The country is still officially called the Czech Republic , but its recommended short name in English, Czechia , was formally adopted in 2016.

Quick Scoop

  • The political name remains “Czech Republic” for formal, legal uses like treaties and official documents.
  • “Czechia” is the shorter geographic name, meant for maps, sports jerseys, product labels, and general use.
  • Czech leaders backed the short name Czechia in April 2016 , and the government approved it on 2 May 2016.
  • It was then added to the official United Nations country-name databases on 5 July 2016 , which is when it became internationally standardized.
  • In practice, both names still coexist, and many English speakers continue to say “Czech Republic.”

So, if you’re answering “when did Czech Republic become Czechia?”

For most everyday purposes, you can say:

The Czech Republic adopted Czechia as its official short English name in 2016 (approved by the government in May and standardized by the UN in July).

TL;DR: It didn’t “stop” being the Czech Republic; it just officially added Czechia as the preferred short name in 2016.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.