Regional profile
Location of the Zlín Region
The Zlín region is situated in the east of the Czech republic, positioned in a strategic Central European location on major transport corridors in both the north-south and east-west directions.
In the south-east it is bordered by the South Moravia Region, in the north-west by the Oloumouc Region, in the north by the Moravia-Silesia Region and in the south-east it shares a border with Slovakia (Trenčín and Žilina regions). With an area of 3,964 km2, the Zlín Region is the fourth smallest region in the Czech republic.
Land area: ...................................................................................................................................3,964 km2
Population as of 31/12/2010: ..................................................................... .................................590,361
Number of municipalities: .........305, of which 6 are townships,29 are towns and one capital city.
The Zlín Region and local government
Autonomous unit
The Zlín region was established on the 1st of januar y 2000. The region consists of four districts: Zlín, Kroměříž, Uherské Hradiště and Vsetín. The Zlín and Olomouc regions form Central Moravia.
The population census (590,361 at the end of 2010) ranked the Zlín Region in ninth place among all regions of the Czech Republic. The population density of the Zlín Region is 149 people per km2, which is significantly above average for the Czech Republic. The Zlín District has the highest population density (187 people/km2), followed by the Uherské Hradiště District (145 people/km2), Kroměříž district (135 people/km2) and the least populated is the Vsetín District (128 people/km2). The average age of the population in the Zlín Region in 2010 was 41.2.
Human resources and employment
The Zlín Region offers a qualified and flexible work force with favourable wages in comparison with the rest of the Czech Republic.
The measure of economic activity of the population as of 1/1/2011 is 56.7 %. The workforce in the Zlín Region has extensive experience in industrial production. According to a survey of the workforce, the number of economically active people employed in the secondary sector (industry and construction) was 117.9 thousand, in the tertiary sector 133.2 thousand (50 %, in the Czech Republic 57.9 %), while the primary sector of agriculture and forest y employed only 8.3 % of the population.
At the end of may 2011 the unemployment rate in the Zlín Region was 8.93 %, which is 0.74 % above the national unemployment rate and ranks as the seventh highest in the country. The average monthly employee salary grew in most regions of the Czech Republic, in the Zlín Region it grew by 4.9 % to 21,065 CZK. this is 4,303 CZK below the national average and is the second lowest regional salar y level (ahead of the Karlov y Vary region, which averaged 20,640 CZK).
Education
The region has a well developed, accessible and effective network of education institutions at all levels (309 kindergartens, 256 primar y schools, 17 secondary grammar schools, 79 secondary general schools, 1 conservator y,11 technical colleges, 2 universities, 26 primar y art schools, 21 after-school youth centres, and 8 pedagogical and psychological guidance clinics.
The most significant centre of a higher education is the Tomas Bata University (UTB Zlín), which offers a wide range of studies in humanities, the natural sciences, technical subjects and art at six faculties - Faculty of Technology, Faculty of Management and Economics, Faculty of Multimedia Communications, Faculty of Applied Informatics, Faculty of Humanities and Faculty of Logistics and Crisis Management. UTB Zlín is the centre of some of the most advanced science and research both nationally and internationally. With approximately 13,500 students, UTB Zlín is classed as a medium size university.
In the Zlín region, higher education is also accessible through other universities that have established branches in Zlín. These include the VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava and Palacký University in Olomouc. The region also has two private tertiary education institutions: the European Polytechnic Instiute, Ltd. in Kunovice and Jan Amos Komensky University Prague, Ltd. in Starý Hrozenkov.