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The Ústí nad Labem Region (Ústecký kraj) lies in the north-west of the Czech Republic. Its seat and largest municipality is Ústí nad Labem.[1]*
Location and territory
The north-western boundary of the region is the state border with Germany, specifically with the federal state of Saxony.[1] To the north-east the region borders the Liberec Region, to the west the Karlovy Vary Region and, along a short stretch, the Plzeň Region, and to the south-east the Central Bohemian Region.[1] The region covers 5,339 km², 6.8 % of the country. Farmland occupies more than 51 % of its territory, forests almost 31 % and water bodies 2 %.[1]
Nature
The Ore Mountains, the Elbe Sandstones and the Lusatian Mountains stretch along the border with Germany.[1] In the south-east lie the plains of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin, from which the Říp hill rises, and the volcanic Central Bohemian Uplands with their highest peak, Milešovka.[1] The highest point of the region (1,231 m) lies on the boundary with the Karlovy Vary Region below the summit of Klínovec. The lowest point is the surface of the Elbe at Hřensko (115 m), which is also the lowest place in the Czech Republic.[1] The main river is the Elbe; within the region the Ohře and Bílina flow into it from the left and the Ploučnice and Kamenice from the right.[1] The largest body of water is the Nechranice reservoir on the Ohře.[1] The region contains Bohemian Switzerland National Park, covering 7,928 ha and declared in 1999, with the Pravčická brána rock arch, and the Central Bohemian Uplands and Elbe Sandstones protected landscape areas.[1]
Population and districts
As of 31 December 2025 the region had 805,943 inhabitants and was the fifth most populous region in the country.[2] It consists of seven districts: Děčín, Chomutov, Litoměřice, Louny, Most, Teplice and Ústí nad Labem. It has 354 municipalities, 59 of which have town status.[1] Since 1 January 2003 the region has had 16 administrative districts of municipalities with extended powers.[1] The most densely populated part is the brown coal basin at the foot of the Ore Mountains, while the mountains themselves and the Louny and Litoměřice districts are more thinly settled.[1]
Creation
The region was established on 1 January 2000 under Constitutional Act No. 347/1997 Coll. as one of 14 higher self-governing territorial units; its name was derived from its seat.[3] In 2016 the boundary between the Ústí nad Labem and Karlovy Vary regions was adjusted in connection with the redrawing of military area boundaries.[3] In the European statistical classification the region forms the North-West cohesion region together with the Karlovy Vary Region.[4]
Economy
The region's economy has historically been tied to brown coal deposits lying close to the surface in the basin below the slopes of the Ore Mountains between Ústí nad Labem and Kadaň.[1] Energy, coal mining, engineering and the chemical and glass industries are concentrated at the foot of the Ore Mountains.[1] The Litoměřice and Louny areas produce hops and vegetables, and the fruit-growing areas along the Elbe and Ohře are known as the Garden of Bohemia.[1] The Elbe is the most important waterway in the Czech Republic and allows shipping as far as Hamburg.[1]
Monuments
Litoměřice, Úštěk and Terezín are urban heritage reserves.[1] Monuments of the region include the Romanesque rotunda on Říp, the Gothic church in Most, the Baroque château in Duchcov, the monasteries in Osek and Doksany and the châteaux of Ploskovice and Libochovice.[1]