CZECHOSLOVAKIA AT A GLANCE

POPULATION: 15,658,079 (July, 1989)

RELIGION: There are about 18 faiths controlled by the Federal Secretariat for Church Affairs and the Ministry of Culture. The largest church is the Roman Catholic with 3.7 million members, headed by Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek.

LANGUAGE: Official languages are Czech and Slovak.

AREA: About 69,000 square miles, slightly larger than New York state. Bounded on the north by Poland, on the east by the Soviet Union, northwest by East Germany, south by Hungary and Austria, southwest by West Germany.

CAPITAL: Prague. Population: 1,194,000.

ECONOMY: Highly industrialized. By East Bloc standards, Czechoslovakia has enjoyed a level of economic growth that has enabled the leadership to buy the acquiescence of the population with consumer goods and a high standard of living. But as Czechoslovakia approaches the end of its eighth five-year plan, officials admit about a third of industry is in difficulty and in need of overhaul. The government has adopted a series of measures in an attempt to revamp its heavily centralized economy without compromising the basic principles of communism. Under a series of laws due to take effect in 1990, industrial enterprises are supposed to take control of their finances from the central planners. The government plans to free some prices, most now artificially fixed by the state, but food subsidies are to continue.

GOVERNMENT: In January, 1969, Czechoslovakia became a federal socialist republic of two nations with equal rights: the Czech Socialist Republic--incorporating the former Bohemia, Moravia and part of Silesia--and the Slovak Socialist Republic, formerly Slovakia. Each republic has its own National Council. A Federal Assembly is responsible for constitutional and foreign affairs, defense and important economic decisions. The essential power is vested in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia of which the Communist Party of Slovakia is a constituent part. Communists head the National Front, which incorporates the remaining political parties: Czechoslovak Socialist Party, Czechoslovak People’s Party, Slovak Reconstruction Party and Slovak Freedom Party and the trade unions and youth organizations.