1991 census, the total population of the Czech Republic was 10,302,215; the 2001 estimate was 10,264,212. The population density, based on the 2001 estimate, was 130 persons per sq km (337 per sq mi). The country is divided informally into seven regions, corresponding to administrative divisions that were abolished after the collapse of Communism. These regions, with their 1991 census populations, are Central Bohemia (1,112,882, excluding Prague), Southern Bohemia (697,503), Western Bohemia (860,292), Northern Bohemia (1,174,034), Eastern Bohemia (1,233,187), Southern Moravia (2,049,386) and Northern Moravia (1,960,757).

Czechs make up roughly 95 percent of the population, although the Moravians consider themselves to be a distinct group within this majority. A significant Slovak minority remains from the federal period. A small Polish population exists in northeastern Moravia, and some Germans still live in northwestern Bohemia. The Gypsies (Roma) constitute a small, distinct minority.