Ještěd with its transmitter above Liberec
Ještěd with its transmitter above LiberecPhoto: Swisschamp98, 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The Liberec Region (Liberecký kraj) lies in the north of the Czech Republic.[1] Its regional capital is Liberec.[4] By both area and population it is the second smallest region in the country.[1]*

Location and territory

In the north the region shares a 24.1 km state border with Germany and an adjoining 133.5 km border with Poland.[1] To the east it borders the Hradec Králové Region, to the south the Central Bohemian Region and to the west the Ústí nad Labem Region.[1] The region covers 3,163 km², 4.0 % of the country; forest land occupies 44.8 % and farmland 44.0 % of it.[1] Its territory includes the north of the Bohemian basin and of the Bohemian Paradise, the Jizera Mountains, the western Krkonoše with their foothills and the eastern part of the Lusatian Mountains.[1] The highest point is Kotel above Rokytnice nad Jizerou (1,435 m) in Semily District; the lowest point (208 m) is in Liberec District where the Smědá river leaves the country.[1] The best-known peak is Ještěd (1,012 m), the highest summit of the Ještěd ridge.[1] The west of the region is drained by the Ploučnice and the east by the Jizera, both tributaries of the Elbe; the north belongs to the basin of the Lusatian Neisse and the Oder.[1]

Kotelní jámy cirques in the Giant Mountains, seen from Zlaté návrší
Kotelní jámy cirques in the Giant Mountains, seen from Zlaté návršíPhoto: ŠJů, 2004 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Population and districts

As of 31 December 2025 the region had 448,610 inhabitants.[2] It consists of four districts: Česká Lípa, Jablonec nad Nisou, Liberec and Semily.[1] On the same date the most populous was Liberec District (181,092 inhabitants), followed by Česká Lípa (102,204), Jablonec nad Nisou (92,836) and Semily (72,478).[3] At the end of 2025 the region had 215 municipalities and 76.7 % of the population lived in towns; Liberec had 108,214 inhabitants and the second largest town, Jablonec nad Nisou, 46,206.[1] Since 1 January 2003 the region has been divided into 10 administrative districts of municipalities with extended powers.[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.[5] In the European statistical classification it forms the North-East cohesion region together with the Hradec Králové and Pardubice regions.[6]

Nature and monuments

The region contains Krkonoše National Park and five protected landscape areas: the Central Bohemian Uplands, the Jizera Mountains, the Lusatian Mountains, Kokořínsko and the Bohemian Paradise, which is part of the UNESCO Global Geoparks network.[1] In 2021 the Jizera Mountains Beech Forests national nature reserve became the first Czech natural site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as part of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.[1] Visited castles and châteaux include Bezděz, Zákupy, Lemberk, Frýdlant, Sychrov, Grabštejn, Trosky and Valdštejn.[1] Liberec is home to the North Bohemian Museum, the Liberec Regional Gallery and the Regional Research Library.[1] Glass and foundry sands predominate among the region's mineral resources.[1]

Pages linking here

Sources

  1. Český statistický úřad, Krajská správa v Liberci
  2. Český statistický úřad
  3. Český statistický úřad —
  4. Český statistický úřad —
  5. Český statistický úřad (Statistika&My)
  6. Český statistický úřad