Page:NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SURVEY 18; CZECHOSLOVAKIA; MILITARY GEOGRAPHY CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110011-1.pdf/16

 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110011-1

'''FIGURE 11. Prague strategic area (C)'''

also the location of the heaviest concentration of domestic and international telecommunication facilities. Combined radio and landline installations provide links to virtually every important national center as well as international connections. The estimated capacity of POL storage facilities in Prague is 100,000 barrels.

Other important urban areas within the strategic area are Kladno (population 60,000), a major hard coal mining center containing the country's third largest steel complex and important railroad yards; Slany (population 13,000), the location of a major machine building plant producing 50% of the country's mobile cranes and 20% of its excavators; Kralupy nad Vltavon (population 16,000), the site of the second largest synthetic rubber plant in the country, accounting for one-fourth of national production, and the location of a small petroleum refinery and a large railroad yard; Neratovice (population 12,000), with a chemical plant producing 35% of the country's chlorine and 18% of its sulfuric acid; and Beroun (population 18,000) and its environs, which have a significant metallurgical plant (producing cold rolled strip steel, cast iron, and pipes for hydraulic enterprises) and a large cement plant.

2. Ostrava-Karvina

This strategic area (commonly known as the Ostrava-Karvina Hard Coal Basin) (Figure 13), has a population of about 700,000 in 8 larger cities and numerous smaller towns and settlements, is the hub of the Czechoslovak economy and of prime importance for its coal, iron, steel, and metallurgical industries. Installations for deep hard coal mining, briquetting, and coke production are located in and around

'''FIGURE 12. The Hradcany Castle in Prague contains offices of the President of the Republic and symbolizes Prague's dominant strategic influence in the nation's political, military, and economic life. The wide Vltava River is crossed by 13 strategic bridges; the one shown here is 600 years old. (U/OU)'''

10

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110011-1