The Czech landscape is quite varied. Bohemia, to the west, consists of a river basin, drained by the Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

 (Czech: Labe) and Vltava

Vltava

The Vltava is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running north from its source in Šumava through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, and Prague, merging with the Elbe at Mělník...

 rivers. It is surrounded by mostly low mountains such as the Sudetes with its part Krkonoše, containing the highest point in the country, the Sněžka

Snežka-Sniezka

Sněžka or Śnieżka is a mountain on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland, the most prominent point of the Silesian Ridge in the Krkonoše mountains...

 at 1602 metres (5,256 ft). Moravia, the eastern part, is also quite hilly and is drained predominantly by the Morava river, but also contains the source of the Oder (Czech: Odra) river. Water from the landlocked Czech Republic flows to three different seas: the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

, Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

 and Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

. The Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 also possesses Moldauhafen

Moldauhafen

Moldauhafen is a lot in the port of Hamburg, Germany, which has been leased since 1929 pursuant to the Treaty of Versailles to Czechoslovakia. In 1993, the Czech Republic succeeded to the rights of Czechoslovakia, and the lease is set to run until 2028.The lot of about is not an exclave, since it...

, a 30000 square metres (7.4 acre) enclave in the middle of Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 docks, which was awarded to Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 by Article 363 of the Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

 to allow the landlocked country a place where goods transported downriver could be transferred to seagoing ships; this territory reverts to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 2028.

Location:
Central Europe

Central Europe

Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

, southeast of Germany

Geographic coordinates:
49°45′N 15°30′E

Map references:
Europe

Area:

• total:
• land:
• water:

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

; slightly larger than Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

Land boundaries:

• total:
• border countries: Austria
  Austria
  Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
  
   , Germany
  Germany
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
  
   , Poland
  Poland
  Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
  
   658 km, Slovakia
  Slovakia
  The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
  
   

Panhandle

Panhandle

A panhandle is an informal geographic term for an elongated arm-like protrusion of a geo-political entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state.-Term:...

s:

Aš

Aš

Aš is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic.-History:Previously uninhabited hills and swamps, the town of Asch was founded in the early 11th century by German colonists. Slavic settlements in the area are not known. The dialect spoken in the town was that of the Upper Palatinate,...

 Hook, Šluknov Hook

Šluknov Hook

The Šluknov Hook or Šluknov Projection is a "panhandle" region found in the northern Czech Republic along the border with Germany. The area is part of the southern Lusatian Highlands, between the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in the west and the Lusatian Mountains in the east. It is administratively...

, Frýdlant Hook, Broumov

Broumov

Broumov is a town in the Czech Republic, in the Náchod District of the Hradec Králové Region near the Polish border. The municipality at the small Stěnava River is the center of the Broumovsko area, along with the adjacent Adršpach-Teplice Rocks, a protected area popular with mountain...

 Hook, Javorník

Javorník (Jeseník District)

Javorník or Javorník u Jeseníku or Javorník ve Slezsku, , is a town in the Jeseník District of the Olomouc Region, Javorník Hook, Czech Republic. It has about 2,900 inhabitants.-Early history:...

 Hook, Osoblaha

Osoblaha

Osoblaha ; ) is a village in the Bruntál District of Czech Silesia in the Czech Republic in Osoblaha Hook. The village is named after the river of the same name....

 Hook, Břeclav

Breclav

Břeclav is a town in the South Moravian Region, Czech Republic, approximately 55 km southeast of Brno. It is located at the border with Lower Austria on the Dyje River. The nearest large town on Austrian territory is Hohenau an der March...

 Hook (March-Thaya

Thaya

The Thaya is a river in Central Europe, tributary to the Morava River. It is about 235 km long and meanders from west to east in the border area between Lower Austria and South Moravia , but does not exactly follow the border in most parts...

 Triangle).

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: temperate; hot summers; cold, cloudy, white winters

Terrain:
Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

 in the east consists of very hilly country

Elevation extremes:

• lowest point: Elbe
  Elbe
  The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
  
   River -
• highest point: Sněžka -

Natural resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay

Clay

Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

, graphite

Graphite

The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...

, timber

Timber

Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

, uranium

Uranium

Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

Land use:

• arable land: 41%
• permanent crops: 2%
• permanent pastures: 11%
• forests and woodland: 34%
• other: 12% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding

Environment - international agreements:

• party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea
  Law of the sea
  Law of the sea may refer to:* United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea* Admiralty law* The Custom of the Sea...
  
  , Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
• signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol

Geography - note: landlocked; strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe; Moravian Gate

Moravian Gate

The Moravian Gate is a geomorphological feature in the Moravian region of the Czech Republic. It is formed by the depression between the Carpathian Mountains in the east and the Sudetes in the west...

 is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

in central Europe

Climate