Czech lands

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The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands^[1][2][3] (Czech: České země, pronounced [ˈtʃɛskɛː ˈzɛmɲɛ]) is a historical-geographical term which, in a historical context, denotes the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia out of which Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic, were formed. Together the three have formed the Czech part of Czechoslovakia since 1918, and the Czech Republic since 1 January 1993.

In a historical context, Czech texts use the term to refer to any territory ruled by the Kings of Bohemia, i.e., the lands of the Bohemian Crown (země Koruny české) as established by Emperor Charles IV in the 14th century. This includes territories like the Lusatias (which in 1635 fell to Saxony) and the whole of Silesia, which at the time were all ruled from Prague Castle. Since the conquest of Silesia by the Prussian king Frederick the Great in 1742, the remaining lands of the Bohemian Crown—Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia—have been more or less co-extensive with the territory of the modern-day Czech Republic.^{[citation needed]}

The oldest depiction of coat of arms of Bohemia (left) and Moravia (right), castle Gozzoburg in Krems, fresco painting from the beginning of the 13th century