APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110008-5
Area Brief (u/ou)
LAND:
- Size: 49,400 sq. mi.
- Use: 42% arable, 14% other agricultural, 35% forested, 9% other
- Land boundaries: 2,200 mi.
PEOPLE:
- Population: 14,608,000, average annual growth rate 0.6% (current)
- Ethnic divisions: 65.0% Czechs, 29.2% Slovaks, 4.0% Magyars, 0.6% Germans, 0.5% Poles, 0.4% Ukrainians, 0.3% others (Jews, Gypsies)
- Religion: 77% Roman Catholic, 20% Protestant, 2% Orthodox, 1% other
- Language: Czech, Slovak, Hungarian
- Literacy: Almost complete
- Labor force: 7.1 million; 18% agriculture, 37% industry, 11% services, 34% construction, communications and others.
GOVERNMENT:
- Legal name: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
- Type: Communist state
- Capital: Prague
- Political subdivisions: 2 separate autonomous republics (Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic); 7 regions (kraj) in Czech lands, three regions in Slovakia; national capitals of Prague and Bratislava have regional status
- Legal system: Civil law system based on German codes, modified by Communist legal theory; revised constitution adopted 1960, amended in 1968 and 1970; no judicial review of legislative acts; legal education at Universita Komenskeho School of Law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
- Branches: Executive—President (elected by Federal Assembly), cabinet (appointed by President); legislative—Federal Assembly (elected directly), Czech and Slovak National Councils (also elected directly) legislate on limited area of Czech and Slovak affairs; judiciary—Supreme Court (elected by Federal Assembly); entire governmental structure dominated by Communist Party
- Government leaders: President Ludvik Svoboda (reelected March 1973), Premier Lubomir Strougal
- Suffrage: Universal over age 18
- Elections: Governmental bodies every 5 years; President every 5 years (last election, November 1971)
- Dominant political party and leader: Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), Gustav Husak, General Secretary; Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS) has status of "provincial KSC organization"
- Voting strength (1971 election): 99.81% Communist-sponsored single slate
- Communists: 1.2 million party members
- Other political groups: Puppet parties—Czechoslovak Socialist Party, Czechoslovak People's Party, Slovak Freedom Party, Slovak Revival Party
- Member of: CEMA, GATT, IAEA, ICAO, Seabeds Committee, U.N., Warsaw Pact
ECONOMY:
- GNP: $36.8 billion in 1972 (at 1971 prices), $2,540 per capita; 1972 real growth rate 3.6%
- Agriculture: Diversified agriculture; main crops—wheat, rye, potatoes, sugar beets; net food importer—meat, wheat, vegetable oils, fresh fruits and vegetables; caloric intake, 3,100 calories per day per capita (1967)
- Major industries: Machinery, food processing, metallurgy, textiles, chemicals
- Shortages: Ores, crude oil, grain
- Crude steel: 12.7 million metric tons produced (1972), 880 kg. per capita
- Exports: $5,123 million (f.o.b., 1972); 50% machinery, equipment; 28% fuels, raw materials; 4% foods, food products, and live animals; 18% consumer goods, excluding foods (1971)
- Imports: $4,662 million (f.o.b., 1972); 33% machinery, equipment; 44% fuels, raw materials; 15% foods, food products, and live animals; 8% consumer goods, excluding foods (1971)
- Major trade partners: $9,785 million (1972); 70% Communist countries, 30% with West
- Monetary conversion rate: Commercial 5.2 crowns = US$1; noncommercial 10.7 crowns = US$1, tourist rate 13.3 crowns = US$1; old commercial rates; 6.63 crowns = US$1 in 1972; prior to 1972, 7.2 crowns = US$1
- Fiscal year: Calendar year
- Note: Foreign trade figures were converted at the 1972 rate
COMMUNICATIONS:
- Railroads: 8,260 mi; 8,080 mi standard gage, 70 mi broad gage, 110 mi narrow gage; 1,014 mi double track; 1,580 mi electrified; government owned (1972)
- Highways: 45,500 mi; 800 mi concrete; 28,650 mi bituminous; 2,400 mi cobblestone, brick set, stone block; 13,650 mi crushed stone, gravel, improved earth (1972)
- Island waterways: 517 mi (1973)
- Pipelines: Crude oil, 900 mi; refined products, 535 mi; natural gas, 2,800 mi.
- Freight carried: Rail—248.0 million short tons, 41.2 billion short ton/mi (1972); highway—901.4 million short tons, 8.1 billion short ton/mi (1972); waterway—9.5 million short tons, 2.5 billion short ton/mi (incl. international transit traffic) (1972)
- Ports: No maritime ports; outlets are Gdynia, Gdansk, Stettin in Poland; Rijeka, Yugoslavia; Hamburg, West Germany; Rostock, East Germany; principal river ports are Prague, Melnik, Usti nad Labem, Decin, Komerno, Bratislava (1973)
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110008-5
