The geography of the region varies considerably, comprising many land forms from lowlands to high mountains whose summits lie above the tree line. In the west lie the
Hrubý Jeseník mountains, with the highest mountain of the region (and all Moravia),
Praděd, rising . The mountains are heavily forested, with many spectacular places and famous spas such as Karlova Studánka and
Jeseník, so are very popular with tourists. Also, several ski resorts are there, including Červenohorské Sedlo and Ovčárna, with long-lasting snow cover. The Hrubý Jeseník mountains slowly merge into the rolling hills of the Nízký Jeseníks and Oderské Vrchy, rising to 800 m at Slunečná and 680 m at Fidlův Kopec, respectively. To the east, the landscape gradually descends into the
Moravian Gate valley with the
Bečva and
Oder Rivers. The former flows to the south-west, the latter to the north-east, where the terrain spreads into the flat
Ostrava Basin and Opava Hilly Land, where most of the population lives. The region's heavy industry, which has been in decline for the last decade, is located there, too, benefiting from huge deposits of hard coal. The confluence of the Odra and Olza is the lowest point of the region, at 195 m. To the south-east, towards the Slovak border, the landscape sharply rises into the
Moravian-Silesian Beskids, with its highest mountain
Lysá hora at , which is the place with the highest annual rainfall in the Czech Republic, a year. The mountains are heavily forested and serve as a holiday resort for the industrial north.
Nature conservation Three large landscape protected areas and a number of smaller nature reserves are in the region. The countryside is mostly man-made, but five natural parks with preserved natural scenery exist. The Jeseníky PLA (with an area of ) lies in the mountain range of the same name in the north east of the region. The terrain is very diverse, with steep slopes and deep valleys. About 80%t of the area is forested, mostly by secondary plantations of
Norway spruce, which were seriously damaged by industrial emissions. Due to local weather conditions, the tree line in the area descends to . Alpine meadows can be found in particularly low elevations in the Jeseník mountains. Also, a few
peat moors are found there, which are otherwise nonexistent in Moravia. The Poodří PLA () lies in the Moravian Gate, in close proximity to the region's capital Ostrava, on the banks of the meandering Odra. It is an area of floodplain forests (one of the last preserved in Central Europe), flooded meadows, and many shallow ponds, on which water birds thrive. The
Beskydy Protected Landscape Area () is the largest Czech protected landscape area (PLA). It lies in the south-east of the region, along the Slovak boundary. In the north, the mountains rise steeply from the Ostrava basin, to the south their elevation and severity decreases. Most of the area is forested, mainly by
Norway spruce plantations, which are not indigenous to the area. Many of these were severely damaged by emissions from the Ostrava industrial region. There are, however, also a lot of either newly planted or preserved forests of
European beech, which in the past covered most of the mountains. The PLA is typical by its mosaic of forests and highland meadows and pastures with hamlets scattered throughout all the mountains. In recent years
bear and
wolf sighting have become more frequent. Altogether, 125 small, protected nature areas cover an area of . The most notable of them is the lime
Šipka Cave near
Štramberk, where remnants of a
Neanderthal man were discovered in the late 19th century.
Places of interest There are three towns with protected historical centers.
Příbor, the birthplace of
Sigmund Freud, was an important center of education for northern Moravia from the 17th century to the first half of the 20th.
Nový Jičín, founded under the castle of
Starý Jičín, has a well-preserved central square dating back to the 14th century, with the Žerotínský château nearby.
Štramberk is a unique small town nestled in a valley between lime hills, with many timber houses and the Trúba Spire rising on a hill above the town. Many castles and châteaus are in the region, the most famous being
Hradec nad Moravicí, Raduň,
Kravaře, and
Fulnek.
Hukvaldy, in a village of the same name under the Moravian-Silesian Beskids, is one of the region's many castle ruins, known for a musical festival dedicated to the composer
Leoš Janáček, who was born there. Another well-known castle ruin is Sovinec under the Hrubý Jeseník. Due to the importance of industry in the region, many museums display products of local technical development. The Automobile Museum in
Kopřivnice exhibits the history of the
Tatra cars, The Train Carriage Museum is in
Studénka, and the Mining Museum and the former Michal Mine (
Důl Michal) are in Ostrava. ==History==