Plzeň, also known in English and German as Pilsen, is a city in the Czech Republic. About 78 kilometres west of Prague in western Bohemia, it is the fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 181,000 inhabitants, and about 323,184 people in its urban area.
Chlum, the highest point in Plzeň
Engraving of Plzeň from 1602
Plzeň in the interbellum
Memorial to the 16th Armored Division of the United States Army at the top of Americká, the main commercial boulevard
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec.
Battle between Hussites and crusaders during the Hussite Wars; Jena Codex, 15th century
The 1618 Defenestration of Prague marked the beginning of the Bohemian Revolt against the Habsburgs and therefore the first phase of the Thirty Years' War.
Prague during the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
Václav Havel, one of the most important figures in Czech history during the 20th century—leader of the Velvet Revolution, the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic.
