South Moravian Region

TheSouth Moravian Region(Czech:Jihomoravský kraj;German:Südmährische Region,pronounced[zyːtˈmɛːʁɪʃəʁeˈɡi̯oːn];Slovak:Juhomoravský kraj), or justSouth Moravia, is anadministrative unit(kraj) of theCzech Republic, located in the south-western part of its historical region ofMoravia. The region's capital isBrno, the nation's 2nd largest city.South Moravia is bordered by theSouth Bohemian Regionto the west,Vysočina Regionto the north-west,Pardubice Regionto the north,Olomouc Regionto the north-east,Zlín Regionto the east,TrenčínandTrnava Regions,Slovakiato the south-east andLower Austria,Austriato the south.
The South Moravian Region is divided into 7 districts (Czech:okres):
There are in total 673 municipalities in the region, of which 49 have the status of towns. There are 21 municipalities with extended powers and 34 municipalities with a delegated municipal office.
The region is famous for itswine production. The area around the towns ofMikulov,Znojmo,Velké Pavlovice,Bzenec,Strážnice,Kyjovalong with theSlováckoregion provide 94% of the Czech Republic's vineyards.
The region has approximately 1,217,000 inhabitants. Thenet migrationhas been positive in all years since 2003, reaching its peak in 2007 when it reached 7,374 people. Since 2007 the region has also experiencednatural population growth. In 2012 there were 37 thousand foreigners living in the region, forming 3.2% of the total population of the region.
The average age of citizens in the region was 42.4 years in 2019.The average age has grown by 5 years over the last two decades. Thelife expectancyat birth in 2012 was 75.2 years for men and 81.7 years for women. Life expectancy has been growing over recent years. The divorce-marriage ratio in the region was 60.3 in 2012.
One third of the region's population lives in the capital Brno. The share of inhabitants living in towns and cities on the total population of the region has been steadily decreasing due tosuburbanization. The table below displays 12 municipalities with the highest number of inhabitants in the region (as of 1 January 2024):
With an area of 7,187.8 kmthe South Moravian Region is the fourth largest region of the Czech Republic. The highest point of the region is located in the eastern part on Durda mountain (842 m). The point with the lowest elevation (150 m) is situated inBřeclav Districtat the meeting of the riversMoravaandDyje.
The northern and north-western part of the region is covered by theBohemian-Moravian Highlands(Czech:Českomoravská vrchovina) and theMoravian Karst. There is an extensive cave complex in the Moravian Karst with a 138.5 m depth in theMacocha Gorgein thePunkva Caves. In the eastern part, the region reaches to theCarpathian Mountains. TheBohemian-Moravian Highlandsand theCarpathian Mountainsare separated by the Lower-Moravian Valley (Czech:Dolnomoravský úval). The southern part of the region is predominantly flat and dominated by fields, meadows, and the remainders ofriparian forests.
The largest river of the region is theMorava river. Other significant rivers are theDyje,Svratka(and itstributarytheSvitava), which are all tributaries of the Morava river. The whole region belongs to the drainage basin of theDanubeand subsequently of theBlack Sea.
There are a number oflandscape parks(Czech:chráněná krajinná oblast) located across the region: the White Carpathians Landscape Park, theMoravian KarstLandscape Park andPálavaLandscape Park. Moreover,Podyjí National Parkis situated in the south-eastern part of the region.
On the evening of 24 June 2021, a largeIF4tornado,the most powerful in modern Czech history,devastated multiple villages within theBřeclavandHodoníndistricts. It killed at least 6 peopleand injured at least 200 others.The tornado tracked 27.1 kilometers (16.8 miles) with a max width of 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles)This tornado was one of seven that touched down inEuropethat day. It is estimated that this tornado caused over 15 billionCZKin damages. A total of 1,202 buildings were damaged by the tornado, 180 of which had to be demolished completely or partially. Well constructed homes were partly or entirely destroyed, including one that indicated IF5 intensity. However, a rather weak connection between the roof and the walls was found, which prevented the damage to be assigned an IF5 rating. Cars were mangled distances and into buildings. A car was thrown 200 meters into a field, with the engine found 150 meters away. Trucks, trailers, busses and other large vehicles were overturned or tossed. pylon of 400 kV power lines were toppled. Trees were uprooted, snapped, debranched and debarked. A factory in Lužice was heavily damaged with multiple vehicles mangled into the building. Some trees at the factory sustained severe denuding. Empty large containers were thrown and a solar farm was severely damaged. In Hodonín, a large and multi-story building found at the northern edge of the town had Its roof and interior significantly damaged. Wooden and steel beams from the roof were found impaled into the ground around the buildings and bent by the wind. Large concrete floor tiles were plucked out of the ground and thrown away. InMikulčice, A bus with several passengers inside was thrown over a small hill, impacting a one-storey brick home. large concrete panels measuring 3 x 1 x 0.1 m were moved several meters. In hrusky, a caravan weighing 7 tonnes was tossed 20 meters away, flying over a garage. Several heavy trailers and tractors as well as large concrete blocks from a hay storing structure were lifted and thrown by the tornado.
In 2016, three-quarters of households in the region had a computer and 75% of the households had Internet connection.There were in total 781 thousand motor vehicles, of which 482 thousand were cars and 110 thousand were motorbikes.
Theunemployment ratein the region was 4.3% as of October 2017.
The nominalgross domestic productof the South Moravian Region was 671.259 billionCZKin 2021, which is nearly 11% of the national GDP. Among other regions, South Moravian Region had the third largest share on the national GDP out of fourteen. The GDP per capita was 562.278 CZK (23.428 EUR) in the same period, which is 98.5% of the national average and the second highest result after region Prague.
Mechanical engineeringhas an essential role in the economy of the region. Important centers of mechanical engineering areBrno(PBS,Siemens,Zetor Brno),Blansko(ČKD Blansko, Metra Blansko),Kuřim(TOS Kuřim),Boskovice(Minerva, Novibra) andBřeclav(OTIS). Electrical engineering has a tradition for more than a century. Significant producers are Siemens Drásov, VUES Brno and ZPA Brno.Food industryforms another important sector, especially in the southern and eastern part of the region. Important activities are the meat processing,canningof fruits and vegetables (Znojmia, Fruta), sugar industry,brewing(Starobrno, Černá Hora, Vyškov and Hostan) and winemaking (Lahofer, Znovín Znojmo, Vinium Velké Pavlovice).Chemicalandpharmaceuticalindustry is concentrated especially in Brno (Pliva-Lachema),Ivanovice na Hané(Bioveta) and Veverská Bítýška (Hartmann Rico).
The South-Moravian Region has an important role in the nation and international transit. It is served by a network of motorways and roads of almost 4,500 km. The motorwaysD1andD2and the expresswaysR43andR52form the skeleton of the road network in the region. Brno is an important crossing of road and railway transport and a hub of the integrated regional public transport system.
Brno has an international airportBrno–Tuřany. The airport was opened in 1954 and in 2012 it served 535 thousand passengers.
The agricultural land covers 426 thousand ha, which is 59.3% of all land in the regions. The arable land occupies 49% of the total area.Znojmo DistrictandVyškov Districthave the highest proportion of arable land in the region. The agricultural production is oriented on the production ofcereals,rapeseedandsugar beet. Other important agricultural sectors in the region areviticulture, fruit farming and vegetable growing. The viticulture is especially developed inBřeclav District, which has 46% of the total area of Czech vineyards.
There are several public and state universities in Brno -Janáček Academy of Performing Arts,Masaryk University,Mendel University in Brno,University of Defense,University of Veterinary Sciences BrnoandBrno University of Technology. The South Moravian Region spent 856 million euros, 3.2% of its GDP on science and research in 2022, the highest share of the Czech Republic.The city of Brno in particular stands out for its support of science and research, especially in the field of IT.
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