Districts of the Czech Republic are territorial units, formerly used as second-level administrative divisions of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. After their primary administrative function has been abolished in 2003, they still exist for the activities of specific authorities and as statistical units. Their administrative function was moved to selected municipalities.

Establishment

In 1960,

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

was re-divided into

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

s ('' okres'',

plural The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...

''okresy'') often without regard to traditional division and local relationships. In the area of the Czech Republic, there were 75 districts; the 76th

Jeseník District Jeseník District ( cs, okres Jeseník) is a district ('' okres'') in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. Its seat is the town of Jeseník. With approximately 38,000 inhabitants it is the least populated district of the Czech Republic. The a ...

was split in the 1990s from

Šumperk District Šumperk District ( cs, okres Šumperk) is a district (''okres'') within the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic Its administrative centre is the town of Šumperk. Šumperk District shares border with the districts of Olomouc (to the south), Svi ...

. Three consisted only of statutory cities

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

and Plzeň which gained the status of districts only in 1971; Ostrava and Plzeň districts were later expanded. The capital city of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

has a special status, being considered a municipality and region at the same time and not being a part of any district, but ten

districts of Prague Prague has a local-government structure of two or three tiers, depending on the area of town. At the top is the Magistrate of the Capital City of Prague ( cs, Magistrát hlavního města Prahy), which is responsible for public transport; waste coll ...

(''obvody'') were in some ways equivalent to ''okres''.

Municipalities with extended competence

A reform in effect since January 2003 replaced the districts with 205 Administrative Districts of Municipalities with Extended Competence (abbreviated AD MEC; ''správní obvody obcí s rozšířenou působností'', abbreviated ''SO ORP''), also called third-level municipalities, or unofficially "little districts". These

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

took over most of the administration of the former district authorities. The old districts still exist as territorial units and remain as seats of some of the offices, especially

courts A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accorda ...

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

and

archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

. In 2007 the borders of the districts were slightly adjusted and 119 municipalities were moved into different districts. In 2021 another reform was made and 18 municipalities were moved between districts or between administrative districts of municipalities with extended competence. After the 2021 reform, borders of AD MECs respect borders of districts, with only exception granted by law being AD MEC of Turnov, which is partly in districts of Semily, Jablonec nad Nisou and Liberec. The reasons are the vastness of this territory and different requirements of the territory's population.

Municipalities with commissioned local authority

Administrative districts of municipalities with extended competence are further divided into 393 Administrative Districts of Municipalities with Commissioned Local Authority (abbreviated AD CLA; ''správní obvody obcí s pověřeným obecním úřadem'', abbreviated SO POÚ), also called "second-level municipalities"). A municipality with commissioned local authority is a municipality to which the state delegates part of its powers, but not to the extent that it delegates it to a municipality with extended competence.

Maps of districts

List of districts

References