Opava District

Opava District (Czech: okres Opava) is a district in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Opava.

Opava District Okres Opava
District
Location in the Moravian-Silesian Region within the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°53′N 17°53′E
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Moravian-Silesian
Capital	Opava
Area [1]
• Total	1,115.87 km2 (430.84 sq mi)
Population  (2025)[2]
• Total	174,423
• Density	160/km2 (400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Municipalities	77
* Towns	7
* Market towns	2

Administrative division

Opava District is divided into four administrative districts of municipalities with extended competence: Opava, Hlučín, Kravaře and Vítkov.

List of municipalities

Cities and towns are marked in bold and market towns in italics:

Bělá - Bohuslavice - Bolatice - Branka u Opavy - Bratříkovice - Březová - Brumovice - Budišov nad Budišovkou - Budišovice - Čermná ve Slezsku - Chlebičov - Chuchelná - Chvalíkovice - Darkovice - Děhylov - Dobroslavice - Dolní Benešov - Dolní Životice - Háj ve Slezsku - Hať - Hlavnice - Hlubočec - Hlučín - Hněvošice - Holasovice - Hrabyně - Hradec nad Moravicí - Jakartovice - Jezdkovice - Kobeřice - Kozmice - Kravaře - Kružberk - Kyjovice - Lhotka u Litultovic - Litultovice - Ludgeřovice - Markvartovice - Melč - Mikolajice - Mladecko - Mokré Lazce - Moravice - Neplachovice - Nové Lublice - Nové Sedlice - Oldřišov - Opava - Otice - Píšť - Pustá Polom - Radkov - Raduň - Rohov - Šilheřovice - Skřipov - Slavkov - Služovice - Sosnová - Štáblovice - Staré Těchanovice - Stěbořice - Štěpánkovice - Štítina - Strahovice - Sudice - Svatoňovice - Těškovice - Třebom - Uhlířov - Velké Heraltice - Velké Hoštice - Větřkovice - Vítkov - Vřesina - Vršovice - Závada

Geography

Budišov nad Budišovkou and surrounding landscape

Opava District borders Poland in the north. The territory is hilly, but the average altitude is low. The territory extends into three geomorphological mesoregions: Nízký Jeseník (west and south), Opava Hilly Land (east and north), and Ostrava Basin (a small part in the northeast). The highest point of the district is the hill Červená hora in Budišov nad Budišovkou with an elevation of 749 m (2,457 ft). The lowest point of the district is the river bed of the Oder in Šilheřovice at 198 m (650 ft).

From the total district area of 1,115.9 km² (430.9 sq mi), agricultural land occupies 682.2 km² (263.4 sq mi), forests occupy 312.5 km² (120.7 sq mi), and water area occupies 19.0 km² (7.3 sq mi). Forests cover 28.0% of the district's area.^[1]

The entire district is drained by the Oder River, but this river appears in the territory only briefly. The most important rivers of the district are the Opava, which flows across the district from northwest to east, and the Moravice, which enters the district in the west and joins the Opava near the city of Opava. The largest body of water is Kružberk Reservoir, built on the Moravice.

There are no large-scale protected areas.

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1869 115,560 —     1880 125,364 +8.5% 1890 132,321 +5.5% 1900 141,959 +7.3% 1910 149,943 +5.6%	Year Pop. ±% 1921 152,943 +2.0% 1930 161,971 +5.9% 1950 130,606 −19.4% 1961 153,562 +17.6% 1970 161,085 +4.9%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 172,981 +7.4% 1991 177,370 +2.5% 2001 177,970 +0.3% 2011 174,901 −1.7% 2021 171,502 −1.9%
Source: Censuses[3][4]

Most populated municipalities

Name	Population[2]	Area (km2)
Opava	55,109	91
Hlučín	13,352	21
Kravaře	6,689	19
Vítkov	5,508	55
Hradec nad Moravicí	5,459	44
Ludgeřovice	4,989	11
Bolatice	4,530	13
Dolní Benešov	3,869	15
Háj ve Slezsku	3,239	14
Kobeřice	3,197	17

Economy

The largest employers with headquarters in Opava District and at least 500 employees are:^[5]

Economic entity	Location	Number of employees	Main activity
Silesian Hospital in Opava	Opava	1,500–1,999	Health care
Brano	Hradec nad Moravicí	1,000–1,499	Automotive industry
Model Obaly	Opava	1,000–1,499	Manufacture of paperboard packaging
Teva Czech Industries	Opava	1,000–1,499	Manufacture of pharmaceutical products
City of Opava	Opava	500–999	Public administration
Isotra	Opava	500–999	Manufacture of window blinds
Ostroj	Opava	500–999	Manufacture of machinery for mining
Psychiatric Hospital in Opava	Opava	500–999	Health care
Silesian University in Opava	Opava	500–999	Education
State Office of Labor Inspection	Opava	500–999	Public administration
TAPI Czech Industries	Opava	500–999	Manufacture of pharmaceutical products
TEMPO, obchodní družstvo	Opava	500–999	Retail sale
Witzenmann Opava	Opava	500–999	Treatment and coating of metals

Transport

The D1 motorway from Ostrava to the Czech-Polish border briefly runs along the eastern district border; otherwise there are no motorway passing through the district. The most important road is the I/11 from Ostrava to Bruntál via Opava.

Sights

Basilica of the Visitation of Our Lady in Frýdek-Místek

The most important monuments in the district, protected as national cultural monuments, are:^[6]

• Chapel of the Holy Cross in Opava
• Co-Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Opava
• Hradec nad Moravicí Castle
• Petr Bezruč City House of Culture in Opava
• Grave of Jan Zajíc in Vítkov

The best-preserved settlements, protected as monument reservations and monument zones, are:^[7]

• Lipina (monument reservation)
• Budišov nad Budišovkou
• Hlučín
• Hradec nad Moravicí
• Opava

The most visited tourist destinations are the Silesian Museum in Opava and Hradec nad Moravicí Castle.^[8][9]

Notable people

Main category: People from Opava District