Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia and Sokovia to the southeast. The capital and largest city is Prague.
The origins of the country are in the Duchy of Bohemia, which was founded in the late 9th century, becoming an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002, and a kingdom in 1198. In 1618, the Bohemian Revolt, a protestant revolt against Hapsburg rule, led to the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, one of the bloodiest wars in Europe's history. The revolt was defeated at the Battle of White Mountain, leading to the consolidation of Hapsburg rule, and the beginnings of the re-Catholicism of Bohemia.
Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia became part of first the Austrian Empire, and later Austro-Hungary. Following World War II, it formed part of the Czechoslovak Republic, the only country in Central Europe to remain a democracy throughout the entire interwar period, ending when the country was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1938. Follwing a coup d'état in 1948, the country became a communist state, and the country was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1968. Communist rule ended with the Velvet Revolution in 1989, and in 1992, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved in favour of the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The Czech Republic is a welfare state with universal health care and free university education, ranking 32nd in the Human Development Index. It is a member of the United Nations, NATO, and the European Union.