North Moravia

(Severomoravský Kraj), an administrative and territorial unit (region) in Czechoslovakia; located in the Morava River basin in the northeastern Czech Socialist Republic. Area, 11,100 sq km. Population, 1.8 million (1973). The capital is Ostrava.

North Moravia is predominantly mountainous. The Jeseniky and Moravian-Silesian Beskidy (Beskids) divide the region into two parts, the northeastern and the southeastern, which are connected by the Moravian Gate. The fertile Upper Moravian Plain is in the south, and rolling foothills and the Oder River valley are in the north.

North Moravia is one of Czechoslovakia’s principal industrial areas; it is a major coal-mining and metallurgical center and an important supplier of energy. More than 50 percent of the work force is employed in industry, and approximately 10 percent in agriculture. North Moravia accounts for more than one-sixth of Czechoslovakia’s industrial production. It produces most of the country’s ferrous metals and coke, almost all the coal, and a considerable portion of the electric power. Coal mining is concentrated near Karviná, in the Ostrava-Karviná Coal Basin, and by-product coke chemistry and metallurgy are concentrated in and around Ostrava. Metal-intensive machine building is well developed; for example, machines for mining and transportation are built in Ostrava and nearby cities and in Kopřivnice. North Moravia has a chemical industry; for example, mineral fertilizers and heavy chemicals are produced near Ostrava. It also has a food-processing industry.

The southern part of North Moravia produces primarily grain and sugar beets; fruits and vegetables are also grown, and beef and dairy cattle are raised. The northern foothills region produces grain and potatoes. The mountain regions are noted for dairying and forestry. Ostrava, the region’s most important transportation junction, is on the electrified railroad trunk line between Prague and Chop.