Statistická ročenka Libereckého kraje
Characteristics of the Liberecký Region
CHARACTERISTIC OF THE REGION
The Liberecký Region is situated in the north of the Czech Republic, bording the Federal Republic of Germany in the length of 20 km and Poland in the length of 130 km. In the east, the Region neighbours the Královéhradecký Region, in the west the Ústecký Region, and in the south the Středočeský Region.
With the area of 3 163 km2 the Region is the smallest one in the Czech Republic and covers only 4 % of the CR's total area. Agricultural land comprises 44.6% of the Region's area; the share of arable land is well below the national average. On the contrary, a high percentage (43,6%) is reported for forest land.
The whole Region is generally mountainous, embracing several mountain ranges - Lužické Hory (the Lužice Mountains), Jizerské hory (the Jizera Mountains), and the western part of Krkonoše (the Giant Mountains), including their foothills.
The highest point is the 1 435 m high Peak Kotel situated near Harrachov in the Semily District. The lowest point of 208 m above sea level lies in the Liberec District. Three rivers gather the waters from the Region: the basin of the River Ploučnice in the west, the basin of the River Labe in the east, and the basin of the River Odra (Nisa) in the north. Supplies of ground water are mainly found near the southern border, while in the northeast, there is a protected area of natural accumulation of surface water.
Regarding raw materials, the Region is rich in foundry and glass sands, building and ornamental stone, and gravel sands. The coal deposit of the Krkonoše foothill basin reaches into the territory of the Semily District. Until recently, deposits of radioactive raw materials in the Česká Lípa District played the most important role.
The Liberecký Region comprises the Česká Lípa, Jablonec nad Nisou, and Liberec Districts, which were part of the former Severočeský Region before the territorial reform, and the Semily District of the former Východočeský Region. As at 31 December 2000, the population of the Liberecký Region was 429,121 (4.2% of the CR' population), ranking the Region second smallest in the country. The average density of population is 136 inhabitants per km2, being slightly above the national average. The highest density of population can be found in the Jablonec nad Nisou District (219 inhabitants per km2) and the Liberec District (172 km2). There are 216 municipalities in the Region, with the average municipality area 14.6 km2. The percentage of population living in municipalities under 500 inhabitants is 5.7%. The percentage of urban population is 78.9%. A lower percentage of urban population is reported only for the Semily District (60.6%). The main centre of the Region is Liberec with nearly a hundred thousand inhabitants. The second largest town in the Region is Jablonec nad Nisou, whose population amounts to 45 thousand.
The demographic development of the Liberecký Region is rather similar to that observed in other Regions. Between 1995 - 2000, the total population increase was only 147 persons. The distribution of population by age varies significantly in the individual Districts. While the population of the Česká Lípa District ranks among the youngest in the CR, the population of the Semily District among the oldest. The average age of population in the Region is gradually increasing owing to a low birth rate.
The economic structure of the Liberecký Region is principally of industrial nature. The developed industries include: manufacture of glass, imitation jewellery, plastics, machinery, and manufacturing closely tied with manufacture of motor vehicles. Owing to being gradually phased out in the past, the traditional manufacture of textiles has recently lost its dominant role. There is foreign capital in many industrial enterprises. The agriculture, which functions, in fact, just as a supplementary branch of the economic structure, grows mainly cereals and forage crops for cattle breeding. Recently, trade, construction, and transport have achieved a significantly greater role in the economy of the Region. To make the list complete, tourism is also a major contributor to the Region's economy.
In 1999, the gross domestic product per capita was 82.7% of the CR's one, which equals 46.1% of the gross domestic product per capita of the EU as a whole. As for the CR's total GDP, the share of the Liberecký Region stood at 3.5%, ranking the Region among those with rather low economic performance. The restructuring of industry and agriculture along with the lowered activity of uranium mining took its effect by an increase in the unemployment rate.
As at 31 December 2000, the Region's unemployment rate, calculated from data provided by the employment offices, was 6.44%, which is the fourth lowest regional unemployment rate in the CR. Regarding the Districts of the Liberecký Region, the highest unemployment rate is repeatedly reported for the Liberecký District, while the lowest rate is in the Jablonec nad Nisou District.
The average wage keeps below the CR's average that is, however, significantly influenced by the average wage reported in the Capital City of Prague. The level of average wage in the Region also reflects the structure of industry in the Region - there is a high percentage of female employees.
The development of business is heavily conditional on traffic accessibility. The total length of railways is 564 km; the density of railway network 0.178 km/km2 exceeds the national average by one third. The Liberecký Region is situated between two highway routes: the D8 highway Praha - Ústí nad Labem - Dresden and the D11 highway Praha - Hradec Králové - Lubowka - Legnica. The main traffic route is the express road from Praha to Liberec now being finished. With its twolanes in either direction, the road will be a quality link of the Region with central parts of the country. The other traffic routes include the north-south road from Svor via Česká Lípa to Mělník and the east-west road from Děčín via Nový Bor, Hrádek nad Nisou, Liberec, Turnov to Hradec Králové. Of the total length of road network, roads classified as class II and class III account for 20.1% and 66.1%, respectively.
An increase in road traffic has negative impact on the quality of the environment, whose components vary throughout the Region. Main causes of air pollution are combustion processes and there is still observed the impact of thermal power plants operated either in the neighbouring countries or in the CR.
Owing to the rather high total precipitation, particularly in the mountainous areas, the Liberecký Region is a major water source area of national significance. Almost 60% of the total area is occupied by the protected areas of natural accumulation of water Jizerské hory, Krkonoše, and the North-Bohemian Cretaceous Formation. The percentage of protected areas of natural accumulation of water is the highest of all the Regions in the CR, which imposes great demands on the water protection in relation to the economic development of the area.
From the natural history point of view, the Liberecký Region is a very important area and includes a great variety of ecosystems, a lot of protected areas as well as areas with interesting fauna and flora. There are five protected landscape areas in the Region: České středohoří (the Bohemian Low Mountain Range), Jizerské hory, Lužické hory, Český ráj (the Bohemian Paradise), and Kokořínsko (the Kokořin Area); 13 national nature reserves, seven national nature monuments, 29 nature reserves, and 40 nature monuments.
A specific area in the Region is the former military grounds Ralsko in the Česká Lípa District. The grounds were established in the early 1950's - many municipalities had had to give way and were destroyed. Starting in 1968, troops of the former Soviet Union were stationed in Ralsko. After their departure, the military grounds were closed down, the facilities left deserted, still awaiting a proposal for reasonable use.
As for education, there is a stabilised network of basic schools in the Region. Also, there are many special schools, providing education for learners of 3 to 19 years of age who are either physically or mentally handicapped, or suffering from sight, auditory, speech or combined handicap. Since 1990, the number of grammar and secondary technical schools has increased, while the number of secondary vocational schools has decreased. The Liberecký Region is typical of a number of secondary schools of art that reach beyond the regional context. Glass and imitation-jewellery secondary schools of applied arts are especially worth mentioning.
Not only secondary, but also tertiary education is provided - by the Liberec University of Technology. After 1990, the university experienced an increase in the number of both students and faculties. Besides two original faculties, the mechanical engineering and textile faculties, the faculties of pedagogy, economics, architecture, mechatronics, and interdisciplinary engineering studies were established there. The textile faculty is the only one in the CR.
Basic health care is provided by a network of out-patient establishments and pharmacies, the number and structure of which correspond to the needs of the Region. Acute care, care of chronic patients and physiotherapeutic care is provided by a stabilised network of hospitals (ten hospitals in total); long-term care is provided by therapeutic institutions for long-term patients. The most important health establishment is the Liberec Hospital. The hospital provides basic and specialised care at a regional level, and highly specialised care also for patients from the whole CR. The Institute of the Arm and Plastic Surgery in the town of Vysoké nad Jizerou is an establishment of multiregional significance.
There are two balneological centres in the Region to treat rheumatism and diseases of locomotive organs, heart, and blood circulation system Lázně Libverda and Lázně Kunratice (Spa Libverda and Spa Kunratice).
The Liberecký Region has a rich historic tradition represented by many historic buildings and monuments and cultural establishments. The institutions of supraregional significance include Divadlo F. X. Šaldy (the F. X. Šalda Theatre), Naivní divadlo (the Naive Theatre), the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, and a number of museums and galleries scattered about the Region. Another important institution is Státní vědecká knihovna v Liberci (the State Scientific Library in Liberec), not to mention the 268 libraries to be found in districts and municipalities. Stagi theatres (theatres having no ensembles or repertoire of their own) play also an irreplaceable role in the cultural life of the.
The Liberecký Region is a very interesting place for tourism. Visitors, foreigners as well as Czech nationals, come to enjoy exceptional landscape, to see nature formations, historic monuments and other places of interests. There are many specific areas in the Region that are strongly linked to tourism (the western parts of Krkonoše, Jizerské hory, Turnovsko-Český ráj (the Turnov Area - the Bohemian Paradise), the town of Doksy and its surroundings, and Podkrkonoší (the Krkonoše Mouintains foothills).
Frequently visited attractions of national heritage significance include religious buildings and castles, such as Bezděz, Zákupy, Lemberk, Frýdlant v Čechách, Sychrov, Hrubý Rohozec and Valdštejn. Many reservoirs and lakes are to be found in the Region, too, with the most well-known Máchovo Jezero (the Lake of Mácha). Visitors can use accommodation establishments with a total capacity of 53.6 thousand bed places. Quite a number of individual recreation establishments can be found in the Region (23 thousand weekend houses of one kind or another). Important border crossings and many border crossings for pedestrians help develop the tourism of the Region.