The Czech Republic is an amazing place to visit and live in. If you think that here there is only beer, then you are missing something else. Let’s discover some interesting cultural facts about this country!
1. The Czech Republic has the highest density of castles in the world and the largest one in the World
According to the list of National Heritage Institute in the Czech Republic 932 castles. Moreover, Prague castle is the largest ancient castle complex in the world with an area of 70,000 m².
Also in 1618 at Prague Castle was invented the defenestration, which means throwing someone out of a window. Two Catholic regents and their secretary were the first to try the defenestration. All of them were found guilty of violating the right to religious freedom and then push through the window. However if you want a fun fact, a pile of horse manure softed their fall and they didn´t die.
2. The Czech Republic has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world
Beer has a long history in the Czech Republic and according to different researchs, the country has topped the per capita beer drinking table for 24 consecutive years.
In fact 2016, the Czechs drank 143.3 liters per person, which means 287 pints along the year or one every 30 hours.
The czech beer or also known as “pivo” in the czech language is recognised in all the world. The most common are pale lagers of pilsner type, with the characteristic golden colour and lighter flavour. Pilsner Urquell Brewery was the first one brewery in the world producing this type of beer.
3. It is an atheism paradise, only 29% of the czechs believe in God
Unlike the Central and Eastern country neighbours, the Czech Republic is of the countries with less population believing in God, just the 29%.
Czechs have a long history of opposition to the catholic church. First it started with the bloody Hussite wars with the beggining of the defenestration and then the opposition to church.
In 1618 a 2 year rebellion led by Protestants culminated in the Battle of White Mountain, the single most devastating holy wars within Europe during 30 years of war which was an overwhelming Austrian victory (Catholics) and made Bohemia part of the Hapsburg Empire for 300 years. Protestants were cleansed and the country made catholic. And finally the effects of the Communism that had much less effect than in the Soviet Union made Czech people not just skeptical towards religion, but towards authorities in general.
4. CZ is ranked as one of the best countries in the world to live for expats
Among the most industrialised economies in Central Europe, the Czech Republic is fast becoming one of the region’s most popular expat destinations.
Check the survey done by Expats Explorer to know in detail the ranking according to three key areas: Economics (personal finances, local economy, and working life), Experience (lifestyle, community, and ease of setting up), and Family.
5. Czech language is one of the hardest language to learn
The Czech Republic offers you an amazing experience to live in, but what about his language?
Czech belongs to the West Slavic language group, together with Slovak and Polish an the three languages share a lot of characteristics with each other
However for an English speaker, learn Czech maybe would not be so easy. Since Czech has seven cases, that, combined with the singular and plural forms, means that you would have to memorize fourteen different forms of one single word!
Also the different letters that you can´t find in other languages made Czech to be in the 4th category in a 5-scale of how difficult and for how long you will need to learn the language in comparison to others.
Category One:
Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish
Closely related to English. 23-24 weeks
Category Two:
German
Languages similar to English. 30 weeks
Category Three
Indonesian, Malaysian, Swahili
Some linguistic/cultural differences. 36 weeks
Category Four
Czech, Hebrew, Persian, Russian (basically all Slavic and Cyrillic languages go here)
Major linguistic/cultural differences. 44 weeks
Category Five
Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic
Exceptionally difficult for English speakers. 88 weeks
Other interesting facts
- The most popular sport is ice hockey.
- In the Czech Republic there is a national coin, the Koruna.
- A czech chemist, Otto Wichterle, invented the soft contact lenses in 1959.
- 90% of czech people have completed at least secondary education, the highest score in the EU.
- The Charles university located in Prague and founded in 1348, is the oldest university in Eastern Europe.
- Skoda auto borns in the Czech Republic in the year 1895 and is one of the five oldest companies car producers.
