Statistická ročenka Zlínského kraje 2005

The Zlínský Region was established on 1 January 2000 on the basis of the constitutional act No. 347 from 3 December 1997 on foundation of higher self-governing units. It was formed by a merger of the Zlín District, the Kroměříž District and the Uherské Hradiště District that were parts of the Jihomoravský Region, and the Vsetín District that belonged to the Severomoravský Region.

It is located in the east of the CR, where the borders with Slovakia are formed by its eastern edge. It borders on the Jihomoravský Region in the southwest, on the Olomoucký Region in the northwest, on the Moravskoslezský Region in the northern part. It is the fourth smallest region of the CR thanks to its area of 3,964 km^². It has 304 municipalities in total (30 of which are towns)text-align:justify, in which 590,706 inhabitants were living to the end of the year 2004. The density of population of 149 inhabitants per km^² distinctively exceeds the national average. The highest density of population occurs in the Zlín District (187 inhabitants per km^²) and the lowest in the Vsetín District (128 inhabitants per km^²).

The character of the Region’s territory is very diverse; a dominant part is hilly, it consists of hilly countries and mountain ranges. In a part of the Region, in the Morava River basin, flat fertile areas of Haná and Slovácko stretch in the Kroměříž District and the Uherské Hradiště District, respectively. The Moravskoslezské Beskydy mountain range goes through the northern part of the Region, the Javorníky mountain range with its highest peak of Velký Javorník (1,071 m) is situated in the east and towards the south there is the Bílé Karpaty mountain range (the White Carpathians) with its highest mountain of Velká Javořina (970 m) that forms the borders on Slovakia. The highlands of Hostýnsko–Vsetínská hornatina and Vizovická vrchovina pass south of the Moravskoslezské Beskydy mountain range. On the south-western part of the Region, there are Chřiby highlands with the highest point Brdo (587 m). The Upper Moravian vale (Hornomoravský úval) passes through from the west among the highlands of Chřiby and above mentioned hilly countries through the Kroměříž District up to the Zlín District. The Lower Moravia vale (Dolnomoravský úval) passes through along the Morava River, in the Uherské Hradiště District. It passes further to the Jihomoravský Region. Most of the streams flowing through the area flow to the Morava River, which is the biggest river of the Region flowing through both the vales from west to the south. These are above all the Bečva River in the northern part and the Olšava River in the southern part. The Region’s climate is rather favourable. As for climatic data measured in a weather station on the territory of the Region, the average temperature of air was 9.1°C in 2004 and the total amount of precipitation was 540 mm/m².

Most of the soils in the Region are poor in minerals (with the exception of potassium and magnesium) with the lack of humus. These are the brown soils of the highlands and the podzolic soils that locally pass to brown soils of the lower locations towards the south. There are very fertile brown soils and black soils in both the vales and high-quality floodplain soils in the surroundings of the Morava River in contrast with the hilly and mountainous part with the poor gravel and stony medium-hard or hard soils.

It is very difficult to cultivate soil in big part of the Region due to the steep land and variety of the terrain. Total amount of the soil can be divided into 49.4% of agricultural soil and 50.6% of non-agricultural. Most agricultural soil belongs to the Uherské Hradiště District (58.5% of the total Districts area, of which 71.5% is arable land). There is a completely different division of soil in the Vsetín District: the percentage of non-agricultural soil is much higher (64.3%) and 83.7% of it is covered with forests, mostly spruce forests.

There is a large protected landscape area in the Zlínský Region. Large-area territories include two protected landscape regions (CHKO): Beskydy and Bílé Karpaty (White Carpathians) that cover approximately 30% of the area. The protected landscape region of Bílé Karpaty belongs to six biosphere reservations of UNESCO in the Czech Republic. There is also a great variety of natural reservations and monuments in the area of the Region. In July 2000, an association of legal persons "Euroregion Bílé – Biele Karpaty" (focusing on versatile development of cross-border co-operation of the regions on the territory of the protected landscape region of Bílé Karpaty) was established. Euroregion includes the area of the operation of the association Región Biele Karpaty with the seat in Trenčín and the area of operation of the association Region Bílé Karpaty with the seat in Zlín. The Czech part of the Euroregion stretches in the Uherské Hradiště District, the Zlín District and the Vsetín District and a part of the Kroměříž District as well as several municipalities of the Hodonín District with the microregion of Horňácko, which belongs to the Jihomoravský Region.

As for demography, the year 2004 was better than 2003. After 1989, bigger chances for self-fulfilment arose for young people, other horizons than marriage opened up. It had an enormous impact on the demographic development of the entire CR, which was characterized by a drop in the number of births and decreasing of the number of concluded marriages. In 2004, however, the number of both live births and marriages increased in comparison to 2003. In 2004, 5,217 children were lively born in the Zlínský Region (by 70 more than in the previous year). Similar development was also among marriages: 2,731 were concluded on the territory of the Region, which is by 235 more. On the contrary, number of divorces decreased in comparison with the previous year by 152 to 1,532; thus, the number of divorces per 100 marriages decreased in comparison to 2003 from 63.5% to 56.1%. Another important indicator of population development in the CR and thus in the Zlínský Region as well is the number of abortions. In 2004, it slightly decreased in the Region, namely by 85.

Total population of the Zlínský Region has been continually decreasing since 1994. In 2004, 590,706 inhabitants lived on its territory. Development of population age structure is characterized by an increasing share of people in post-productive age: share of population aged 64+ increased from 14.1% in 2003 to 14.3% in 2004. However, the age structure is still favourable as for the economic point of view. Average age was 39.6 years in 2004.

In the year 2004, 367 less people died than in 2003; thus, 5,978 persons died in total in 2004. Life expectancy at birth slightly increased for females to 79.54 years, while for males it decreased to 71.80 years.

Economy in the Region was and still is based primarily on capitalisation of input raw materials and semi-finished products. Export in the Region has been negatively influenced by its position within the CR. Regarding the gross domestic product generation, the Zlínský Region ranks tenth among regions of the CR. In 2003, the average value of GDP per capita reached CZK 198,020 (in current prices) in the Region.

Industrial potential of the Region lies in manufacturing enterprises that represent 17.9% of total registered entities. They are mainly enterprises of metallurgy and metalworking, wood-processing, electrical and textile industries. However, their characteristic feature is low level of modernisation of production in comparison with the rest of the CR.

In agriculture, the average yield of cereals per hectare increased in comparison with the year 2003 by 1.3 t to 5.64 t and the average annual milk yield per cow by 312 l to 6,434 l.

In housing construction, 1,494 dwellings were completed during the year 2004 on the Region’s territory, of which 804 were in family houses. The average habitable floor area of a completed dwelling was 78.6 m²; it increased by 4.8 m² in comparison with the year 2003. As at the end of the year, 7,613 dwellings remained under construction.

As at 31 December 2004, the Czech Statistical Office registered in the Zlínský Region 128,679 legal and physical entities out of which 15,606 entities had employees, which is by 2.3% less than as at the same date of 2003. 1,516 enterprises in the Region have 25 and more employees.

The number of the employed in the national economy decreased in 2004 (in comparison with the previous year) by 1.3 thousand persons. Average gross monthly wage of an employee was CZK 15,629 that is below the national average (CZK 18,035).

As at 31 December 2004, the labour offices registered in the Region 31,606 job applicants; registered unemployment rate was 9.5%. Within the Region, the highest unemployment rate was reported from the Kroměříž District (11.9%), while the lowest from the Uherské Hradiště District (8.0%).

The network of pre-school and school establishments in the Region consists of 306 nursery schools, 233 basic schools, 15 grammar schools, 52 secondary technical schools, 32 secondary vocational schools, 11 higher professional schools. There are two universities in the Region. They are: Tomas Bata University in Zlín, which has a public status; it has 3 faculties and can confer a bachelor and master degree. The other one is a private college – European polytechnical institute in Kunovice.

In the Region, a general practitioner takes care of 308 inhabitants in average. Acute, successive and rehabilitation health care is ensured by a stabilised network of hospitals (11 in the Region) with 3,377 beds available. In 2004, 156,443 people were receiving pensions, of which 79,937 were full old-age pensions. The amount of average pension reached CZK 6,969.

As for culture, the Region’s inhabitants can visit 52 museums, 51 galleries, 35 permanent cinemas, 9 theatres and 44 open-air amphitheatres. Readers can use services of 405 public libraries (including branches).

In 371 collective accommodation establishments of tourism of the Zlínský Region, 522,355 guests were accommodated, of whom 81,608 were foreigners in 2004.