ČSÚ releases the Historical Lexicon of Municipalities of the Czech Republic 1869-2005

Prague - After almost thirty years, the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) is publishing the Historical Lexicon of Municipalities of the Czech Republic 1869 - 2005. The publication captures the long-term development of settlement in the territory of the Czech Republic. The work follows the Retrospective Lexicon of Municipalities of the CSSR 1850 - 1970, which was published by the then Federal Statistical Office in 1978. ČTK was informed about this today by Jiřina Růžková from ČSÚ.
    The data in the lexicon are organized by regions, districts, municipalities, and their parts according to the arrangement on January 1, 2005. The publication consists of two volumes.
    The Historical Lexicon of Municipalities includes information from the year 1869. This year saw the first modern census. It was conducted according to principles established by international congresses, which are still somewhat followed in the world and in the Czech Republic today.
    The focus of the first volume of the Historical Lexicon is the tabular section containing, among other things, the number of residents and houses recorded during the individual censuses conducted typically at ten-year intervals from 1869 to 2001. The second volume captures the development of the names of all municipalities and parts of municipalities that have occurred in the territory of today’s Czech Republic from 1869 to 2005, in a comprehensive index. In total, the text section lists 28,853 entries for 18,880 settlements in alphabetical order.
    The authors of the Historical Lexicon have enriched it with a detailed overview of historical sources and many accompanying articles and overviews. Interesting data includes the lists of the 50 largest cities from each census, starting from 1869. For example, readers will learn that Ústí nad Labem was the 16th largest city in 1869 with only 10,933 residents, or that the fourth largest city in 1900 was Žižkov with 59,236 residents.
    According to ČSÚ, the Historical Lexicon represents the most complete and relatively most reliable information source on the historical development of settlement in Czech territory between 1869 and 2005. Statisticians, archivists, and researchers worked on the publication for almost ten years. The book is available in ČSÚ stores at the Prague headquarters and regional offices, as well as in selected bookstores. In the future, ČSÚ plans to publish the publication on its website www.czso.cz.