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 (51 537 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 on the river Ohře. 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 4.2 % (3 314.5 km2)of the CR’s total area . Forest land covers 1 433 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 (1 246 km2) than forest land. The arable land share (568 km2, 17.1 % 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 304 588 of which 51,1% are women (i.e. 155 549) as at 31 December 2004. Comparing to the same period of the last year, the number of live births increased by 16 (to 2 903) and number of deaths also increased by 75 (to 3 020 ). Thus, the balance of natural change of inhabitants reached the negative value (-117). Migration balance was positive (+456) as the number of inhabitants migrating into the Region was higher than the number of those migrating out.
Comparing to the year 2003, the number of weddings increased by 132 (i.e. by 8,3%) to 1,716. The number of divorces decreased by 93 (i.e. by 7.5%) to 1,145.
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. The registered unemployment rate 10.75% (31 December 2004) ranks the Region eleventh in the CR, as against the lowest rate in the Capital City of Prague (3.58%) and the highest in the Ústecký Region (15.85%). There were 15.7 job applicants per vacancy (the national figure was 10.6). The number of job applicants registered by employment offices on 31 December 2004 was 18 726 persons (of the following structure: 8,812 females (47.0%), 1,479 graduates and juveniles (7.9%), and 1 935 persons with reduced capacity to work (10.3%). The average wage CZK 15,414 ranked the Region last in the whole CR and was 14.5% down on national average.
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 (423) establishments of different categories offer their services, too. There were 564,543 guests in such establishment in 2004 (of which 68,5% were foreigners).