bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

The Czech Republic on Thursday said it was tired of its long and unwieldy name and would like to be called “Czechia” from now on.
“We recommend using the single-word name in foreign languages in situations when it’s not necessary to use the country’s formal name: sports events, marketing purposes etc,” the president, prime minister and other Czech officials said in a statement.
“The foreign ministry will ask the United Nations to include in its databases the correct equivalents of the country name in its official languages - Czechia in English, la Tchequie in French etc.”
Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek told reporters the government decided to take action because “there have been distortions and misspellings”.
The Czech ice-hockey team, for instance, has been using the word “Czech” - an adjective - on its jerseys.
The Czech Republic is a successor state to former Czechoslovakia following a peaceful split with Slovakia in 1993.
The country has had misgivings over its name for years, so much so that the issue even came up in conversation between President Milos Zeman and his Israeli counterpart in 2013.
“I use the word Czechia because it sounds nicer and it’s shorter than the cold Czech Republic,” Zeman told then president Shimon Peres on an official visit to Israel.
But not all Czechs are keen on the change.
“I disagree with the name ‘Czechia’,” Regional Development Minister Karla Slechtova tweeted on Thursday.
“I don’t want people to confuse our country with Chechnya.”


Fed up with long name, Czech Republic says call us ‘Czechia’ instead

Silver medalist Jakub Holusa of the Czech republic celebrates with his country's flag after the men's 1500 meters during the IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships in Portland, Oregon, last month. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Europe