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Czechoslovakia Bohemia
Bohemia's topography has fostered local solidarity and a
common set of economic interests. The area is ringed with low
mountains or high hills that effectively serve as a watershed
along most of its periphery (although they do not lie along the
border to the south and southeast). Streams flow from all
directions through the Bohemian Basin toward Prague (Praha).
In the northwest, the Krusne Hory (Ore Mountains) border on
the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and are known to
the Germans as the Erzgebirge; the Sudeten Mountains in the
northeast border on Poland in an area that was part of Germany
before World War II. The Cesky Les, bordering on the Federal
Republic of Germany (West Germany), and the Sumava Mountains,
bordering on West Germany and Austria, are mountain ranges that
form the western and southwestern portions of the ring around the
Bohemian Basin. Both are approximately as high as the Krusne
Hory. Bohemia's mountainous areas differ greatly in population.
The northern regions are densely populated, whereas the less
hospitable Cesky Les and Sumava Mountains are among the most
sparsely populated areas in the country.
The central lands of the Bohenian Basin are lower in
elevation, but their features vary widely. There are small lakes
in the central southern region and in the Vltava Basin north of
Prague. Some of the western grain lands are gently rolling, while
other places have deep gorges cut by streams (such as the Vltava
River). A large area southwest of Prague has a broken relief
pattern that is typical of several other areas.
Data as of August 1987
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