GEOGRAPHY
Location:
Central Europe, southeast of Germany
Geographic coordinates: 49
45 N, 15 30 E
Map references: Europe
Area:
total: 78,866 sq km
land: 77,276 sq km
water: 1,590 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly
smaller than South Carolina
Land boundaries:
total: 1,881 km
border countries: Austria 362 km, Germany 646 km, Poland
658 km, Slovakia 215 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: temperate; cool
summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
Terrain: Bohemia in the west
consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by
low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country
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: 41%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 11%
forests and woodland: 34%
other: 12% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 240 sq km
(1993 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
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,
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, Climate Change-Kyoto
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.
