic pollution
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol
Geography - 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
People Czech Republic
Population:
10,249,216 (July 2003 est.)