Central Bohemia

Central Bohemia 

(Středočeský kraj), an administrative-territorial unit in Czechoslovakia, in the Czech Socialist Republic. Area, 11,200 sq km, including Prague, a separate administrative unit. Population, 1.2 million (2.4 million including Prague; 1974, estimate). The administrative center is Prague.

The northern part of Central Bohemia, in the area around the Elbe (Labe) River, is mostly flat; the southern part, in the basin of the Vltava (Moldau) River, is more rugged, with forests and hills. Central Bohemia is noted for its highly developed industry and intensive agriculture. It accounts for 9 percent (with Prague, 18 percent) of Czechoslovakia’s industrial output and 11 percent of the agricultural output. Coal is mined at Kladno and Rakovm’k; iron ore and complex ores are also mined. There are steam power plants in Mêlnik and Prague, and hydroelectric power plants on the Vltava River. The region’s metallurgy is centered at Kladno. Machine building is concentrated in Prague and its environs, Miada Boleslav, Kolín, and Kladno, with production of various kinds of industrial equipment, machine tools, electrical goods, and motor vehicles. Central Bohemia’s chemical industry, centered in Kolín, Kralupy nad Vltavou, and Nerato-vice, produces mineral fertilizers, man-made fibers, and synthetic rubber. Other local products include building materials (cement), wood products, consumer goods, and foodstuffs, especially sugar.

Central Bohemia’s agriculture, which typically makes use of highly intensive methods, is noted for the production of grains, especially wheat and barley, and sugar beets. Such crops are grown in conjunction with highly developed animal husbandry, in which the production of meat and some dairy products is emphasized. Large quantities of fruits and vegetables are raised. Hops are also grown in the western part of Central Bohemia, which accounts for one-third of Czechoslovakia’s total hops production.

L. A. AVDEICHEV