Statistická ročenka Karlovarského kraje
Characteristics of the Karlovarský Region
The Karlovarský Region comprises three Districts: Cheb, Karlovy Vary, and Sokolov. According to the current administration arrangement, there are 132 municipalities of various sizes in the Region, including one to several tens of municipal parts. The number of municipalities is the lowest one in the CR. The seat of the Region’s local government is Karlovy Vary, which is also the largest municipality (52 359 inhabitants). About 64% of the population live in towns under 20 000 inhabitants.
The Karlovarský Region covers the western parts of the Czech Republic. More than a half of the Region’s total border length is formed by the Czech Republic-Federal Republic of Germany border l– in the west, the CR borders Bavaria, and in the north Saxony. Other neighbouring areas are the Plzeňský Region in the south and the Ústecký Region in the east. The highest point is Klínovec (Mount Klínovec – 1 244 m above sea level) in Krušné hory (the Ore Mountains), the lowest point (320 m above sea level) lies at the very edge of the Region in the Karlovy Vary District. Neither the climate nor soils to be found in the Region create conditions favourable for farming. Regarding raw materials resources, the following are considered the most important: lignite and ceramic clays, and quite small deposits of metal ores and pitchblende residues, and of key importance are mineral and curative springs. The Karlovarský Region is the second smallest in area, after the Liberecký Region accounting for 4 % (3 314.4 km2)of the CR’s total area . Forest land covers 1 432 km2 – 43.2% of the area (1.3 times more than the national average). The Region is the only one in the CR that has less agricultural land (1 247.0 km2) than forest land. The arable land share (571 km2, 17.2 % of the Region’s area) does not even amount to a half of the national average and falls well below all other Regions. Natural conditions, the economic structure and the quality of the environment of the Region are considerably differentiated. The structure of the economy is varied a lot. Tourism and balneology are major industries in the Karlovy Vary and Cheb Districts, while the Sokolov District is characterised by lignite mining and manufacture of energy, chemical products and machinery. Industries traditional in the Region, such as manufacture of glass, china, spirits (the herb liqueur Becherovka), mineral water beverages, music instruments and textiles, have an important role to play, too. The Region’s position in the centre of Europe, its inner potential, conditions for cultural life and natural conditions as well as historical traditions put a sound basis for the future successful development of the entire Region.
The Karlovarský Region had a total population of 304 220 of which 51.18% are women (i.e. 155 445) as at 31 December 2002. Comparing to the same period of the last year, the number of live births again slightly increased by 29 (to 2 949) and number of deaths decreased by 276 (to 2 851). Thus, the balance of natural change of inhabitants reached the positive value (+98). Migration balance was also positive (+408) as the number of inhabitants migrating into the Region was higher than the number of those migrating out.
Comparing to the year 2001, the number of weddings increased by 37 (i.e. by 2.1%) to 1,829. Vice versa, a increase was reported among divorces by 102 (i.e. by 9.7%) to 1 152
The situation on the labour market reflects influences of many spheres characteristic of the development of the Region, and affects other spheres in consequence. The average number of employees is about 2.3% of total employees in the CR. The population of the Region accounts for 3.0% of the CR’s total and has been rising year-on-year very slightly. Since 1993, the percentage of the employed in the Region has been on a slight increase, too. The process of privatisation and rationalisation in the production sphere and the phasing-out of some industries triggered off a phenomenon completely new to the Region – unemployment. During the first years of transformation, however, the tertiary sphere did manage to absorb the labour force made redundant in industry and agriculture. A number of people got jobs in Germany, which is the reason why the unemployment rate in the Region was low or marginal in comparison to other Regions. However, unemployment has recently been significantly increasing even in the Karlovarský Region. The registered unemployment rate 10.07% (31 December 2002) ranks the Region ninth in the CR, as against the lowest rate in the Capital City of Prague (3.73%) and the highest in the Ústecký Region (17.13%). There were13,1 job applicants per vacancy (the national figure was 12.7), while the 1994 figure stood at 1.16 . In 1994, the number of job applicants increased ten times. The number of job applicants registered by employment offices on 31 December 2002 was 16 115 persons (of the following structure: 7 285 females (45.2%), 1 731 graduates and juveniles (10.7%), and 1 635 persons with reduced capacity to work (10.1%). The average wage CZK 13 975 ranked the Region eleventh in the whole CR and was 13.8% down on national average. Compared with the highest average wage in the Capital City of Prague and the lowest wage in the Olomoucký Region, the average wage in the Karlovarský Region was CZK 6 595 down and CZK 188 up, respectively.
After 1989, the Region faced a totally new situation in transport. The lifting of political restrictions on the movement of goods and persons across the border resulted in a manifold increase in the traffic of passenger cars as well as commercial vehicles in particular, with produced a negative impact on the environment. As a result of this fact, too, the transport infrastructure does not correspond to the needs for the development of the Region. There is a rather dense network of railways in the Karlovarský Region.
The Karlovarský Region has the largest concentration of balneological resorts in the CR, with over than of 70 balneological establishments (more than 40% of the total CR’s number). Besides , a large number of accommodation (512) establishments of different categories offer their services, too. There were 479 889 guests in such establishment in 2002 (of which 65% were foreigners).
Changes in the age distribution of population have recently resulted in a lower demand for creches, nursery and basic schools on the one hand and a shortage of places in establishments for senior citizens on the other hand. Some hospitals were closed down for economic reasons, while a number of private consulting rooms have sprung up. In connection with the balneological tradition in the Region, there is a great number of sports and cultural facilities of one kind or another, let alone many cultural, sports and other social events and activities held regularly.