The Czech Republic (or Česká republika in Czech) is a landlocked country situated in Central Europe. It borders Poland to the North, Germany to the Northwest and Southwest, Austria to the South, and Slovakia to the East. It covers the total area of 78,866 square km and has population of about 10,400,000 people. The official language is Czech.

Administratively the Czech Republic is divided into thirteen regions (kraje) plus the capital city of Prague. Taking into account historical and cultural aspects, it consists of historic regions of Bohemia and Moravia and parts of Silesia.

The capital and the largest city is Prague situated on the river Vltava. It is the political, cultural, and economic center of the country. It has population of about 1,212,000 inhabitants (about 1,942,000 including metro area). Prague is often considered to be one of the prettiest cities in Europe. It can be proud of its rich cultural heritage. The whole city center is protected by UNESCO as is an item of its World Heritage Sites list.

Geographically, the Czech Republic is situated on the boundary of two mountain ranges - the Czech highlands and the slightly higher mountain ranges of Šumava, Český les, Krušné hory, Krkonoše, Orlické hory and Jeseníky form the western and middle part of Bohemia and the West Carpathian Mountains (Beskydy) are located in the eastern part of the country.

These peculiarities of the country’s landscape determine its popularity as an alpine ski destination. There are no high mountains there but anyway there are a lot of ski resorts stretching from border to border. Beautiful local ski areas are open for everyone and can provide all modern facilities and equipment for skiing and snowboarding.