The Jihočeský Region has been viewed in the long term generally as an agricultural area with developed forestry and fish farming in ponds. Manufacturing took roots no earlier than during the last century. Geographically, the Region is a relatively integral whole, the centre of which is formed by the South Bohemian valley. It is surrounded by the Šumava mountains in the south-west, Brdy foothills in the north-west, Středočeská žulová vrchovina (the Central Bohemian Granite Highlands) in the north, Českomoravská vrchovina (the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands) in the east, and Novohradské hory (the Novohradské Mountains) in the south-east. There are two basins stretching in the South Bohemian valley: Českobudějovická and Třeboňská.

Major part of the Region's borderline is formed by the border with Austria and the Federal Republic of Germany (323 km in total). The Region also adjoins the Plzeňský, Středočeský, Vysočina and Jihomoravský Regions. Its position along the border creates favourable conditions for effective cross-border co-operation in the field of manufacturing, services as well as tourism where there is utilised the overall attractiveness of the Region that can offer unspoilt countryside and many national heritage buildings and monuments.

The Region's area is 10,057 km2, which makes up 12.8% of the CR's area. Forest land covers one third of the Region, while water surface areas 4%. Major part of the area is situated at the altitude of 400-600 m, which implies rather severe climatic conditions. The highest point of the Region is the Šumava peak Plechý (1,378 m), while the lowest point is the water surface of Orlická přehrada (the Orlík Reservoir) situated in the Písek District.

The area of the Region falls under the basin of upper and middle sections of the Vltava River with several tributaries: the Otava, Lužnice, Malše, Blanice Rivers and many others. In the past, more than 7,000 fish ponds were constructed there the total area of which currently covers more than 30,000 hectares. The following fish ponds rank among the largest in the Region as well as in the CR: Rožmberk (490 ha), Bezdrev (450 ha) and Horusický rybník (415 ha). In addition to those, large waterworks were erected: Lipno (the largest water surface area in the CR with 4,870 ha), Orlík (surrounded by large holiday areas) and Římov (supplying drinking water to a major part of the Region). Also, the reservoir Hněvkovice was built in connection with the construction of the nuclear power plant Temelín.

The Jihočeský Region is rich in neither raw nor energy producing materials. However, there are important natural resources of different kind in the Region - vast forests of Šumava and Novohradské hory, chiefly coniferous consisting of spruce and pine trees. The biggest raw material resources include deposits of sands and gravel sands, brick clay, aggregates and glass sands. Other important resources include peat, and in some areas limestone, kieselguhr and graphite.

Regarding the environment, the Region suffers from rather low environmental damage. Although the level of emissions is gradually decreasing, there are still a number of polluters, particularly in agriculture and industry. Despite a significant improvement of the quality of water observed since 1990, the Vltava River is classified as polluted over the prevalent length of its course; the situation is better with the Otava and Lužnice Rivers. The cleanest water is reported to be in the Malše River - particularly in the parts near to Římovská přehrada (the Římov Reservoir) - and in the upper course of the Vltava and Blanice Rivers. Eighty per cent of forests are classified as not damaged at all and the remaining part as slightly damaged. A good indicator is rather clean atmosphere the quality of which is one of the best in the CR.

The area of the Region has always had a recreational rather than developed industrial character. The commitment to maintain the natural environment has manifested itself in the establishment of the National Park Šumava (comprising the area 685 km2, including the part spreading in the Plzeňský Region), protected landscape areas Šumava (945 km² - part is also in the Plzeňský Region), Třeboňsko (700 km²) and Blanský les (Blanský Forest - 212 km²). Nearly 288 small protected areas and a number of protected nature formations are to be seen there as well.

Historical centres of the following towns have been designated urban conservation areas: České Budějovice, Český Krumlov (inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List), Jindřichův Hradec, Třeboň, Slavonice, Prachatice and Tábor. In addition, a number of historic buildings and monuments can be found in the Region, such as the chateaux Hluboká nad Vltavou, Český Krumlov, Blatná, Červená Lhota, and castles Zvíkov and Orlík. What is also an important part of the national heritage is the folk architecture in the Region - particularly the style known as "folk baroque", an outstanding example of which is the village of Holašovice (the České Budějovice District) inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.

The Jihočeský Region has the lowest density of population in the CR. In the end of 2002, more than 625,000 inhabitants lived in the Region, which accounts for 62 inhabitants per km2. The highest density of population of the Region's seven Districts is in the České Budějovice District with about one quarter of the inhabitants living in this District. This fact is accounted for chiefly by the town of České Budějovice itself with nearly 96,000 permanent residents. Other major towns include Tábor (36,500 inhabitants), Písek (29,800), Strakonice (23,500) and Jindřichův Hradec (22,800). The population of these five towns makes up more than one third of the Region's inhabitants. On the other hand, the smallest municipalities under 200 inhabitants comprise 38.8% of the total number of municipalities, but only 4.2% of the Region's population. The smallest municipality is Vlkov (the České Budějovice District) with its 20 permanent residents. Currently, there are 623 self-governing municipalities in the Region, with nearly 2,000 settlements.

When compared to the national average, the Region's population is younger (average age 39.0). What is also lower is the death rate (10.0 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants), while the birth rate is higher (9.2 live births per 1,000 inhabitants). The Český Krumlov and Prachatice Districts, which stretch along the border and whose ethnic composition is rather varied, differ from the Region's overall demographic structure in a degree. These Districts have younger population, the highest birth rates and rather low death rates. Recently, the population of the Strakonice and Písek Districts has been diminishing in number steadily, while steady growth of population has been reported only from the České Budějovice and Český Krumlov Districts.

According to the results of the Population and Housing Census, as at 1 March 2001 the share of inhabitants with university education reached 7.8% of total number of persons over 15 years old (in 1991 it was 6.3%) and stake of persons with full secondary education (including professional) was 28.4% (in 1991 it was 23.2%). A higher share of persons with university education in the Czech Republic is only in the Capital City of Prague, the Jihomoravský and Olomoucký Regions. Higher shares of persons with full secondary education were reported only in the Capital City of Prague and the Královéhradecký Region. In the Census, 34.7% of inhabitants declared they were believers, which is slightly above the national average.

The Region's gross domestic product accounts for only 5.4% of the CR's GDP, but when converted to GDP per inhabitant it amounts to 87.8 % of the national average and ranks fourth in the CR (after the Capital City of Prague and the Plzeňský and Jihomoravský Regions).

Regarding agriculture, crop production focuses on cereals, oleaginous and forage crops, with potatoes production playing a major role, too. Animal production focuses on raising cattle and pigs. In total, the Region produces about 11% of the CR's agricultural output. Fish farming in ponds has had a long tradition in the Region. Fish ponds cover a total area of about 25,000 hectares and produce one half of the CR's output of fish. The Region's share in the output of waterfowl (ducks and geese) is also significant. Industrial production is concentrated mainly in the České Budějovice urban agglomeration; rather significant share of industry is also reported for the Tábor and Strakonice Districts. However, the Region does not rank among key industrial areas - its 2001 share in sales of industrial enterprises accounted for 5.1% of the CR's total. Manufacturing (mainly manufacture of food products and beverages, means of transport, machinery and equipment, and of textile and textile products) prevails over the other industries. Activities in construction are focusing on new construction, modernisation and reconstruction in the Region, accounting for 4.4% of the CR's total construction output.

According to labour force sample surveys there is a total of about 300,000 employees in the Region, one third of which accounts for industry sector, more than 11% for trade and repair of personal and household goods, and 10% for construction. The 2001 average gross wage amounted to CZK 14,029 (per natural person), falling, though, by CZK 1,828 below the national average - this fact is to a certain degree accounted for by the Region's structure of economy.

There were 21,118 job applicants in the Region at the end of 2002. Registered unemployment rate stood at 6.65% at the end of December 2002, ranking the Jihočeský Region second best after the Capital City of Prague.

In the statistical Business Register, almost 136,000 enterprises, organisations and entrepreneurs were registered in the end of 2001. The biggest part comprised of entrepreneurs - natural persons not incorporated in the Companies Register (98,000 entities) and independent farmers (8,600 entities).

The tangible and intangible fixed assets acquired in 2002 by investors with head office in the Region amounted to CZK 13.6 bn (3.5% of the CR's total). The most significant investment project is the Temelín nuclear power plant along with the accompanying investments.

The Region's economy could not develop without dwelling possibilities. According to the Population and Housing Census, as at 1 March 2001 almost 148,000 houses were in the Region, from which 111,500 houses were permanently occupied. There were 279,900 flats out of which 231,300 flats were permanently occupied. Out of the total number of permanently occupied flats, 40% were in own houses, 25.3% were let, 14.9% were co-operative and 8.6% privately owned flats. In the first half of 1990´s, housing construction slowed down, in the second half the situation slightly improved. In 2001, 1,900 new flats were finished and, besides that, 188 flats were modernised.

The Region has been reporting an ever-increasing volume of traffic, particularly on the road. Although there are no major railway corridors running through the Region's area, several important railway junctions can be found there. One of places of interest in the Region is the remainder of the horse railway track that linked the town of České Budějovice with Linz in the Upper Austria and was the first on the European continent. One can also find here the railway stop at the highest altitude in the CR - Kubova Huť, and the narrow-gauge railway linking the towns of Jindřichův Hradec and Obrataň. The road network, though adequately ensuring the basic transport accessibility, does not currently include any highways. The number of post offices amounts about 215, i.e. nearly a half of the municipalities have their own post office.

The network of educational establishments comprises 360 nursery schools, 249 basic schools, 24 grammar schools, 58 secondary technical schools, 46 secondary vocational schools, and 14 higher professional schools. Six faculties provide university education. The University of South Bohemia has five faculties: of agriculture (with the detached unit of tourism economy and technology in Tábor), pedagogy, biological sciences, health and social studies, and theology. All the faculties have their seats in the town of České Budějovice; the town of Jindřichův Hradec hosts the Management Faculty of the University of Economics, Prague. More than 6,400 full-time students are receiving their university education in the Region.

Major health care establishments include 10 hospitals (with 3,847 beds), four specialised therapeutic institutions and five therapeutic institutions for long-term patients. Outpatient care is provided by more than 400 surgeries of GP's for adult patients, almost 270 surgeries of GP's for children, and 390 surgeries of dentists. Social care establishments dispose of more than 4,442 beds intended particularly for senior citizens.

Cultural establishments can be found mainly in towns, especially in District Authorities towns. The best-known cultural establishments include Jihočeské divadlo (the South-Bohemian Theatre), Alšova jihočeská galerie (the South-Bohemian Gallery of Mikoláš Aleš), the open-air theatre with revolving auditorium in Český Krumlov and many other establishments. There are 14 theatres, 65 museums, 56 permanent cinemas, 98 galleries and exhibition halls, 688 public libraries and a number of other similar establishments in the Region.

Regarding sports, 60 open-air and indoor stadiums can be found in the Region, along with 362 gymnasiums and more than 870 sports grounds. Moreover, there are available 13 indoor swimming pools, 145 open-air swimming pools, 20 winter stadiums (both open-air and indoor), and more than 350 other sports facilities.

The countryside of the Region - with its large forest coverage, water surface areas and a great number of national monuments (nearly 6,000) - is the place of leisure and recreation activities for people from all the CR as well as many foreigners. In summer time, this particularly applies not only to the areas surrounding the Lipno and Orlík reservoirs and the south-Bohemian fish ponds, but also the Šumava mountains, whose winter sports centres Churáňov and Zadov attract visitors in winter time. In 2001, 66,900 beds were available in the Region (out of which almost a half are seasonal) and about 20,000 places in the open-air camping sites. The accommodation establishments comprised 218 hotels with 12,300 beds, 403 boarding houses with 9,400 beds, 107 camps (8,300 beds), 406 other collective accommodation establishments (26,800 beds) and 1,671 individual accommodation providers (10,100 beds). A specific feature of the Region is that it comprises more than 25,000 establishments of individual recreation (i.e. weekend houses).

There are several border crossings in the Region - the road border crossings (Dolní Dvořiště, Studánky, Nové Hrady, Nová Bystřice, Slavonice, Halámky, České Velenice and Strážný), two railway border crossings (České Velenice and Horní Dvořiště) and some border crossings for pedestrians and cyclists (Stožec, Chlum u Třeboně, České Velenice, Přední Výtoň, Zadní Zvonková, Plešné jezero, Třístoličník, Bučina and České Žleby). Besides these, additional temporary pedestrian crossings are usually open in the tourist season or when significant cross-border events take place.

In 2002, the statistically monitored collective accommodation establishments reported more than 731,000 guests, including about 228,000 foreigners coming from the Federal Republic of Germany and the Austria in particular. The average length of stay per guest was 3.4 days. However, many foreigners cross the border to make just a one-day visit mainly to the nearby towns (Český Krumlov, České Budějovice) and it is not yet possible to monitor such visits statistically.

Exhibitions of various kinds take place at the České Budějovice Exhibition Grounds throughout the year. The most important are the international agricultural exhibition Země živitelka and the exhibition "HOBBY". The Grounds report about 500,000 visitors a year.

During the last few years, many forms of cross-border co-operation have been developing. One of them is Šumava/Böhmerwald/Bayerischer Wald Euroregion, which comprises the territory with total area of 16,345 km² with 1.3 mil inhabitants. It associates 109 Austrian, 83 Bavarian and 91 Czech municipalities (of which 59 municipalities are from the Jihočeský Region). Contributions of it lie in creation and realisation of common projects, especially in the field of transport, services and tourism, and mutual exchange of experience. In May 2002, the foundation charter of another Euroregion was signed; its name is "Silva Nortica" and it covers the territory of the Jindřichův Hradec District, the České Budějovice District, the Písek District and the Tábor District. In the Lower Austria it applies to the following districts: Zwettl, Krems, Gmünd, Waidhofen an der Thaya and Horn. The Euroregion spreads on the territory of 10,639 square kilometres with almost 0.7 million inhabitants. The target of the cross-border co-operation is common presentation of the region, exchange of information, development of tourism, etc.

In August 2002 devastating floods affected predominant part of the Jihočeský Region and caused big damages. Farm and residential buildings were destroyed as well as crop in the fields, many bridges were pulled down, roads and railways were destroyed. Total damages were calculated at almost 16 billion CZK. Most of the facilities and equipment have been already repaired.

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