Čadca (; until 1918 Čatca, Czača, , ) is a district town in northern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, near the border with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and the

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

Etymology

The name is derived from a word ''čad'' (smoke, soot;

Proto-Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium BC through the 6th ...

: ''čadъ'', Slovak/

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

: ''čad'',

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''czad'' ). The form ''Čadca'' is a toponymic appellative. The name was probably motivated by the burning glades.

Geography

It is located south of the

Jablunkov Pass Jablunkov Pass (, ) is a mountain pass in the Western Beskids at above sea level. It is located in the municipality of Mosty u Jablunkova in the Czech Republic, near the border with Poland and Slovakia. Geography The pass separates the Mora ...

, surrounded by the

Javorníky The Maple Mountains, Javornik Mountains, or Javorniks (Czech and Slovak: ''Javorníky'') are a mountain range of the Slovak-Moravian Carpathians that forms part of the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Its highest point is Veľk� ...

Kysucké Beskydy The Kysucké Beskydy is a set of mountain ranges in the Kysuce region of northern Slovakia. Slovaks consider the mountains to belong to the Central Beskids, of the Outer Western Carpathians, while Poles classify them as part of the Western Bes ...

and Turzovská vrchovina mountain ranges. It lies in the valley of the

Kysuca The Kysuca () is a river in northern Slovakia. It is a right tributary to the Váh. The river gives name to the informal Kysuce region. It is long and its basin size is . Its source is near the village of Makov. At first, the river flows in no ...

river, around north of

Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...

and is part of the historic region of

Kysuce Kysuce is a traditional informal name of a region in north-western Slovakia, situated around the Kysuca, Kysuca river and bordering the Orava region in the east, Poland in the north and the Czech Republic in the west. It consists of two districts: ...

. A

Goral The gorals are four species in the genus ''Naemorhedus''. They are small ungulates with a goat-like or antelope-like appearance. Until recently, this genus also contained the serow species (now in genus '' Capricornis''). Etymology The original ...

minority lives in the surroundings.

Climate

Čadca has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Dfb'').

History

The town was established in the 17th century; the first written reference dates back to 1565 as ''Tzaczcka''. The town charter was granted in 1778.

Demographics

According to the 2010

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the town had 24,959 inhabitants with 2.2%

and 0.4%

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. The religious make-up was 82.97%

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and 0.36%

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

; most of others stated no religious affiliation.

Industry

One of the world's largest (and last) producers of

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

JJ Electronic JJ Electronic, s.r.o is a Slovak electronic component manufacturer, and one of the world's remaining producers of vacuum tubes. It is based in Čadca, in the Kysuce region of Slovakia. Most of its products are audio receiving tubes, mainly used ...

has a factory in Čadca.

Transport

Čadca railway station Čadca railway station () is the main station serving the municipality and district town of Čadca, in the Žilina Region, northern Slovakia. Opened in 1871, the station forms part of the cross border Žilina–Čadca–Svrčinovec zastávka– ...

is the town's

main station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

. It forms part of the cross-border Žilina–Čadca–Svrčinovec zastávka–Mosty u Jablunkova railway (to the Czech Republic), and is also a

junction station ''Junction station'' usually refers to a railway station situated either on or close to a rail junction, where lines to two or more destinations diverge. Many junction stations have multiple platform faces to enable trains for multiple destinatio ...

for two other lines, one of them also cross-border (to Poland). The station offers services to several destinations in the two cross-border countries. For the Czech Republic, there are many trains to

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

Bohumín Bohumín (; , ) is a town in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Bohumín consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 202 ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, operated by trains of the

České dráhy České dráhy (English: ''Czech Railways''), often shortened to ČD, is the major Rail transport, railway operator in the Czech Republic providing regional and long-distance services. The company was established in January 1993, shortly after ...

and

LEO Express Leo Express, formerly known as Rapid Express, is an open-access train operator in the Czech Republic, established in 2010. It launched inter-city services in November 2012 on the Prague–Ostrava route, on which state-owned operator Czech Rai ...

companies, and to Poland, there are trains towards

Zwardoń Zwardoń is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Rajcza, within Żywiec County, Silesian Voivodeship, in the Żywiec Beskids mountain range in southern Poland, on the border with Slovakia. It lies approximately west of Rajcza, so ...

Notable people

* Karin Ann (born 2002), singer and songwriter *

Ľubomír Michalík Ľubomír Michalík (born 13 August 1983) is a former Slovak professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for a semi-professional side OFK Matúškovo. Club career Early career Michalík was born in Čadca. He played ...

(born 1983), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Čadca is twinned with: *

Valašské Meziříčí Valašské Meziříčí (; ) is a town in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monum ...

, Czech Republic *

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

, Poland *

Żywiec Żywiec () is a town on the River Soła in southern Poland with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). It is situated within the Silesian Voivodeship, near the Żywiec Lake and Żywiec Landscape Park, one of the eight protected areas in the voivodeship. H ...

, Poland

References

Genealogical resources

The records for genealogical research are available at the state archive "Statny Archiv in Bytca, Slovakia" * Roman Catholic church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1742-1902 (parish A)

External links

*
of living people in Cadca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadca Villages and municipalities in Čadca District Cities and towns in Slovakia