Statistická ročenka Libereckého kraje
Characteristics of the Liberecký Region
CHARACTERISTIC OF THE REGION
The Liberecký Region has an advantageous position in the north of the Czech Republic. Its northern edge borders on 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 on the Královéhradecký Region, in the south the Středočeský Region, and in the west the Ústecký Region.
With the area of 3 163 km2 the Region is the smallest 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 (22.4%) is well below the national average. On the contrary, a high percentage (44.2%) of the Region's territory is 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 territory has an upland character. 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. The most famous peak of the Region is Ještěd (1,012 m - the highest point of the Ještěd mountain range). Three rivers gather the waters from the Region: the basin of the Ploučnice River in the west, the basin of the Labe River in the east, and the basin of the Odra (Nisa) River 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. Mineral water and healing peat sources are also present in the Region.
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 2001, the population of the Liberecký Region was 427,396 (4.2% of the CR’s population), ranking the Region second smallest in the country. The average density of population is 135 inhabitants per km2, i.e. 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 (171 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 5.8%. The percentage of urban population is 78.5%. A lower percentage of urban population is reported only for the Semily District (60.1%). 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 45,000.
The demographic development of the Liberecký Region is rather similar to that observed in other Regions. Although the total decrement of population in 1995-2001 was 1,578 persons, the Liberecký Region as a whole keeps more favourable natural and migration development of population than the national average. 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 decreasing birth rate.
The economic structure of the Liberecký Region is principally of industrial nature. The developed industries include manufacture of glass, imitation jewellery, machinery, plastics manufacturing, 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 2000, the gross domestic product per capita was 83.5% of the CR’s one, which equals to 49.4% 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 led to an increase of the unemployment rate.
As at 31 December 2001, the Region’s unemployment rate, calculated from data provided by the employment offices, was 7.35%, which is by 1.55% less than the national average. In comparison with other regions, it is the seventh 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.
In the long term, 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.
Business development crucially depends on traffic accessibility. The total length of railways is 543 km; the density of railway network 0.172 km/km2 exceeds the national average by almost a half. 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 two lanes 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 20.0% and 66.5%, respectively.
An increase in road traffic has a negative impact on the quality of the environment, whose components vary throughout the Region. A main cause of air pollution are combustion processes and there is still observed the negative impact of thermal power plants operated either in the neighbouring countries or in the CR.
Rich sources of surface water in mountain areas and subterranean water mainly in the Severočeská křídová tabule (the North-Bohemian Cretaceous Formation) make the Liberecký Region an important and perspective reservoir of drinking and service water of a national significance. Almost 60% of the total area are 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 waters 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 Kokořín Area); 7 national nature reserves, 8 national nature monuments, 35 nature reserves, and 49 nature monuments.
A specific area in the Region is the former military ground Ralsko in the Česká Lípa District. The ground was 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 ground was closed down. However, the army left there many buildings and facilities that are still awaiting a proposal for reasonable use. Houses and flats are the fastest to modernise, which leads to an increase of settlement on the territory.
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.
The Liberec University of Technology (Technická univerzita Liberec) provides university education. 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 outpatient 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 are provided by a stabilised network of hospitals (10 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 multi-regional 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 rich cultural-historic tradition represented by many historic buildings and monuments and cultural establishments. The institutions of supra-regional significance include especially Severočeské muzeum (the North-Bohemian Muzeum) in Liberec, Oblastní galerie (Regional Gallery) in Liberec and Státní vědecká knihovna v Liberci (the State Scientific Library in Liberec). Important scientific institutions are also Divadlo F. X. Šaldy (the F. X. Šalda Theatre) with the scene of Malé divadlo (the Small Theatre) and Naivní divadlo (the Naive Theatre), the Zoological and Botanical Gardens in Liberec. A number of museums and galleries scattered about the Region belong to cultural facilities of a regional significance. Important are also 266 libraries and their branches in lower territorial units. Stagi theatres (theatres having no ensembles or repertoire of their own) play also an irreplaceable role in the cultural life of the Region.
The territory of the Liberecký Region is a very interesting place for tourism as well. 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 have well-developed activities related 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 Giant Mountains 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 the total capacity of almost 50,000 bed places in accommodation establishments of various categories. On the Region's territory, there is also a high concentration of individual recreation establishments (weekend houses of one kind or another), namely in the Česká Lípa District and the Semily District. Road and railway border crossings and many border crossings for pedestrians help to develop tourism in the Region.