The Hradec Králové Region (Královéhradecký kraj) is a higher self-governing territorial unit in the north-eastern part of Bohemia. Its seat is Hradec Králové, 116 km from Prague.[1] According to the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ), the region had 554,668 inhabitants on 31 December 2025.[5]*
Location and neighbours
More than a third of the region's boundary is the state border with Poland, about 208 km long. Among Czech regions it borders the Liberec, Pardubice and Central Bohemian regions. Together with the Liberec and Pardubice regions it forms the North-East cohesion region.[1]
Nature
The north and north-east are occupied by the Krkonoše and the Orlické hory mountains. Between them lies the Broumov salient with its rock towns, including the Adršpach and Teplice Rocks and the Broumov Walls. To the south and south-west the land descends into the Elbe Lowland.[1] The highest point of the region and of the whole Czech Republic is Sněžka (1,603 m above sea level); the lowest point lies on the surface of the Cidlina river in the Hradec Králové district at 202 m. The difference in altitude, 1,401 m, is the largest of all regions.[1] The main river is the Elbe with its tributaries the Orlice and the Metuje; only the edge of the Broumov salient belongs to the Oder basin.[1]
Specially protected areas cover more than a fifth of the region. Part of the Krkonoše National Park lies in the Trutnov district, and the region also includes parts of the Broumovsko, Český ráj and Orlické hory protected landscape areas.[1]
Area, population and divisions
The region covers 4,759 km², about 6% of the territory of Czechia, and ranks ninth among the regions.[1] It consists of five districts: Hradec Králové, Jičín, Náchod, Rychnov nad Kněžnou and Trutnov. On 1 January 2007 the municipalities of Jílovice, Ledce and Vysoký Újezd moved from the Rychnov nad Kněžnou district to the Hradec Králové district. Since 1 January 2003 the region has had 15 administrative districts of municipalities with extended powers.[1] The Trutnov district is the largest by area, the Hradec Králové district the most populous.[2]
On 31 December 2024 the region had 448 municipalities, including 48 towns and 13 market towns. The largest towns were Hradec Králové with 94,311 inhabitants, Trutnov with 29,607 and Náchod with 19,827.[1] The population density of 117 inhabitants per km² was below the national average (138). The share of people aged 65 and over (22.7%) was the highest of all regions at the end of 2024.[1]
Creation and administration
The region was created on 1 January 2000 under Constitutional Act No. 347/1997 Coll. on the creation of higher self-governing territorial units. With the exception of the Central Bohemian Region, the names of the new regions were derived from the towns in which the regional authorities are based.[3] The Act on Regions No. 129/2000 Coll. took effect on 12 November 2000, when the first regional assemblies were elected. Four regions were renamed in 2001; the name of the Hradec Králové Region did not change.[3] At the inaugural session of the assembly in November 2024, Petr Koleta of the ANO movement was elected governor (hejtman).[4]
Economy and tourism
ČSÚ describes the region as agricultural and industrial with developed tourism. Intensive farming is concentrated in the Elbe lowland, industry in the large towns.[1] In 2024 the region accounted for 4.4% of the gross domestic product of Czechia.[1] In the same year more than 1.5 million guests stayed in its collective accommodation establishments, 325,000 of them from abroad. The Trutnov district with the Krkonoše has 61% of these establishments.[1] The Glacensis Euroregion has operated on the Czech-Polish border since 1995.[1]