Czech Republic Natural Environment

The country has a total area of almost 79,000 sq km in three historical lands - Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia.  It is surrounded by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Poland to the northeast and Slovakia to the east.  It is strategically located astride several significant land routes in Europe, including the Moravian Gate, which historically has been a key military corridor between the North European plain and the Danube.

Bohemia in the west is the largest region and consists of a river basin drained by the Elbe and the Vitava rivers; it consists of rolling plains and plateaus encircled generally by low mountains.  The highest point in the country, Snezka at 1,062 m, is located here.

Moravia, which is in the eastern part of the country, is also hilly; it is half the size of Bohemia and is drained by the Moravia River. 

Silesia, in the northeast, is the smallest region with an area of approximately 4,500 sq km.   The Oder River runs along its border with Poland.

For the four rivers mentioned above:

-  the Elbe, which runs from the country’s highest mountain range, Krkonose, through Bohemia and after joining Vitava, continues on into Germany before flowing into the North Sea;

-  the Morava, which heads south through the lowlands of Morava to the Austria-Slovak border, eventually joining the Danube before ending in the Black Sea;

-  the Oder, which runs through Silesia toward the northwest, eventually flowing into the Baltic Sea

Czech has a continental climate with great temperature differences between the summer and winter as it is located in Central Europe and surrounded on all sides by land.  The climate in the west is often tempered by the maritime weather in Western Europe, and the climate in the south may be affected by the Mediterranean especially when the weather system from the north is weak.

The summer weather is generally warm and dry, but there are periods of heavy rainfall in the form of sporadic showers.  The average temperatures can be 20 °C or more above winter temperatures. 

Winters are cold, humid and cloudy, with frequent drizzles or light snows.  In high altitudes, there are usually constant snow covers for six months of the year starting from October or November. 

Despite the greater frequency of precipitation during the winter, more than twice as much precipitation falls in the summer.  Rainfall varies widely between the plains and the highlands.  Parts of Bohemia receive only 40 cm of annual rainfall, but some areas in the Vysoke Tatry average two meters.

Average temperatures in the lowlands in Bohemia and Moravia are about 1°C in January and 19°C in July.  In the eastern parts of the country, the temperature extremes are greater. Higher elevations, especially those facing the west, usually have a narrower temperature range but tend to be much cooler.