Prague Czech Republic

Description: Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.4 million people. City has temperate oceanic climate, with relatively warm summers and chilly winters. Prague is a political, cultural, economic hub of central Europe with Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures and rich history.

Population: 1,400,433

Demographics: About 14% of the city’s inhabitants were born outside the Czech Republic, the highest proportion in the country. However, 64.8% of the city’s population self-identified as ethnically Czech, which is slightly higher than the national average of 63.7%. Almost 29% of respondents declined to answer the question on ethnicity at all, so it may be assumed that the real percentage of ethnic Czechs in Prague is considerably higher. The largest ethnic minority are Slovaks, followed by Ukrainians and Russians.

History: The region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c. 1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. Around the fifth and fourth century BC, a Celtic tribe appeared in the area, later establishing settlements, including the largest Celtic oppidum in Bohemia, Závist, in a present-day south suburb Zbraslav in Prague, and naming the region of Bohemia, which means “home of the Boii people”. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes. Around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map drawn by Roman geographer Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the late 5th century AD, during the great Migration Period following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Germanic tribes living in Bohemia moved westwards and, probably in the 6th century, the Slavic tribes settled the Central Bohemian Region. In the following three centuries, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in the Šárka valley, Butovice and Levý Hradec. In 1257, under King Ottokar II, Malá Strana (“Lesser Quarter”) was founded in Prague on the site of an older village in what would become the Hradčany (Prague Castle) area. This was the district of the German people, who had the right to administer the law autonomously, pursuant to Magdeburg rights. The new district was on the bank opposite of the Staré Město (“Old Town”), which had borough status and was bordered by a line of walls and fortifications. Prague flourished during the 14th-century reign (1346–1378) of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the king of Bohemia of the new Luxembourg dynasty. As King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, he transformed Prague into an imperial capital. In the 1470s, Prague had around 70,000 inhabitants, it was the third-largest city in the Holy Roman Empire. Charles IV ordered the building of the New Town (Nové Město) adjacent to the Old Town and laid out the design himself. The Charles Bridge, replacing the Judith Bridge destroyed in the flood just prior to his reign, was erected to connect the east bank districts to the Malá Strana and castle area. In 1400, Prague had 95,000 inhabitants, among largest in Europe after Rome, Paris, Genoa, Constantinople and Venice. In 1526, the Bohemian estates elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg. The fervent Catholicism of its members brought them into conflict in Bohemia, and then in Prague, where Protestant ideas were gaining popularity. These problems were not preeminent under Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, elected King of Bohemia in 1576, who chose Prague as his home. In 1689, a great fire devastated Prague, but this spurred a renovation and a rebuilding of the city. In 1713–14, a major outbreak of plague hit Prague one last time, killing 12,000 to 13,000 people. In 1784, under Joseph II, the four municipalities of Malá Strana, Nové Město, Staré Město, and Hradčany were merged into a single entity. The Jewish district, called Josefov, was included only in 1850. The Industrial Revolution produced great changes and developments in Prague, as new factories could take advantage of the coal mines and ironworks of the nearby regions. A first suburb, Karlín, was created in 1817, and twenty years later the population exceeded 100,000. The revolutions in Europe in 1848 also touched Prague, but they were fiercely suppressed. In the following years, the Czech National Revival began its rise, until it gained the majority in the town council in 1861. Prague had a large number of German speakers in 1848, but by 1880 the number of German speakers had decreased to 14% (42,000), and by 1910 to 6.7% (37,000), due to a massive increase of the city’s overall population caused by the influx of Czechs from the rest of Bohemia and Moravia and the increasing prestige and importance of the Czech language as part of the Czech National Revival. World War I ended with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Prague was chosen as its capital and Prague Castle as the seat of president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. At this time Prague was a true European capital with highly developed industry. By 1930, the population had risen to 850,000. In 1989, after riot police beat back a peaceful student demonstration, the Velvet Revolution crowded the streets of Prague, and the capital of Czechoslovakia benefited greatly from the new mood. In 1992, the Historic Centre of Prague and its monuments were inscribed as a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1993, after the Velvet Divorce, Prague became the capital city of the new Czech Republic. From 1995, high-rise buildings began to be built in Prague in large quantities. In the late 1990s, Prague again became an important cultural center of Europe and was notably influenced by globalisation.

Elevation: 235 m

Climate: Oceanic bordering humid continental climate. Average annual temperature in Prague is 10 C (50 F), the average for July is 18 C (64 F), the average for January is -1 C (30 F).

Attractions: Staromestske Namesti, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, Lesser Town, Lobkowikz Palace, St Vitus Cathedral, Obecini Dum, Hradkany

Airports: Václav Havel Airport Prague PRG

Distance To City Centre: 15 km

Commute Length: 35 min

Average Cost: 55 EUR

Traffic Hours: 7:30 am – 9 am, 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm