Vysočina Region

Vysočina ('highlands') occupies the geographic center of Czechia but the economic periphery—rolling uplands between Bohemia and Moravia that lack the transport advantages of river valleys. Agriculture predominates where terrain allows, but the elevated plateau creates cooler conditions that limit crop options. The region's sparse population density (lowest in Czechia) reflects historic marginal productivity. Modern highways connecting Prague to Brno cross the region without stopping, creating transit corridor effects without agglomeration. Food processing and forestry extend agricultural value chains. The Dukovany nuclear plant sits just outside regional boundaries in South Moravia but shapes regional employment patterns. Vysočina represents what happens to territories bypassed by industrialization's first wave and now struggling to join the service economy: too far from major markets for logistics, too underpopulated for consumer services, and too disconnected from university networks for knowledge industries. It awaits the economic logic that can turn highland geography into advantage rather than constraint.