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Wikipedia
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic.[4]
The city proper is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million.[5] Prague has been a political, cultural and economic centre of Europe and particularly central Europe for the over 1,100 years of its existence. For centuries, during the Gothic and Renaissance eras, Prague was the permanent seat of two Holy Roman Emperors and thus was also the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. The city played roles in the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and in 20th-century history, both during the two World Wars and during the post-war Communist era.
Prague is home to a number of famous cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of twentieth century Europe. Since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, making the city one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, receiving more than 4.1 million international visitors annually, as of 2009.[6][7] Prague is classified as a global city.
The modern economy of Prague is largely service and export-based and, in an 2010 survey, the city was named the best city in East Europe for business.[8]
In 2005 Prague was deemed among the three best cities in eastern Europe according to the Economist's livability rankings.[9] The city was named as a top-tier nexus city for innovation across multiple sectors of the global innovation economy, placing 29th globally out of 289 cities, ahead of Brussels and Helsinki for innovation in 2010 in 2thinknow annual analysts Innovation Cities Index.[10]
In the Eurostat research, Prague ranked fifth among Europe's 271 regions in terms of gross domestic product per inhabitant, achieving 172% of the EU average. It ranked just above Paris and well above the Czech Republic as a whole, which achieved 80% of the EU average.