Editing Czech Republic (section)

== Geography ==
{{Main|Geography of the Czech Republic}}
[[File:CzechRepublic-geographic map-en.svg|thumb|Topographic map]]
The Czech Republic lies mostly between latitudes [[48th parallel north|48°]] and [[51st parallel north|51° N]] and longitudes [[12th meridian east|12°]] and [[19th meridian east|19° E]].

[[Bohemia]], to the west, consists of a basin drained by the [[Elbe]] ({{langx|cs|Labe}}) and the [[Vltava]] rivers, surrounded by mostly low mountains, such as the [[Krkonoše]] range of the [[Sudetes]]. The highest point in the country, [[Sněžka]] at {{convert|1603|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, is located here. Moravia, the eastern part of the country, is also hilly. It is drained mainly by the [[Morava (river)|Morava River]], but it also contains the source of the [[Oder]] River ({{langx|cs|Odra}}).

Water from the Czech Republic flows to three different seas: the [[North Sea]], [[Baltic Sea]], and [[Black Sea]]. The Czech Republic also leases the [[Moldauhafen]], a {{convert|30000|m2|acre|sp=us|adj=on}} [[lot (real estate)|lot]] in the middle of the [[Hamburg]] Docks, which was awarded to Czechoslovakia by Article 363 of the [[Treaty of Versailles]], to allow the landlocked country a place where goods transported down river could be transferred to seagoing ships. The territory reverts to Germany in 2028.

[[Phytogeography|Phytogeographically]], the Czech Republic belongs to the Central European province of the [[Circumboreal Region]], within the [[Boreal Kingdom]]. According to the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]], the territory of the Czech Republic can be subdivided into four [[ecoregion]]s: the [[Western European broadleaf forests]], [[Central European mixed forests]], [[Pannonian mixed forests]], and [[Carpathian montane conifer forests]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287}}</ref>

There are four [[national park]]s in the Czech Republic. The oldest is [[Krkonoše National Park]] ([[Man and the Biosphere Programme|Biosphere Reserve]]), and the others are [[Šumava National Park]] (Biosphere Reserve), [[Podyjí National Park]], and [[Bohemian Switzerland]].

The three historical lands of the Czech Republic (formerly some countries of the Bohemian Crown) correspond with the river basins of the Elbe and the Vltava basin for Bohemia, the Morava one for Moravia, and the Oder river basin for Czech Silesia (in terms of the Czech territory).

=== Climate ===
[[File:Koppen-Geiger_Map_v2_CZE_1991–2020.svg|thumb|[[Köppen climate classification]] types of the Czech Republic using the 0&nbsp;°C isotherm:
{{legend|#3dc6fa|[[Humid continental climate]]}}
{{legend|#007e7e|[[Subarctic climate]]}}]]
[[File:Czech Republic Köppen.svg|thumb|Köppen climate classification types of the Czech Republic using the −3&nbsp;°C isotherm:
{{legend|#3dc6fa|[[Humid continental climate]]}}
{{legend|#63fd32|[[Oceanic climate]]}}
{{legend|#007e7e|[[Subarctic climate]]}}]]
The Czech Republic has a temperate climate, situated in the transition zone between the [[oceanic climate|oceanic]] and [[continental climate]] types, with warm summers and cold, cloudy and snowy winters. The temperature difference between summer and winter is due to the landlocked geographical position.<ref>R. Tolasz, ''Climate Atlas of the Czech Republic'', Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Prague, 2007. {{ISBN|80-244-1626-3}}, graphs 1.5 and 1.6</ref>

Temperatures vary depending on the elevation. In general, at higher altitudes, the temperatures decrease and [[precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]] increases. The wettest area in the Czech Republic is found around [[Bílý Potok (Liberec District)|Bílý Potok]] in [[Jizera Mountains]] and the driest region is the [[Louny District]] to the northwest of [[Prague]]. Another factor is the distribution of the mountains.

At the highest peak of [[Sněžka]] ({{convert|1603|m|ft|abbr=on|0|disp=or}}), the average temperature is {{convert|-0.4|C|F|0}}, whereas in the lowlands of the [[South Moravian Region]], the average temperature is as high as {{convert|10|C|F}}. The country's capital, Prague, has a similar average temperature, although this is influenced by urban factors.

The coldest month is usually January, followed by February and December. During these months, there is [[snow]] in the mountains and sometimes in the cities and lowlands. During March, April, and May, the temperature usually increases, especially during April, when the temperature and weather tends to vary during the day. Spring is also characterized by higher water levels in the rivers, due to melting snow with occasional flooding.

The warmest month of the year is July, followed by August and June. On average, summer temperatures are about {{convert|20|-|30|C-change|F-change}} higher than during winter. Summer is also characterized by rain and storms.

Autumn generally begins in September, which is still warm and dry. During October, temperatures usually fall below {{convert|15|C|F}} or {{convert|10|C|F}} and [[deciduous]] trees begin to shed their leaves. By the end of November, temperatures usually range around the freezing point.

The coldest temperature ever measured was in [[Litvínovice]] near [[České Budějovice]] in 1929, at {{convert|-42.2|C|F}} and the hottest measured, was at {{convert|40.4|C|F}} in [[Dobřichovice]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=Czech absolute record temperature registered near Prague|url=http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/czech-absolute-record-temperature-registered-near-prague/830626|work=České noviny|publisher=ČTK|access-date=20 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025034545/http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/czech-absolute-record-temperature-registered-near-prague/830626|archive-date=25 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

Most [[rain]] falls during the summer. Sporadic rainfall is throughout the year (in Prague, the average number of days per month experiencing at least {{convert|0.1|mm|abbr=on}} of rain varies from 12 in September and October to 16 in November) but concentrated rainfall (days with more than {{convert|10|mm|abbr=on}} per day) are more frequent in the months of May to August (average around two such days per month).<ref>R. Tolasz, ''Climate Atlas of the Czech Republic'', Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Prague, 2007. {{ISBN|80-244-1626-3}}, graph 2.9.</ref> Severe [[thunderstorm]]s, producing damaging straight-line winds, [[hail]], and occasional [[tornado]]es occur, especially during the summer period.<ref>{{cite journal |last = Brázdil |first = Rudolf |display-authors=etal |title = Spatiotemporal variability of tornadoes in the Czech Lands, 1801–2017 |journal = Theor. Appl. Climatol. |volume = 136 |issue = 3–4 |pages = 1233–1248 |date = 2019 |doi = 10.1007/s00704-018-2553-y |bibcode = 2019ThApC.136.1233B |s2cid = 126348854  | issn = 0177-798X }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last = Antonescu |first = Bogdan |author2 = D. M. Schultz |author3 = F. Lomas |title = Tornadoes in Europe: Synthesis of the Observational Datasets |journal = Mon. Wea. Rev. |volume = 144 |issue = 7 |pages = 2445–2480 |date = 2016 |doi = 10.1175/MWR-D-15-0298.1 |bibcode = 2016MWRv..144.2445A |doi-access = free}}</ref>

=== Biodiversity and conservation ===
{{See also|Protected areas of the Czech Republic|Fauna of the Czech Republic}}
As of 2020, the Czech Republic ranks as the 21st most environmentally conscious country in the world in [[Environmental Performance Index]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://epi.yale.edu/country-rankings|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202142016/http://epi.yale.edu/country-rankings|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 February 2016|title=Country Rankings|date=2016|access-date=21 November 2016|publisher=Yale}}</ref> It had a 2018 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 1.71/10, ranking it 160th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G }}</ref> The Czech Republic has four National Parks ([[Šumava National Park]], [[Krkonoše National Park]], [[České Švýcarsko National Park]], [[Podyjí National Park]]) and 25 Protected Landscape Areas. The fauna of the Czech Republic includes a wide variety of [[animal]] [[species]]. Some species (especially [[Endangered species|endangered]] ones) are bred in [[Game reserve|reserves]]. Among the rare animals are, for example, eagles, ospreys, bustards, and storks.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Czech Republic - Land|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Czech-Republic|access-date=2021-08-09|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>