Ostrava - People and Demographics

People and Demographics

As of January 2011, the official estimated population of Ostrava was 310,464 inhabitants, living in a total of 23 districts formed by the unification of 34 original small towns and villages. Ostrava covers an area of 214 km². The population density is 1450 people per km².

Historically, among the most influential ethnic groups besides Czechs in Ostrava were the Poles, Germans and the Jews. However, during and after the World War II years the situation changed completely, as most Ostravian Jews were killed or transported to concentration camps (on 17 October 1939, the first transport of Jews to a camp under the Nisko Plan, and the Nazi administrative innovation known as the General Government was held in Ostrava – the first of its kind in Europe). After World War II, Germans were expelled from Ostrava according to the Potsdam Agreement. Thus, the population of the city, has become a mixture of Silesians, Moravians, Czechs, Slovaks and Poles. The mayor of Ostrava Josef Hinner opposed the deportation with the magistrate and German forces and started to organize the resistance to smuggle Jewish citizens from the city and surrounding areas. Due to his opposition, mayor Hinner was deported and placed in a concentration camp, barely surviving World War II. A memorial commemorates the Jewish inhabitants of Ostrava who have become victims of the Holocaust was built in Park Milady Horákové. On August, 16, 2011, the memorial was vandalized in what seems to be an anti-Semitic act.

The unemployment rate is 12% (as of December 2010).