Havířov lies in the foothills of the Beskids, on the southern edge of the Ostrava-Karviná industrial region, roughly halfway between Ostrava and Český Těšín. To the north it borders Petřvald, Orlová and Karviná, and to the west Šenov and Václavovice.[1] It has been a statutory city since 1990.[1]
Location and territory
The territory has a gently undulating surface at an altitude of about 260 m above sea level, and its landscape is cut by the valleys of small rivers and streams. The river Lučina flows through its southern part. A railway line running from Ostrava-Svinov to Český Těšín forms a dividing line from west to east. The main traffic artery is first-class road No. 11, linking Ostrava with Český Těšín, and the city's main residential area with high-rise buildings extends along it.[1]
The average annual temperature is about 8 °C and annual precipitation is around 800 mm. The wind most often blows from the south-west and west. The cadastral area covers 3,200 ha.[1] The city districts are Město, Šumbark, Podlesí, Životice, Bludovice, and also Prostřední Suchá, Dolní Suchá and Dolní Datyně.[1]
Founding of the city
The main reason for the founding of the city was the need to provide housing for employees of the mines and ironworks during the development of industry in the Ostrava region after the Second World War. Its beginnings are linked to the construction of miners' housing estates in the cadastral areas of Šumbark, Dolní Bludovice, Prostřední Suchá and part of Šenov.[1] The name was chosen by a public competition from many proposals, among them Bezručov, Rudohvězdov and Všemírov.[1]
Havířov became a town under a Czechoslovak government resolution of 1955, and town rights were granted to it on 4 December 1955.[1]
Historical background
The area where the city arose lay at the meeting point of three districts. In 1949 Šenov, Dolní Datyně and Šumbark belonged to the Ostrava District, Dolní Bludovice and Životice to the Český Těšín District, while Dolní and Horní Suchá came under the Karviná District. All the villages were part of Cieszyn Silesia.[1]
Written sources mention Šenov and both Horní and Dolní Suchá as early as 1305. The first reliable record of Bludovice dates from 1335, and Šumbark is first recorded in 1438. In the middle of the 16th century Šumbark is described in the sources as a town, but the exercise of town rights is not documented.[1]