PLZEŇ REGION The Plzeň Region is the Czech Republic’s third largest in terms of surface area. Since its inception Plzeň (Pilsen), a city founded in 1295 by order of King Wenceslas II of Bohemia at the confluence of the rivers Radbuza, Mže, Úhlava, and Úslava, has been the natural centre of the Region. The industrial and technological development of the city began in the middle of the 19th century, and step by step it became one of the most important cities in the country. At present, Plzeň is the fourth largest city in the Czech Republic. It has about 172 000 inhabitants, more than 30 % of the population of the Plzeň Region. Besides Plzeň, the role of district centres is played by the towns of Klatovy, Domažlice, Tachov, and Rokycany. Given the low population density, also smaller towns, such as Sušice, Stříbro, Plasy, Kralovice, Horšovský Týn, Přeštice, and Nepomuk play an important role.
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largest region in the Czech Republic, and the ninth most populous, accounting for 5.4 % of the country’s total population. A great amount of the area’s highly skilled workforce comes from this region, especially thanks to the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň, which provides 11 000 students/ year with a wide variety of in-depth study possibilities, primarily in the machine-building and electrical engineering sphere.
ECONOMIC POTENTIAL One of the traditional industries of the Plzeň Region is engineering, building on the history of the ŠKODA Company, today represented by the companies ŠKODA
Photo: Plzeňský Prazdroj archives; pixabay.com
The Region is one of the economically most developed territories in the Czech Republic, combining industry and agriculture, with vast belts of forests stretching across the border mountains. Forests cover 40.4 % of the Region´s total surface area. From this point of view the territory of the Region can be divided into two parts: the Plzeň industrial agglomeration and areas formed by the Šumava and Bohemian Forest Mountains, which are attractive especially for tourists. Farmland accounts for 49.3 % of the total surface area of the Region, 66.9 % of which is arable land. As a part of Western Bohemia, the Plzeň Region has the 5th highest GDP per capita in the country. It is the third
