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Czechoslovakia GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENT
Topography and Drainage
The country's 127,905 square kilometers divide
topographically as well as historically into three major areas:
Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia, Bohemia consists of the five
western political divisions, or kraje (sing.,
kraj): Zapadocesky (West Bohemia), Severocesky (North
Bohenia), Jihocesky (South Bohenia), Vychodocesky (East Bohenia),
and Stredocesky (Central Bohenia). Moravia consists of the two
central political divisions: Severomoravsky (North Moravia) and
Jihomoravsky (South Moravia). Slovakia consists of the three
eastern political divisions: Zapadoslovensky (West Slovakia),
Stredoslovensky (Central Slovakia), and Vychodoslovensky (East
Slovakia). The three Slovak kraje constitute the Slovak
Socialist Republic; the other seven kraje constitute the
Czech Socialist Republic. Kraje are further subdivided
into okresy (sing., okres), roughly equivalent to
countries in the United States.
The areas of western Bohemia and eastern Slovakia belong to
different mountain and drainage systems. All but a minute
fraction of the Bohemian region drains into the North Sea by way
of the Vltava (Moldau) and Labe (Elbe) rivers. The hills and low
mountains that encircle this area are part of the north-central
European uplands that extend from southern Belgium, through the
central German lands, and into Moravia. These uplands, which are
distinct from the Alps to the south and the Carpathian Mountains
to the east, are known geologically as the Hercynian Massif. Most
of Slovakia drains into the Danube (Dunaj) River, and its
mountains are part of the Carpathians, which continue eastward
and southward into Romania.
The uplands of Moravia are a transition between the Hercynian
Massif and the Carpathians and are in contrast with them by
having more nearly north-south ridge lines. Most of Moravia
drains southward to the Danube, but the Odra (Oder) River rises
in the northeast and drains a sizable portion of the northern
region
(see
fig. 9).
Data as of August 1987
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