Transcript PowerPoint

WACRA 2005
Brno, Czech Republic
July 3 - 6, 2005
Capital
Conference site
Where we are
Czech Republic - history
rich, complicated, and ancient
 4th century B.C. – Celts
 End of the 5th and beginning of the 6th
century - arrival of Slavs
 First unified „state“ - 7th century – Frankish
merchant Samo (Greater Moravian Empire)
 1346-1378 - the peak in the prestige and
power of the kingdom of Bohemia during the
reign of Charles IV

Czech Republic - history
Beginning of the 15th century – crisis of
state, Hussite movement
 1526 - the Habsburg dynasty – formation of
a multi-national empire
 1620 – defeat of Bohemian Estates (Battle of
White Mountain), continued centralization
 28th October, 1918 – foundation of an
independent state of Czechs and Slovaks
 March 1939 – May 1945 – German
occupation
 February 1948 – Communist takeover

Czech Republic - history

August 1968 – Soviet-led invasion by Warsaw Pact
countries brings an end to the "Prague Spring" and
an attempt to build "Socialism with a human face"
Czech Republic - history
November 1989 - fall of the Communist regime
 1.1. 1993 Czech Republic founded after the split
of Czechoslovakia

Czech Republic - geography
landlocked; strategically located astride some of
oldest and most significant land routes in
Europe; (traditional military corridor between
the North European Plain and the Danube)
 Area - 78,866 sq km (slightly smaller than South
Carolina)
 Elevation extremes:

– lowest point: Elbe River 115 m
highest point: Snezka 1,602 m (5 254 ft)

Land use:
– arable land: 40%
permanent crops: 3.04%
other: 56.96% (1998 est.)
Czech Republic - climate

Weather: continental influences marked by
large fluctuations in both temperature and
precipitation,
– The mean annual temperature 45º F (7º C) to
48º F (9º C).
– High temperatures (July) can reach 91º F
(33ºC),
– Low temperatures (February) may drop to 1º F
(-17º C).
Czech Republic - people
Population: 10,249,216
 Median age: 38.4 years
 Life expectancy: 75.18 years
 Population growth rate: -0.08 %
 Ethnic groups: Czech (Bohemian) 81.2%,
Moravian 13.2%

Bohemians
Moravians
Czech Republic - government
Capital: Prague
 Government type: parliamentary democracy
 Suffrage: 18 years of age, universal
 chief of state: President Vaclav KLAUS
(since March 2003)
note: the Czech Republic's first president
Vaclav HAVEL stepped down from office in
February 2003 having served 10 years;
cabinet: coalition of Social democrats,
Cristian democrats and Liberty union

Czech Republic - economy

GDP per capita: $ 15,500
– agriculture: 3.8%
industry: 41%
services: 55.2%
Inflation rate: 0.6%
 Unemployment: 10 %
 Currency: CZK (Czech koruna)
 Exchange rate: USD 1.00 = CZK 26.00

Famous Czechs – sportsmen

Ice-hockey
Jaromir Jagr
Dominik Hasek
Famous Czechs – sportsmen

Tennis
Martina Navratilova
Ivan Lendl
Famous Czechs – sportsmen

Athletics
Emil Zatopek
Famous Czechs – sportsmen

Gymnastics
Vera Caslavska
Famous Czechs – Nobel Prize

Jaroslav Heyrovsky –
polarography
(chemistry)

Jaroslav Seifert – poet
(literature)
Famous Czechs – writers

Milan Kundera
(Unbearable lightness
of being, The joke)

Fanz Kafka (The
Trial, The Castle)
Famous Czechs – composers

Bedrich Smetana (My
fatherland)

Antonin Dvorak
(Slavonic dances,
From the New World)
Brno
400,000 inhabitants
 6 universities, almost 40,000 students
 Two dominants:

– Gothic castle from the 13th century - Spilberk
– St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral built in the 14th
century (Petrov Hill)
Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul
Spilberk Castle
Mendel Universiy
founded in 1919
 Faculties:
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–
–
–
–
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Agriculture (*1950);
Forestry and Wood Technology (*1950);
Horticulture (*1985);
Business and Economics (*1959).
Faculty of Business and Economics:
– Currently 88 teachers and 2150 students
– Three-level education (Bc., MSc., PhD)
– 3 study programmes: Management and Economics,
Economic policy and public administration, System
engineering and informatics.
Conference places
Lednice
Conference places
Olomouc
Austerlitz
Tour
Moravian karst
(caves)
UNESCO
Namest nad Oslavou
heritage
sites
Telc
Hluboka
Karlstejn
PRAGUE
Brno – ideal site for WACRA