Svitavy District

Svitavy District Okres Svitavy
District
Location in the Pardubice Region within the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°52′N15°54′E / 49.867°N 15.900°E / 49.867; 15.900
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Pardubice
Capital	Svitavy
Area [1]
• Total	1,378.68 km2 (532.31 sq mi)
Population  (2025) [2]
• Total	104,541
• Density	76/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Municipalities	116
* Towns	7
* Market towns	2

Svitavy District (Czech : okres Svitavy) is a district in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Svitavy.

Administrative division

Svitavy District is divided into four administrative districts of municipalities with extended competence: Svitavy, Litomyšl, Moravská Třebová and Polička.

List of municipalities

Towns are marked in bold and market towns in italics:

Banín – Bělá nad Svitavou – Bělá u Jevíčka – Benátky – Bezděčí u Trnávky – Biskupice – Bohuňov – Bohuňovice – Borová – Borušov – Březina – Březinky – Březiny – Březová nad Svitavou – Brněnec – Budislav – Bystré – Cerekvice nad Loučnou – Chmelík – Chornice – Chotovice – Chotěnov – Chrastavec – Čistá – Desná – Dlouhá Loučka – Dolní Újezd – Dětřichov – Dětřichov u Moravské Třebové – Gruna – Hartinkov – Hartmanice – Horky – Horní Újezd – Hradec nad Svitavou – Janov – Janůvky – Jaroměřice – Jarošov – Javorník – Jedlová – Jevíčko – Kamenec u Poličky – Kamenná Horka – Karle – Koclířov – Korouhev – Koruna – Křenov – Kukle – Kunčina – Květná – Lavičné – Linhartice – Litomyšl – Lubná – Makov – Malíkov – Městečko Trnávka – Mikuleč – Mladějov na Moravě – Moravská Třebová – Morašice – Nedvězí – Němčice – Nová Sídla – Nová Ves u Jarošova – Oldřiš – Opatov – Opatovec – Osík – Pohledy – Polička – Pomezí – Poříčí u Litomyšle – Pustá Kamenice – Pustá Rybná – Příluka – Radiměř – Radkov – Řídký – Rohozná – Rozhraní – Rozstání – Rudná – Rychnov na Moravě – Sádek – Sebranice – Sedliště – Široký Důl – Sklené – Slatina – Sloupnice – Staré Město – Stašov – Strakov – Študlov – Suchá Lhota – Svitavy – Svojanov – Telecí – Trpín – Trstěnice – Tržek – Třebařov – Újezdec – Útěchov – Vendolí – Vidlatá Seč – Víska u Jevíčka – Vítějeves – Vlčkov – Vranová Lhota – Vrážné – Vysoká – Želivsko

Geography

Polička and surrounding landscape

Svitavy District incorporates parts of historical lands of Bohemia and Moravia. From a total of 116 municipalities, 44 municipalities (including the town of Svitavy) are situated in Moravia, 67 municipalities in Bohemia, and five municipalities (Brněnec, Březová nad Svitavou, Kamenná Horka, Karle and Radiměř) lie in both lands.

The terrain is undulating to hilly. The territory extends into five geomorphological mesoregions: Svitavy Uplands (most of the territory), Upper Svratka Highlands (southwest), Orlické Foothills (a strip from northeast to southeast), Zábřeh Highlands (east) and Boskovice Furrow (a small part in the southeast). The highest point of the district is the hill Bubnovaný kopec in Pustá Rybná with an elevation of 780 m (2,560 ft), the lowest point is the river bed of the Loučná in Cerekvice nad Loučnou at 278 m (912 ft).

From the total district area of 1,378.7 km² (532.3 sq mi), agricultural land occupies 828.5 km² (319.9 sq mi), forests occupy 435.4 km² (168.1 sq mi), and water area occupies 11.5 km² (4.4 sq mi). Forests cover 31.6% of the district's area. ^[1]

The district is divided into drainage basins of the Elbe and the Danube. The main rivers in the district are the Svitava (central part of the district), Svratka (southeastern part), Moravská Sázava (briefly in the northeastern part), Třebůvka (eastern part), Třebovka and Loučná (both in the northwestern part). The first four rivers comprise part of the Danube basin, while the latter two comprise part of the Elbe basin. The largest body of water in the district is the fishpond Hvězda with an area of 82 ha (200 acres). ^[3]

The protected landscape area of Žďárské vrchy extends into the district in the west.

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1869 142,481 —     1880 146,643 +2.9% 1890 150,006 +2.3% 1900 152,558 +1.7% 1910 153,390 +0.5%	Year Pop. ±% 1921 143,472 −6.5% 1930 145,551 +1.4% 1950 104,162 −28.4% 1961 108,757 +4.4% 1970 105,095 −3.4%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 107,544 +2.3% 1991 105,134 −2.2% 2001 105,442 +0.3% 2011 103,245 −2.1% 2021 100,740 −2.4%
Source: Censuses [4] [5]

Most populated municipalities

Name	Population [2]	Area (km2)
Svitavy	16,073	31
Litomyšl	10,448	33
Moravská Třebová	9,550	42
Polička	9,051	33
Jevíčko	2,822	23
Dolní Újezd	1,957	20
Sloupnice	1,845	28
Hradec nad Svitavou	1,669	25
Březová nad Svitavou	1,569	13
Bystré	1,563	14

Economy

The largest employers with headquarters in Svitavy District and at least 500 employees are: ^[6]

Economic entity	Location	Number of employees	Main activity
Saint-Gobain Adfors CZ	Litomyšl	2,000–2,499	Manufacture of glass fibres
Mach drůbež	Litomyšl	500–999	Animal production
Velkoobchod Orion	Litomyšl	500–999	Wholesale trade
Ravensburger Karton	Polička	500–999	Manufacture of toys and games

Transport

There are no motorways passing through the district. The most important road is the I/35 road (part of the European route E442), which replaces the unfinished section of the D35 motorway from Olomouc to the Hradec Králové Region.

Sights

Litomyšl Castle

The Litomyšl Castle was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 because it is an outstanding example of an arcaded Renaissance residence with Baroque elements. ^[7]

The most important monuments in the district, protected as national cultural monuments, are: ^[8]

• Litomyšl Castle
• Town hall in Polička
• Church of Saint James the Great with the birthplace of Bohuslav Martinů in Polička
• Homestead No. 16 in Telecí
• Homestead No. 171 in Čistá
• Pilgrimage area with the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Kalvárie Hill in Jaroměřice

The best-preserved settlements, protected as monument reservations and monument zones, are: ^[9]

• Litomyšl (monument reservation)
• Moravská Třebová (monument reservation)
• Bystré
• Jevíčko
• Polička
• Svitavy
• Telecí

The most visited tourist destination is the Svojanov Castle. ^[10]

Notable people

Main category: People from Svitavy District

References

1. "Land use (as at 31 December)". Public database. Czech Statistical Office . Retrieved 2023-05-16.
2. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2025". Czech Statistical Office. 2025-05-16.
3. "Rybník Nový a Hvězda" (in Czech). The East Bohemian branch of the Czech Ornithological Society. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
4. "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21.
5. "Population Census 2021: Population by sex". Public Database. Czech Statistical Office. 2021-03-27.
6. "Registr ekonomických subjektů". Business Register (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
7. "Litomyšl Castle". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. UNESCO . Retrieved 2023-05-11.
8. "Výsledky vyhledávání: Národní kulturní památky, okres Svitavy". Ústřední seznam kulturních památek (in Czech). National Heritage Institute. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
9. "Výsledky vyhledávání: Památkové rezervace, Památkové zóny, okres Svitavy". Ústřední seznam kulturních památek (in Czech). National Heritage Institute. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
10. "Turisté mají v České republice nejraději zoologické zahrady, technické památky, koupání a Pražský hrad" (in Czech). CzechTourism. 2022-06-24. Retrieved 2023-05-11.

External links

• Svitavy District – profile on the Czech Statistical Office website