Demographics of the Czech Republic

This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Czech Republic, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Population

Population of the Czech Republic, Data of FAO, year 2009 ; Number of inhabitants in millions.

With an estimated population of 10,542,080 at 30 June 2011, compared to 9.3 million at the beginning of the twentieth century, the population growth of the Czech Republic was limited and characterized by low fertility rates and loss of population in and around WW I and WW II. Population loss during WW I was approximately 350,000. At the beginning of WW II population the Czech Republic reached its maximum (11.2 million). Due to the expulsion of the German residents after WW II the Czech Republic lost about 3 million inhabitants and in 1947 the population was only 8.8 million. Population growth resumed until 1994 when the population was 10.3 million. From 1994-2005 natural growth was negative and the population decreased to 10.2 million. Since 2006, natural growth has been positive, but the most important factor for the recent population of the Czech Republic has been immigration, approximately 300,000 during the last decade.

Population census

Population of the Czech Republic

Census date	population
31 Dec 1857	7 016 531
31 Dec 1869	7 617 230
31 Dec 1880	8 222 013
31 Dec 1890	8 665 421
31 Dec 1900	9 372 214
31 Dec 1910	10 078 637
15 Feb 1921	10 009 587
1 Dec 1930	10 674 386
1 Mar 1950	8 896 133
1 Mar 1961	9 571 531
1 Dec 1970	9 807 697
1 Nov 1980	10 291 927
3 Mar 1991	10 302 215
1 Mar 2001	10 230 060

The following statistics on age structure and sex ration are from the CIA World Factbook.

Age structure

2007
0–14 years: 14.2% (male 758,305; female 718,618)
15–64 years: 71.2% (male 3,726,148; female 3,665,225)
65 years and over: 14.6% (male 598,481; female 914,353)

2006
0–14 years: 14.4% (male 760,065; female 719,449)
15–64 years: 71.2% (male 3,683,215; female 3,642,023)
65 years and over: 14.4% (male 582,904; female 899,533)

2005
0–14 years: 14.7% (male 773,028; female 731,833)
15–64 years: 71.1% (male 3,651,018; female 3,627,006)
65 years and over: 14.2% (male 565,374; female 892,879)

2004
0–14 years: 14.9% (male 784,186; female 742,760)
15–64 years: 71.0% (male 3,638,782; female 3,620,219)
65 years and over: 14.0% (male 557,945; female 876,685)

2003
0–14 years: 15.2% (male 797,847; female 756,628)
15–64 years: 70.8% (male 3,625,092; female 3,608,696)
65 years and over: 13.9% (male 551,801; female 871,391)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

Vital statistics

Births and deaths^[1]

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)
1900	9 334	330 662	227 920	102 742	35.4	24.4	11.0
1901	9 405	325 514	221 052	104 462	34.6	23.5	11.1
1902	9 475	333 619	222 457	111 162	35.2	23.5	11.7
1903	9 545	318 275	218 448	99 827	33.3	22.9	10.5
1904	9 615	319 433	222 276	97 157	33.2	23.1	10.1
1905	9 685	300 414	232 999	67 415	31.0	24.1	7.0
1906	9 754	313 449	203 182	110 267	32.1	20.8	11.3
1907	9 825	306 356	210 721	95 635	31.2	21.4	9.7
1908	9 895	308 504	210 101	98 403	31.2	21.2	9.9
1909	9 965	305 426	210 047	95 379	30.6	21.1	9.6
1910	10 036	295 617	196 728	98 889	29.5	19.6	9.9
1911	10 099	289 058	206 266	82 792	28.6	20.4	8.2
1912	10 157	280 368	203 324	77 044	27.6	20.0	7.6
1913	10 221	275 060	190 475	84 585	26.9	18.6	8.3
1914	10 283	269 142	188 838	80 304	26.2	18.4	7.8
1915	10 286	197 542	201 280	-3 738	19.2	19.6	-0.4
1916	10 222	140 211	186 381	-46 170	13.7	18.2	-4.5
1917	10 128	126 916	188 649	-61 733	12.5	18.6	-6.1
1918	10 004	120 579	236 035	-115 456	12.1	23.6	-11.5
1919	9 922	189 675	177 428	12 247	19.1	17.9	1.2
1920	9 978	244 668	176 562	68 106	24.5	17.7	6.8
1921	10 002	257 281	161 321	95 960	25.7	16.1	9.6
1922	10 113	248 728	163 366	85 362	24.6	16.2	8.4
1923	10 198	241 230	142 335	98 895	23.7	14.0	9.7
1924	10 278	228 894	146 098	82 796	22.3	14.2	8.1
1925	10 370	225 555	146 450	79 105	21.8	14.1	7.6
1926	10 443	219 802	148 298	71 504	21.0	14.2	6.8
1927	10 496	208 711	155 479	53 232	19.9	14.8	5.1
1928	10 549	208 942	147 064	61 878	19.8	13.9	5.9
1929	10 598	203 064	155 493	47 571	19.2	14.7	4.5
1930	10 648	207 224	142 159	65 065	19.5	13.4	6.1
1931	10 702	196 214	144 534	51 680	18.3	13.5	4.8
1932	10 750	190 397	142 997	47 400	17.7	13.3	4.4
1933	10 791	176 201	140 906	35 295	16.3	13.1	3.3
1934	10 826	171 042	135 914	35 128	15.8	12.6	3.2
1935	10 853	161 748	140 878	20 870	14.9	13.0	1.9
1936	10 873	157 992	139 093	18 899	14.5	12.8	1.7
1937	10 889	155 996	139 558	16 438	14.3	12.8	1.5
1938	10 877	163 525	143 115	20 410	15.0	13.2	1.9
1939	11 106	192 344	146 976	45 368	17.3	13.2	4.1
1940	11 160	218 043	153 499	64 544	19.5	13.8	5.8
1941	11 129	208 913	152 048	56 865	18.8	13.7	5.1
1942	11 054	199 259	153 096	46 163	18.0	13.8	4.2
1943	11 035	225 379	153 349	72 030	20.4	13.9	6.5
1944	11 109	230 183	161 457	68 726	20.7	14.5	6.2
1945	10 693	194 182	184 944	9 238	18.2	17.3	0.9
1946	9 523	210 454	134 568	75 886	22.1	14.1	8.0
1947	8 765	206 745	105 277	101 468	23.6	12.0	11.6
1948	8 893	197 837	101 501	96 336	22.2	11.4	10.8
1949	8 893	185 484	104 632	80 852	20.9	11.8	9.1
1950	8 930	188 341	103 203	85 138	21.1	11.6	9.5
1951	9 000	185 570	102 658	82 912	20.6	11.4	9.2
1952	9 075	180 143	97 726	82 417	19.9	10.8	9.1
1953	9 140	172 547	98 837	73 710	18.9	10.8	8.1
1954	9 200	168 402	99 636	68 766	18.3	10.8	7.5
1955	9 270	165 874	93 300	72 574	17.9	10.1	7.8
1956	9 330	162 509	93 526	68 983	17.4	10.0	7.4
1957	9 390	155 429	98 687	56 742	16.6	10.5	6.0
1958	9 435	141 762	93 697	48 065	15.0	9.9	5.1
1959	9 465	128 982	97 159	31 823	13.6	10.3	3.4
1960	9 490	128 879	93 863	35 016	13.6	9.9	3.7
1961	9 587	131 019	94 973	36 046	13.7	9.9	3.8
1962	9 625	133 557	104 318	29 239	13.9	10.8	3.0
1963	9 671	148 840	100 129	48 711	15.4	10.4	5.0
1964	9 728	154 420	101 984	52 436	15.9	10.5	5.4
1965	9 779	147 438	105 108	42 330	15.1	10.7	4.3
1966	9 821	141 162	105 784	35 378	14.4	10.8	3.6
1967	9 853	138 448	108 967	29 481	14.1	11.1	3.0
1968	9 876	137 437	115 195	22 242	13.9	11.7	2.3
1969	9 897	143 165	120 653	22 512	14.5	12.2	2.3
1970	9 800	147 865	123 327	24 538	15.1	12.6	2.5
1971	9 827	154 180	122 375	31 805	15.7	12.5	3.2
1972	9 868	163 661	119 205	44 456	16.6	12.1	4.5
1973	9 922	181 750	124 437	57 313	18.3	12.5	5.8
1974	9 988	194 215	126 809	67 406	19.4	12.7	6.7
1975	10 059	191 776	124 314	67 462	19.1	12.4	6.7
1976	10 126	187 378	125 232	62 146	18.5	12.4	6.1
1977	10 187	181 763	126 214	55 549	17.8	12.4	5.5
1978	10 242	178 901	127 136	51 765	17.5	12.4	5.1
1979	10 292	172 112	127 949	44 163	16.7	12.4	4.3
1980	10 283	153 801	135 537	18 264	15.0	13.2	1.8
1981	10 301	144 438	130 407	14 031	14.0	12.7	1.4
1982	10 315	141 738	130 765	10 973	13.7	12.7	1.1
1983	10 324	137 431	134 474	2 957	13.3	13.0	0.3
1984	10 330	136 941	132 188	4 753	13.3	12.8	0.5
1985	10 337	135 881	131 641	4 240	13.1	12.7	0.4
1986	10 341	133 356	132 585	771	12.9	12.8	0.1
1987	10 349	130 921	127 244	3 677	12.7	12.3	0.4
1988	10 356	132 667	125 694	6 973	12.8	12.1	0.7
1989	10 362	128 356	127 747	609	12.4	12.3	0.1
1990	10 363	130 564	129 166	1 398	12.6	12.5	0.1
1991	10 309	129 354	124 290	5 064	12.5	12.1	0.5
1992	10 318	121 705	120 337	1 368	11.8	11.7	0.1
1993	10 331	121 025	118 185	2 840	11.7	11.4	0.3
1994	10 336	106 579	117 373	-10 794	10.3	11.4	-1.0
1995	10 331	96 097	117 913	-21 816	9.3	11.4	-2.1
1996	10 315	90 446	112 782	-22 336	8.8	10.9	-2.2
1997	10 304	90 657	112 744	-22 087	8.8	10.9	-2.1
1998	10 295	90 535	109 527	-18 992	8.8	10.6	-1.8
1999	10 283	89 471	109 768	-20 297	8.7	10.7	-2.0
2000	10 273	90 910	109 001	-18 091	8.8	10.6	-1.8
2001	10 224	90 715	107 755	-17 040	8.9	10.5	-1.7
2002	10 201	92 786	108 243	-15 457	9.1	10.6	-1.5
2003	10 207	93 685	111 288	-17 603	9.2	10.9	-1.7
2004	10 216	97 664	107 177	-9 513	9.6	10.5	-0.9
2005	10 236	102 211	107 938	-5 727	10.0	10.5	-0.6
2006	10 269	105 831	104 441	1 390	10.3	10.2	0.1
2007	10 334	114 632	104 636	9 996	11.1	10.1	1.0
2008	10 425	119 570	104 948	14 622	11.5	10.1	1.4
2009	10 488	118 348	107 421	10 927	11.3	10.2	1.0
2010	10 517 [2]	117 153	106 844	10 309	11.1	10.2	0.9

Infant mortality rate

3.3 in 2006, 3.1 in 2007, 2.8 in 2008 and 2.9 in 2009

Life expectancy at birth

male: 74.2 years
female: 80.1 years (2009)

Total fertility rate

1.49 children born/woman (2009)

Ethnic groups

The majority of the 10.5 million inhabitants of the Czech Republic are ethnically and linguistically Czech (95%). Other ethnic groups include Germans, Roma, Poles and Hungarians. Historical minorities like those of Germans and Poles are declining due to assimilation. The Roma community is growing, while there is also a growing Vietnamese community. Other ethnic communities like Greeks, Turks, Italians and Yugoslavs are found in its capital city, Prague. Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Slovaks staying in the Czech Republic have comprised roughly 3% of the population.

There are different groups of national and ethnic minorities in the Czech Republic. The so called old minorities usually live mostly in particular areas (e.g. Poles in the Zaolzie region, Germans in the Hultschiner region) while the new minorities are scattered among the majority population (generally in the larger towns). While some of the minorities have the whole social structure of the Czech society (Poles, Slovaks, Greeks), other represent only some of the social groups (i.e. Russian newcomers of middle class, or Ukrainians and Romanis who generally represent the underclass).^[3]

1880-1910

Population of the Czech lands of Austria by language^[4]

Language	1880	1890	1900	1910
Czech	62.5%	62.4%	62.4%	62.9%
German	35.8%	35.6%	35.1%	34.6%
Polish	1.0%	1.2%	1.6%	1.6%
Other	0.7%	0.8%	0.9%	0.9%
Total population	8,222,013	8,665,421	9,372,140	10,078,637

after WW I

Population of the Czech Republic according to ethnic group 1921–2001

Ethnic group	census 1921 1		census 1930		census 1950		census 1961		census 1970		census 1980		census 1991		census 2001
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Czechs	6,758,983	67.5	7,304,588	68.3	8,343,558	93.9	9,023,501	94.2	9,270,617	94.4	9,733,925	94.6	8,363,768	81.2	9,249,777	90.5
Moravians													1,362,313	13.2	380,474	3.7
Silesians													44,446	0.4	10,878	0.1
Slovaks	15,732	0.2	44,451	0.4	258,025	2.9	275,997	2.9	320,998	3.3	359,370	3.5	314,877	3.1	193,190	1.9
Poles	103,521	1.0	92,689	0.9	70,816	0.8	66,540	0.7	64,074	0.7	66,123	0.6	59,383	0.6	51,968	0.5
Germans	3,061,369	30.6	3,149,820	29.5	159,938	1.8	134,143	1.4	80,903	0.8	58,211	0.6	48,556	0.5	39,106	0.4
Ukrainians	13,343	0.1	22,657	0.2	19,384	0.2	19,549	0.2	9,794	0.1	10,271	0.1	8,220	0.1	22,112	0.2
Ruthenians													1,926	0.0	1,106	0.0
Russians									6,619	0.1	5,051	0.0	5,062	0.0	12,369	0.1
Vietnamese													421	0.0	17,462	0.2
Hungarians	7,049	0.1	11,427	0.1	13,201	0.1	15,152	0.2	18,472	0.2	19,676	0.2	19,932	0.2	14,672	0.1
Roma[5]			227	0.0	19,770	0.2	19,392	0.2					32,903	0.3	11,746	0.1
Jews	35,699	0.4	37,093	0.4									218	0.0
Yugoslavs			4,749	0.0			3,957	0.0							3,386	0.0
Romanians			966	0.0			3,205	0.0					1,034	0.0	1,238	0.0
Others/undeclared	10,038	0.1	5,719	0.1	11,441	0.1	10,095	0.1	36,220	0.4	39,300	0.4	39,129	0.4	220,660	2.2
Total	10,005,734		10,674,386		8,896,133		9,571,531		9,807,697		10,291,927		10,302,215		10,230,060
1 On the territory of the census date.

The legal position of the minorities is defined foremost in the Act No. 273/2001 Coll. (The Rights of the Minorities Act) which implements the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms, Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and Recommendation of the Council of Europe No. 1201. There is a number of other enactments which to lesser extent deal with the minorities.

Special situation is in the case of Moravians and Silesians, who are frequently allocated within the group of Czechs when it comes to the statistical data.

Roma^[5]

Officially recognized minorities

Minorities, which "traditionally and on long term basis live within the territorry of the Czech Republic" enjoy some privileges. As of 2010 there are 12 such officially recognized minorities, which are (alphabetically): Bulgarians, Croatians, Hungarians, Germans, Greeks, Poles, Romanis, Russians, Rusyns, Serbians, Slovaks and Ukrainians.^[6] Belorusian and Vietnamese minority may obtain this status in near future.^[7]

Among the privileges of the officially recognized minorities are the right to have signs within the municipalities also in their language, right to have the information about elections in their language (both if the minority comprises at least 10% of the municipality's population), right to education in their language, cultural rights including state support for preservation of traditions.

Citizens belonging to the officially recognized minorities enjoy the right to use their language in communication with authorities and in front of the courts of law. The article 25 of the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms ensures right of the national and ethnic minorities for education and communication with authorities in their own language. Act No. 500/2004 Coll. (The Administrative Rule) in its paragraph 16 (4) (Procedural Language) ensures, that a citizen of the Czech republic, who belongs to a national or an ethnic minority, which traditionally and on long-term basis lives within the territory of the Czech Republic, have right to address an administrative agency and proceed before it in the language of the minority. In case that the administrative agency doesn't have an employee with knowledge of the language, the agency is bound to obtain a translator at the agency's own expense. According to Act No. 273/2001 (About The Rights of Members of Minorities) paragraph 9 (The right to use language of a national minority in dealing with authorities and in front of the courts of law) the same applies for the members of national minorities also in front of the courts of law.

Bulgarians

The Czech-Bulgarian relations date as far back as to the times of the Great Moravia. Their importance rose especially during the time of the Czech National Revival of the 19th century and related ideas of Pan-Slavism. Among the pioneers of the Slavic studies (including the Bulgarian studies) were the Czech and Slovak personalities such as Josef Dobrovský, František Ladislav Čelakovský, Jan Kollár, Karel Jaromír Erben and foremost Pavel Josef Šafařík, who had close ties with Bulgarian students in Prague. His interest in Bulgarian history, language and nation helped to strengthen Bulgarian self-awareness.^[8]

In 1862 the Bulgarian and Czech students in Prague established a secret society Pobratim in order to support Bulgarian independence movement against the Ottoman rule and to support the unification of the Slavic nations. In 1869 the Bulharská matice - The Postojanstvo Society was established in Tábor aiming for the same purpose. This was followed by the so called Czech invasion into Bulgaria, of which Šafářík's grandson Konstantin Josef Jireček was the main personality. He took part in establishing the Bulgarian state services and became Bulgarian Minister of Education in the 1880s. Countless other Czechs took part in build-up of modern education and judiciary, cultural institutions as well as railways in Bulgaria.^[9] Many Czech teachers, artists and qualified craftsmen took part in effort to build-up Bulgarian state.^[10] At the same time Czech industrialists established new undertakings in Bulgaria, foremost sugar refineries and breweries. Meanwhile many Bulgarians immigrated to the Czech lands; mostly they were unskilled workers and young students wishing to obtain education at the Czech Universities.

In 1890 the first official Czecho-Bulgarian association was established (Bulharská Sednjanka), while in the independent Czechoslovakia local associations grew in the large towns. Large numbers of Bulgarians escaped to Czechoslovakia after Bulgaria (at the time ally of Nazi Germany) was occupied by the Red Army at the end of the second world war. Thousands more benefited from joint program of governments of Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria in years 1946-8, in which whole families immigrated to the areas from which the Germans were expelled. Subsequently many of these immigrants moved into larger cities, where they obtained jobs usually in industry.

During the socialist era the Bulgarian clubs were united under umbrella organisation Bulgarian Cultural Organisation.^[11] The most friendly attitude of Czechs towards Bulgarians suffered hard blow as the Bulgarian army took part in the 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia. In 1990s the economic immigration of Bulgarians to the Czech Republic started.

4363 citizens claimed to have Bulgarian nationality in the 2001 census. They mostly live in the large cities and towns, such as Prague, Brno and Ostrava, Karlovy Vary, Kladno, Ústí nad Labem, Děčín, Havířov etc. Nowadays the newcomers from Bulgaria aim especially for these areas, in which they can hold on the established community. Many of these economical immigrants have dual citizenship of both the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. However most of the recent immigrants still have only Bulgarian citizenship.

The Bulgarian Cultural Organisation publishes magazine Roden Glas, while a folklore organisation Kytka promotes traditional Bulgarian dances. Among other organisations are Pirin, Zaedno, Vazraždane or Hyshove.^[11]

As an officially recognized minority the Bulgarian citizens of the Czech Republic enjoy right to use their language in communications with authorities and in front of the courts of law. They also enjoy a number of other rights connected to the status of recognized minority, i.e. the right for education in the own language (the first Bulgarian school in the nowadays Czech Republic was established in 1946 in Prague).

Germans

Pre-1945 areas with ethnic German majority (in black) inside the current Czech Republic's territories.

The German minority of the Czech Republic, historically the largest minority of the country, was almost entirely removed when 3 million were forcibly expelled in 1945–6. The constitution guarantees rights for minority languages, however there are 13 municipalities with German minority constituting 10% of population, which qualifies for such provisions.^[12] There is no bilingual education system in Western and Northern Bohemia, where the German minority is mostly concentrated. However, this is in large part due to the absence of German-speaking youth, a heritage of the post-war policy of the Communist government.

According to the 2001 census there remain 13 municipalities and settlements in the Czech Republic with more than 10% Germans.^[12]

Many representatives of expellees' organizations support the erection of bilingual signs in all formerly German speaking territory as a visible sign of the bilingual linguistic and cultural heritage of the region, yet their efforts are not supported by some of the current inhabitants, as the vast majority of the current population is not of German descent.

The German-Czech Declaration of 21 January 1997 covered the two most critical issues — the role of the Sudeten Germans in the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and their expulsion after WWII.^[13]

Greeks

Another influential minority are Greeks (including Macedonians or "Slavonic Greeks"). Large numbers of Greeks arrived in Czechoslovakia when the Greek Civil War broke out. The first transports of Greek children arrived in 1948 and 1949. Later, more transports, also including adults, arrived.^[14] They were partly leftists, communists and guerillas with their relatives, hence the willingness of Czechoslovak government to allow the immigration.^[15] This was viewed rather as a temporary solution. After the defeat of DSE and other left-wing guerillas, the Greeks stayed in Czechoslovakia. In total more than 12,000 Greeks immigrated to Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1950.^[15] Today, there are about 7000 Greeks in the country (3219 according to 2001 census data),^[15] mostly in the 3 biggest towns – Prague, Brno, Ostrava – and also in Bohumín, Havířov, Jeseník, Karviná, Krnov, Šumperk, Třinec, Vrbno pod Pradědem and Žamberk (apart from the last one these towns are in Silesia).^[16]

Poles

Main article: Polish minority in the Czech Republic

The most concentrated linguistic minority in the Czech Republic are ethnic Poles, historically the plurality, today constituting about 10% of the Karviná and Frýdek-Místek districts population. Poles have the right to use their language in official dealings, the public media (the Czech TV and the Czech Radio) regularly broadcast in Polish, and there are many Polish primary and secondary schools in the area. The Polish minority has been decreasing substantially since World War II as education in Polish was difficult to obtain, while Czech authorities did not permit bilingual signs to maintain Polish awareness among the population.

The erection of bilingual signs has technically been permitted since 2001, if a minority constitutes 10% of the population of a municipality. The requirement that a petition be signed by the members of minority was cancelled, thus simplifying whole process.^[17] Still, only a couple of villages with large Polish minorities have bilingual signs (Vendryně/Wędrynia for instance).

Romanis

Main article: Relations between ethnic Czechs and Roma

Another minority is the Roma, who nonetheless have very little influence on Czech policy. Around 90% of the Roma that lived in the Czech Republic prior to World War II were exterminated by the Nazi Porajmos. The Roma there now are 80% post-war immigrants from Slovakia or Hungary, or the descendants thereof. In total, the Roma in the CR now number around 200,000.^[18] There is Romani press in the CR, written in both Czech and Romani, but Romani radio is broadcast in Czech and there is no Romani television. Romani is also absent from legislative, judiciary, and other political texts but it has recently entered some university and elementary school courses. Life expectancy, literacy, median wage, school enrolment, and other socio-economic markers remain low while, according to Říčan (1998), Roma compose the majority of prison and habitual offender populations despite accounting for only a fraction of a percent of Czech population.

Minorities without official status

Vietnamese

Main article: Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic

There are also Asian minorities in the Czech Republic. The largest is the Vietnamese one. During the communist era the governments of Czechoslovakia and Vietnam had a deal concerning the education of Vietnamese people in Czechoslovakia. Vietnamese people came to Czechoslovakia for the first time in 1956 and then the number of new migrants grew until the fall of communism. First generation Vietnamese work mostly as small-scale businessmen in markets. Still, many Vietnamese are without Czech citizenship. One of the towns with the largest Vietnamese communities is Cheb.

Languages

The most commonly known foreign languages in the Czech Republic in 2005. According to Eurostat^[19]

Czech, four Moravian dialects, Cieszyn Silesian dialect and Opava Silesian dialect as well as Polish language in Cieszyn Silesia and various Sudeten German dialects that are currently in extreme danger of extinction are spoken in the Czech Republic.

For other languages spoken in the Czech Republic, see the part about minorities.

Religion

See also: Roman Catholicism in the Czech Republic

Top religious affiliations in the Czech Republic, census 1991–2001^[20]

	1991		2001		change
	number	%	number	%
Roman Catholic Church	4,021,385	39.0	2,740,780	26.8	−31.8%
Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren	203,996	2.0	117,212	1.1	−42.5%
Czechoslovak Hussite Church	178,036	1.7	99,103	1.0	−44.3%
no religion	4,112,864	39.9	6,039,991	59.0	+46.9%
not identified	1,665,617	16.2	901,981	8.8	−45.8%
total population	10,302,215	100.0	10,230,060	100.0	−0.7%

Most of the Czech population claim to be atheist, agnostic, non-believer or no-organized believer (59%). The largest denomination is Roman Catholicism, estimated at 27.4% of the population, Protestant 1.2%, Hussites 1.0%, Jehovah's Witnesses 0.2%, Eastern Orthodox 0.2%, other religions 2.8%, unknown 8.8% (March 2001).^[21]

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005,^[22] 19% of Czech citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 50% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 30% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force", the lowest rate of EU countries after Estonia with 16%.^[23]

External links

• Czech Statistical Office, state institution responsible to provide official data about Czech Republic
• Ethnic groups living in the Czech Republic (click on menu for others)

References

1. ^ "Czech Demographic Handbook 2007". Czech Statistical Office. http://www.czso.cz/csu/2008edicniplan.nsf/engp/4032-08. 
2. ^ http://www.czso.cz/csu/csu.nsf/enginformace/oby03141111.xls
3. ^ (Czech)"Postavení národnostních menšin". http://www.fhs.cuni.cz/kos/kos_soubory/moravcova_o_postaveni_narodnostnich_mensin.doc. Retrieved 2010-12-01. 
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ ^{a b} In census people can leave the "nationality" field empty and they can also write down any nationality or ethnicity they want. Most of Roma people fill in the Czech nationality. Thus, the real number of Roma in the country is estimated to be around 220,000. Petr Lhotka: Romové v České republice po roce 1989
6. ^ See Government Council for National Minorities
7. ^ (Czech)"Čeští Vietnamci chtějí status menšiny, pomoci jim může sčítání lidu". http://zpravy.idnes.cz/vietnamstina-ve-skolach-a-na-uradech-nebude-komunita-tady-zije-prilis-kratce-1vi-/domaci.asp?c=A101128_124225_domaci_jj. Retrieved 2010-12-01. 
8. ^ Motejlová-Manolová, Marija (2006) Uchováno v paměti: Bulharská sedjanka a její pokračovatelé v českých zemích. Prague 
9. ^ Dorovský, Ivan (1983) Konstantin Jireček − život a dílo Brno 
10. ^ Avramová, Lucie (2009), Imigrace Bulharů do Čech, http://antropologie.zcu.cz/imigrace-bulharu-do-cech, retrieved November 30, 2010 
11. ^ ^{a b} (Czech) "Bulharská národnostní menšina". vlada.cz. http://www.vlada.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=16103. Retrieved 2010-11-30. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Peter Josika: Mehrsprachig: Ein Faktor der Versöhnung at Prager Zeitung, 21 August 2007.
13. ^ Wolff, Stefan (2000). German minorities in Europe: ethnic identity and cultural belonging. Berghahn Books. pp. 200. ISBN 9781571815040. 
14. ^ Anthula Botu: Řekové v českých zemích 1948-2000
15. ^ ^{a b c} Marián Sloboda: „Až bude v Řecku mír, vrátíme se domů“. Řecká národnostní skupina v České republice, 25.3.2003
16. ^ Vangelis Liolios: Podkladové materiály pro Radu vlády pro národnostní menšiny o situaci řecké menšiny v České republice
17. ^ Kongres Polaków w RC, 29.10.2006
18. ^ http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/archive/languages/langmin/euromosaic/cz3_en.html
19. ^ [2]
20. ^ "Population by denomination and sex: as measured by 1921, 1930, 1950, 1991 and 2001 censuses" (in Czech and English). Czech Statistical Office. http://www.czso.cz/csu/2008edicniplan.nsf/engt/24003E05ED/$File/4032080119.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
21. ^ Czech Statistical Office
22. ^ "Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11" (PDF). http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-05. 
23. ^ "Social values, Science and Technology" (PDF). Eurobarometer. June 2005. http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf. Retrieved 2006-12-19.