Czechs busily traded in land in the space as over 3,000 of them bought over 12 square kilometres of land mostly on the Moon before Christmas, Filip Rajchart, executive of the Galactic Agency, told CTK yesterday.

The plots are offered per acre, 373 to 777 crowns apiece, Rajchart said.

The Galactic Agency sells land on the Moon, Mars and Venus on the basis of a licence contract with the U.S. firm Lunar Embassy, based in Nevada.

It was established by Dennis Hope in 1980. It has outlets in Britain, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan and Russia and since 2006, also in the Czech Republic.

According to the latest statistics, 34.619 acres of space real estate has been sold in the Czech Republic. The biggest interest had been shown in the land on the Moon.

In Mars, Czechs own 3700 acres and in Venus 1,100 acres, Rajchart said.

Hope used a law valid in the USA under which anyone can call any land one's own if a public request is raised.

In 1980, Hope claimed the whole surface of Moon.

So far, Hope has sold the space real estate to 3.5 million people, mostly in the USA, Russia and Israel.

The owners include former U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Jimmy Carter and actors Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood and Nicole Kidman.

In the Czech Republic, land on the Moon is owned by former prime minister Jiri Paroubek and former Prague Mayor Pavel Bem.

The Prague City Hall owns a real estate with the acreage of 4047 square kilometres on the Moon.

One can also buy a Moon passport, thus claiming its citizenship. This has been done by 778 Czechs.

($1=19.893 crowns)