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Statistická ročenka Karlovarského kraje

Characteristics of the Karlovarský Region

CHARACTERISTIC OF THE KARLOVARSKÝ REGION

The Karlovarský Region covers the westernmost 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 1 429 km2 – 43.1% of the area (1.3 times more than the national average); itis the second largest forest land share after the Liberecký Region. The Region is the only one in the CR that has less agricultural land (1 255.4 km2) than forest land. The arable land share (584.6 km2, 17.6% 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 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 average area of municipality is 25.1 km2, with the average population per municipality 2 306 inhabitants (31 December 2000). The seat of the Region’s local government is Karlovy Vary, which is also the largest municipality (54 150 inhabitants). About 44% of the population live in towns under 10 000 inhabitants, which is 13 percentage points less than in 1998.

The ageing of the Region’s population since 1996 has increased the number of seniors (65+) by 2 261 and deceased the number of juniors (under 15) by 5 121 (9%). This raised the index of seniority to 70.6% (by 10.3 percentage points on 1996)The number of divorces per 100 marriages (62.8) ranks the Region first in the CR. Preliminary results of the Housing and Population Census carried out as at 1 March 2001 indicate 306 799 inhabitants to have lived in the Region, of which 50.9% were females. As for completed dwellings, the favourable upward trend in completed dwellings in 1991 slowed down to a stagnating or even decreasing one. There were 416 completed dwellings in 2000, the number amounting only to 27.3% of that in 1991 and accounting for 1.6% share in completed dwellings for the whole CR, which is by far the lowest number. According to preliminary results of the Census, there are 125 099 dwellings in the Region, of which 7.6% are not occupied, which gives 2.66 inhabitants per permanently occupied dwelling, while there were 2.74 inhabitants per such dwelling in 1991 .

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 3.22% of total employees in the CR, with the percentage putting to a stop the trend decreasing year-on-year from 1993. The population of the Region accounts for 2.96% of the CR’s total and has been rising year-on-year very slightly (less than 0.1‰). 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 8.02% (31 December 2000) ranks the Region ninth in the CR, as against the lowest rate in the Capital City of Prague (3.42%) and the highest in the Ústecký Region (16.15%). There were 8.54 job applicants per vacancy (the national figure was 8.78), while the 1994 figure stood at 1.16 . In 1994, the number of job applicants increased almost five times. The number of job applicants registered by employment offices on 31 December 2000 was 13 174 persons (of the following structure: 6 032 females (45.8%), 1 625 graduates and juveniles (12.3%), and 1 396 persons with reduced capacity to work (10.6%). The average wage CZK 12 036 ranked the Region eleventh in the whole CR and was 13.5% down on national average. Compared with the highest average wage in the Capital City of Prague and the lowest wage in the Vysočina Region, the average wage in the Karlovarský Region was CZK 5 453 down and CZK 372 up, respectively. Compared with districts in the whole CR, the Sokolov, Karlovy Vary, and Cheb Districts rank 42nd, 62nd, and 65th among the CR’s 91 districts, 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 a total of 75 balneological establishments (41% of the total CR’s number). Besides , a large number of accommodation establishments of different categories offer their services, too (543, which translates into 5.4% of the CR’s total). There were 618 282 guests in such establishment in 2000 (of which 53% were foreigners).

Changes in the age distribution of population have recently resulted in a lower demand for crèches, 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.