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

. 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 Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

s (''

okres Okres (Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak term meaning "district" in English; from German Kreis - circle (or perimeter)) refers to administrative entities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is similar to Landkreis in Germany or " ...

'',

plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

''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 () is a Okres, district in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Jeseník. With approximately 36,000 inhabitants, it is the least populated district of the Czech Republic. Administrative division Je ...

was split from

Šumperk District Šumperk District () is a Okres, district in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Šumperk. Administrative division Šumperk District is divided into three Districts of the Czech Republic#Municipalities with extende ...

in 1996. Three consisted only of the statutory cities of

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

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 ...

and

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

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

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 ...

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 (), which is responsible for public transport; waste collection; municipal police; firefightin ...

(''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 municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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 an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts gene ...

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

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 organ ...

. 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

Notelist

References

{{authority control Subdivisions of the Czech Republic

Districts 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 ...

Czech Republic 2 Districts, Czech Republic