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PraguePrague{{otheruses}} {| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" style="margin:0.2em;" ! colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor="#E0922E" | '''Statistics of regions and cities in Czech Republic|Statistics''' |- | Area: | 496 square kilometre|km² |- | Population: | 1,169,106 <small>''(2001)''</small> |- ! colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor="#E0922E" | '''Map''' |- | colspan="2" align="center" | image:Czech_regions_Prague.png|Map of the Czech Republic highlighting the Prague region |} '''Prague''' (''Praha'' in Czech language|Czech) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated on the Vltava river in central Bohemia, it is home to approximately 1.2 million people. (It can be derived from jobs statistics, however, that an additional 300,000 work there without having registered as residents.) Nicknames for Prague have included "city of a hundred (or thousand) spires", "the golden city", "the Paris of the Twenties in the Nineties", the "mother of all cities", and "the heart of Europe". Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been included in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|UNESCO list of world heritage sites. ==History== Founded in the latter part of the 9th century, Prague soon became the seat of the kings of Bohemia, some of whom also reigned as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire in later times. The city flourished during the 14th century reign of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV, who ordered the building of the New City, the Charles Bridge, Saint Vitus Cathedral: the oldest gothic architecture|gothic cathedral in Central Europe|central Europe which is actually inside the Castle, and the University of Prague|Charles University: the oldest university in central Europe north of the Alps. Prague was then the third-largest city in Europe. Image:Prague_from_Klementinum.jpg|320px|thumb|right|View over Prague from the Klementinum tower, where a meteorological and astronomical observatory was located. The four independent boroughs that had formerly constituted Prague were eventually proclaimed a single city in 1784. Those four cities were Hradcany|Hradčany (the Castle District, west and north of the Castle), Malá Strana (the Lesser Town, south of the Castle), Stare Mesto|Staré Město (the Old Town, on the east bank opposite the Castle) and Nove Mesto (Prague)|Nové Město (the New Town, further south and east). The city underwent further expansion with the annexation of Josefov in 1850 and Vysehrad|Vyšehrad in 1883, and at the beginning of 1922, another 37 municipalities were incorporated, raising the city's population to 676,000. Most of the city's 50,000 Jews died in the Nazism|Nazi genocide of World War II. Prague suffered from serious 2002 European flood|flooding in August 2002, with parts of the city having to be evacuated. The floods caused a lot of damage, but fortunately no major landmarks (such as the Charles Bridge) were destroyed. ==Sights== Prague is a popular tourist destination. There are lots of old buildings, many with beautiful murals on them. It contains one of the world's most pristine and varied collections of architecture, from Art Nouveau to Baroque, Renaissance, Cubism|Cubist, Gothic architecture|Gothic, Neoclassicism|Neo-Classical and ultra-modern. Some of its many tourist attractions are: Image:Prague_Apr04_015a.jpg|thumb|300px|The astronomical clock in the Old-Town Square of Prague * Stare Mesto|Staré Město * various places connected to Franz Kafka * Malá Strana * Hradcany|Hradčany with the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral * the Charles Bridge * the Lennon Wall * Old town square (Prague)|Old Town Square and the Prague Orloj|Astronomical Clock * Josefov (the old Jewish quarter) * Wenceslas Square * National Museum (Prague)|National Museum * Vysehrad|Vyšehrad castle * Petrinska Rozhledna, an observation tower, which is nearly a 1 : 5 copy of Eiffel Tower * Zizkov Television Tower|TV Tower with observation deck * Zizkov cemetery, location of Franz Kafka's grave * the Prague Metronome|Metronome, a giant, functional metronome that looms over the city ==Culture== Prague is a traditional cultural center, hosting many theaters including, National Theatre,The Rudolfinum (Home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra), opera houses, concert halls, galleries and music clubs. Image:Hradcany.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Charles Bridge and Hradcany|Hradčany Image:Týn-1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The church of Our Lady in front of Týn (''chrám Panny Marie před Týnem'') ==Economy== Prague is the wealthiest city in Central and Eastern Europe, and wealthier than many in Western Europe, with a per-capita GDP (PPP) of EUR 32,357, which is at 153% of the European Union average. The GDP per capita of Prague is more than double that of the Czech Republic as a whole. ==Colleges and universities== The city contains 8 universities and colleges including: *Charles University founded in 1348 *Czech Technical University (ČVUT) founded in 1707 *Prague University of Economics|University of Economics (VŠE) founded in 1953 ==Transportation== Public transport infrastructure consists of Prague Metro|three metro lines, trams (including nostalgic tram no.91), buses and a funicular to Hill Petrin. The city is a railroad hub. Prague is served by Ruzyne International Airport|Ruzyně International Airport, which is the hub of the flag carrier, CSA Czech Airlines. ==Miscellaneous== Prague is also the site of most important offices and institutions of the Czech Republic, including the President of the Czech Republic|President, the Government and both houses of the Parliament. == Historical population == Image:Old_Town_Hall_Prague.JPG|thumb|right|280px|Old Town Hall (''Staroměstská radnice'') :1230: cca 3-4,000 inhabitants <sup>1</sup><br/> :1370: cca 40,000 <sup>2</sup><br/> :1600: cca 60,000 <sup>2</sup><br/> :1804: 76,000 <br/> :1837: 105,500 <br/> :1850: 118,400 (157,200 incl. suburbs)<br/> :1880: 162,300 (314,400 incl. suburbs)<br/> :1900: 201,600 (514,300 incl. suburbs)<br/> :1925: 718,300 :1950: 931,500 :1980: 1,182,800 :1998: 1,193,300 :2001: 1,169,100 Notes:<br/> :<sup>1</sup> Staré město only :<sup>2</sup> Staré město, Nové město, Malá Strana and Hradčany quarters :Numbers beside other years denote the population of Prague within the administrative border of the city at that time (and population including present suburbs in parentheses). ==See also== Image:Mikulas.jpg|right|300px|thumb|the Church of st. Nicolas * Prague city districts * Prague Spring (liberalization attempt in 1968) * Clementinum (complex of libraries) * Defenestrations of Prague (events leading to uprisings) ==External links== {{pic}} *[http://wikitravel.org/en/Czech_Republic Czech Republic at Wikitravel] * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/city.shtml?tt=TT003480 Avarege Weather Conditions] * [http://www.prague-city.cz/ Official Website] * [http://www.prague.tv/ Prague.tv] - travel guide * Metro, trams, and buses operated by [http://www.dp-praha.cz/en/index.htm Dopravni podnik hl.m Prahy, a.s.] * [http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Prague Prague travel guide at Wikitravel] * [http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/H_Zaklad.aspx?jz=en National Theatre] * [http://www.opera.cz/en/intro.htm State Opera] {{Czech_Regions}} Category:Prague Category:Towns in the Czech Republic bg:Прага ca:Praga cs:Praha cy:Prâg da:Prag de:Prag et:Praha es:Praga eo:Prago fr:Prague io:Praha id:Praha is:Prag it:Praga he:פראג la:Praga lv:Prāga lt:Praha na:Praha nl:Praag ja:プラハ no:Praha pl:Praga pt:Praga ro:Praga ru:Прага simple:Prague sk:Praha sl:Praga sr:Праг fi:Praha sv:Prag zh:布拉格 First page | Prev | Next | Last page | This article on Prague is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. 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