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I know the country had been named Czech Republic but it has been changed to Czechia recently. The name seems to have failed to gain popularity around the world so far, though (you can easily find some related articles on the web).

When I talk with Czech citizens however, which one should I use? It might be better to use Czechia as it may make a good impression on them, but I also wonder if there are some citizens who opposed to the change, and these people might get dissatisfied if I say Czechia.

Blaszard
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    Nobody cares about it in real life. Use whatever you want. Most people don't speak English anyway. – JonathanReez Jul 13 '17 at 17:35
  • @JonathanReez isn't that an answer? – CGCampbell Jul 13 '17 at 17:38
  • @JonathanReez Wait, is it also true in Prague? On tourist spots people likely do but how about others? Maybe I should file a new question later... – Blaszard Jul 13 '17 at 17:47
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    Even if they know English they won't care about such small details. Just don't mention anything about them being in Eastern Europe... – JonathanReez Jul 13 '17 at 17:54
  • Related on meta: “The Czech Republic” versus “Czechia” – choster Jul 13 '17 at 17:59
  • Well, if you are speaking English, then Czechia is the official short form now. But be aware that internally, Czechs refer to them selves as Cesko which has no official designation at all. And yes, Czechia is in Central Europe, they hate being put in Eastern Europe. – DTRT Jul 13 '17 at 18:04
  • @Johns-305 That’s good to hear. Is there any neighboring country they hate or have negative views on and I should refrain from talking about? I consider moving to one of Eastern countries or Poland after Prague, FYI. – Blaszard Jul 13 '17 at 19:07
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    @Blaszard I would strongly advise you to refrain from volunteering opinions about any country or ethnicity, or about politics or religion, when traveling, as it is easy to give offense. There may be some current or historical grievance in the background, of course, but also consider that people you've just met won't have volunteered all their personal circumstances— many in one group may seem to dislike another group, but the individual you are speaking to may be married to someone from the other group, and is not interested in a foreigner's opinion of their spouse and in-laws. – choster Jul 14 '17 at 14:42
  • "but it has been changed to Czechia recently" Nope. It is still the Czech Republic. Czechia is a short nickname, as Americans are bound to produce for just everything. –  Jul 10 '18 at 16:01
  • @dda If you think Americans are bad, try talking to an Aussie. – choster Jul 10 '18 at 16:35

2 Answers2

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Czechia is officially recognized short name for our country. Czech Republic still remains the official name and finally Czech is still a shorthand for it that people commonly use, but is actually errorneous.

See Name of the Czech Republic article on Wikipedia and Go Czechia on myth explanation behind the Czechia name.

adamkonrad
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Both Czechia and Czech Republic are recognized names here. In my personal opinion, the later one is accepted better, because it was longer in use, while the first one was accepted by government without citizens consent.

If you want to try patience of locals, you can try call our country Czechoslovakia, which make some of us laugh (that you live 30 years in a past), but will annoy rest of us :)

If you want to make REAL impression, try to call our country in czech language: Česko. It's a bit tricky to make it with inflection (you can practice here), but the result will be happy face and better attitude towards you!

Tony Danilov
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