Ostrava : Czech Republic
People and demographics
As of 2003, the officially estimated population of Ostrava is 315,442 inhabitants, who are living in a total of 23 districts formed by joining together 34 original small towns and villages. Ostrava covers 212 km of area. The density of population is 1505 people per km.
Historically, among the most influencing ethnic groups besides Czechoslovakians in Ostrava were Polish people, Germans and Jews. However, during and after the WWII years the situation changed completely, as most Ostravian Jews have been killed or transported to concentration camps (on October 17th, 1939 the first transport of Jews to a lager in Nisko, General Government was held in Ostrava – first of its kind in Europe). After the WWII, Germans have been expelled from Ostrava according to the Benes decrees. Thus, the population of the city, has become a mixture of Czechs, Slovaks and Poles.
People around Ostrava are known to speak a specific “dialect” (though probably not linguistically qualified) which can be noticed as shortening all vowels and putting stress on the last but one syllable, that makes the dialect similar to Polish. Other than that Ostravians are often considered the purest Czech speakers.
