Czech vs. Slovak

 Czechs are people living in the Czech Republic whereas people inhabiting Slovakia are known as Slovaks. Historically, the region now known as Czech Republic was once part of the Austrian empire whereas the Slovak area was a part of the Kingdom of Hungary.

History: The Czech Republic and Slovakia were a part of the Austro-Hungarian state before World War I. In 1918, Czechoslovakia emerged as a single nation. Though the Czechs and Slovaks occupied the same state, there was much disparity in the two regions with respect to the economic conditions and technological development. Also, the German-Western influence was stronger in Czechs whereas Slovaks were under Hungarian influence. Thus, the former were more urban and dominant than Slovaks. The German invasion in 1938 forced most of the Czechs and Slovak Nationalists into exile. This nation was reunited after World War II in 1945, and came under communist control. The differences between the two groups continued to increase under the communist party and towards the end of 1991 there was a strong Slovakian Nationalist movement demanding independence of Slovakia. The Czech and Slovakian leaders finally resolved the issue peacefully by separating the regions into two separate nations, the Czech republic and Slovakia on January 1, 1993.

Geographical Location: The Czech Republic is located in Central Europe, with Germany bordering on the Northwest, Poland to the Northeast, Slovakia to the Southeast and Austria to the South. Historically, the Czech Republic was made up of three regions, Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. Now it is divided into 14 regions. Slovakia is located to the southeast of Czech Republic, and shares its borders with Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine. Slovakia consists of eight regions.

Language: While both nations speak Slavic languages, Czechs speak Czech, and Slovaks speak Slovak. These languages are mutually intelligible to some extent, but they have distinct vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. For example, you won’t find ř or ě in Slovak, but there will be other letters like ŕ, ô or ľ. 
While Slovaks understand Czech (more or less) without problems, Czechs, mostly the younger generations, struggle to understand Slovak. Why is it so? There are many channels in Czech available in Slovakia and there are many movies and shows dubbed in Czech. On the contrary, Czechs are not so in touch with the Slovak language in media, and even some Slovak series are dubbed into Czech.

Religion: Both countries have many beautiful churches. However, Slovaks are much more religious than Czechs. From a survey, it is clear, that more than 70 % of Slovak people are of Catholic faith. On the other hand, Czechs are more than 85 % atheistic, and only 15 % are Catholic. Religion itself keeps decreasing drastically in the country over the years.

How Do Czechia & Slovakia Compare TODAY? (VIDEO)

By Derrick T

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