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Ostrava (Polish Ostrawa, German Ostrau) is a city straddling the border between the historical provinces of Moravia and Silesia in the north-eastern corner of the Czech Republic, close to the borders with Poland (10 km) and Slovakia (50 km). The city is located at the confluence of the rivers Odra, Ostravice, Opava and Lučina. With a total area of 214 km², Ostrava has 23 municipal districts and a population of 316,000. It is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. If the entire conurbation is taken into account, the Ostrava area has a total of 796,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest metropolitan area in the Czech Republic after Prague.

Ostrava is above all an industrial city. During its 200 years of industrial primacy – based on coal mining and the iron and steel industries – Ostrava has earned a range of nicknames, of which the most commonly used as ‘black Ostrava’ and ‘the steel heart of the republic’. The last coal was mined in Ostrava in 1994, lowering the curtain on a momentous era in the city’s history. Currently, Ostrava’s economy focuses mainly on metallurgy and engineering as well as a range of service industries including IT and development centres. Ostrava is a major transport hub, located close to an international airport and the D47 motorway (scheduled for completion in 2009).

Ostrava is the cultural and educational centre of its region. The city has two public universities, TV and radio studios, and a wide range of cultural institutions. It is the seat of the Ostrava-Opava Diocese. The Ostrava metropolitan area has four urban heritage zones (Moravian Ostrava, Přívoz, Poruba, Vítkovice) of outstanding historical interest. Among the most important examples of industrial heritage in the city are two National Cultural Monuments: the Michal Colliery (in the Michálkovice district) and the Lower Vítkovice complex (incorporating the Hlubina colliery, the Vítkovice blast furnaces, and the coking plant). The Ema slag-heap is a unique and distinctive feature of Ostrava’s cityscape. Ostrava offers a wide range of cultural activities including the popular annual Colours of Ostrava music festival, and is an ideal base for exploring the wider surrounding area, especially the nearby Beskydy and Jeseníky mountains.

Sources:
Ostrava City Authority: www.ostrava.cz
Ostrava Information Service: www.ostravainfo.cz
Wikipedia: http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrava