The Czech lands reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004
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Czech lands

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The Czech lands (in Czech: České země) or Czechia (in Czech: Česko) is an auxiliary term used for Bohemia + Moravia + Czech part of Silesia + other territories that were parts of the Kingdom of Bohemia (Lands of the Czech Crown) at the particular time in history (e.g. Lusatia, Brandenburg), today identical with the Czech Republic. It is used especially for the period till 1969 (when the entity and term Czech Socialist Republic arose), but also afterwards.

Czech lands was used especially in the past (before 1992), when the alternative term Czechia was used rarely (in Czech it was codified in 1777, but was rarely used both in the Czech and in the English language), so that it was impossible to describe the main and secondary Czech territory by one word. The use of the term Czechia is officially endorsed by the Czech Republic (see Czech Republic). The Czech equivalent for Czechia - Česko, after a slow start, is used more and more often by Czech speakers, newspapers, etc. Although in informal conversation, the Czech equivalent for Bohemia - Čechy is probably more common.