The writing on this Prague street sign indicates it is in the Hradčany cadastral area and in the municipal district Prague 1.
Prague has a local-government structure of two or three tiers, depending on the area of town. At the top is the Magistrate of the Capital City of Prague (Czech: Magistrát hlavního města Prahy), which is responsible for public transport; waste collection; municipal police; firefighting; ambulance services; cultural activities; care of historical sites; the Prague Zoo; and other activities of citywide significance.
Prague is divided into 10 municipal districts (1-10), 22 administrative districts (1-22), 57 municipal parts, or 112 cadastral areas.
Since 1990, the city has been divided into 56 (since 1992, 57) self-governing municipal parts (Czech: městské části). The parts are responsible for parks and environmental protection; ordering equipment for schools and volunteer firefighters; some cultural and sports activities; activities for seniors; some social and health programs; cemeteries; and collection of fees for dog tags and the like. Another important activity of the municipal parts is the ownership, maintenance and, sometimes, sale of public property, especially public housing.
Since 2001, the 57 municipal parts have been grouped into 22 numbered administrative districts (Czech: správní obvody), for national-government purposes. One administrative district has responsibility for providing certain services for the municipal parts. Those services include providing business licenses, identity cards and passports. The administrative district with such responsibility sometimes shares a name with the municipal part it serves. For example, the administrative district of Prague 19 provides those services to the municipal parts of Prague 19 (Kbely), Prague-Satalice and Prague-Vinoř. Residents of Satalice can get dog tags in their neighborhood but must go to Kbely, home of the Prague 19 government, to get an identity card.
Both the citywide government and the municipal districts have elected councils and mayors. The mayor of the Capital City of Prague is known as the primátor, which is sometimes translated into English as "lord mayor" (even though the Czech title carries no connotations of nobility).
Since 1960, Prague has been divided into 10 municipal districts. Those 10 districts are still used for addressing and transportation purposes and, for example, the organisation of courts and prosecutions. Street signs usually reflects the name of a municipal district and additionally add the name of the cadastral area (Czech: katastrální území). Thus, a sign in Kbely will say "Praha 9-Kbely," not "Praha 19." Prague residents are much more likely to use the name of a cadastral area, than the name of an administrative district in everyday communication.
Table of administrative and municipal districts
Administrative districts and municipal parts of Prague
In 2001, the Czech government ordered that every municipal district that serves an entire administrative district should be named for the administrative district that it serves. Thus, the municipal districts of Radotín, Řepy, Letňany, Kbely, Horní Počernice, Újezd nad Lesy and Uhříněves are now Prague 16 through 22, respectively. The old names remain as the names of cadastral areas.
All named districts officially begin with "Prague-", or "Praha-" in Czech. Thus, for example, the official name of Kunratice is "Prague-Kunratice" or "Praha-Kunratice".
List of cadastral areas
Map of administrative districts, municipal parts and cadastral areas
Key: Cadastral area (year joined to Prague) – municipal district
Černý Most (formed in 1988 from parts of Kyje, Hostavice, Dolní Počernice and Horní Počernice) – Prague 14
Kamýk (formed in 1989 from parts of Lhotka and Libuš) – Prague 12
Source: Cities and towns in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia (volume 5)[1]
Other areas
Beyond the 111 cadastral areas named above, many other Prague settlements, quarters and housing estates are perceived as districts, although they do not constitute their own cadastral areas. Examples: Barrandov, Spořilov, Sídliště Košík, Zahradní Město, Pankrác, Letná, Bubny, Zlíchov, Klíčov, Butovice, Klukovice, Kačerov, Jenerálka, Šárka, Strahov, Chodovec, Litochleby, Dubeček, Lázeňka, Netluky, Zmrzlík, Cikánka, Kateřinky, Hrnčíře, Pitkovičky, Lahovičky, Dolní Černošice, Kazín, Závist, Baně, Strnady, and many others.
The biggest panelák complexes are Jižní Město ("South City"), Severní Město ("North City") and Jihozápadní Město ("Southwest City"), all of which consist of partial housing estates. Most of Prague's panelák estates that were built between the 1960s and 1980s have names that incorporate the Czech word sídliště, which refers to a post-World War 2 eastern bloc housing estate. Many local names originated from names of historic villages in today's Prague area.
ISO 3166-2:CZ, ISO subdivisions codes for the Czech Republic (include codes for districts of Prague)
References
^Kuča, Karl (2002). Města a městečka v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku Par-Pra (V. díl) [Cities and towns in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia (volume 5)]. LIBRI. ISBN80-7277-039-X.
