historical demography; natality; mortality; nuptiality; fertility; demographic transition; Silesia; Moravia

The Ostrava region lies in the north-eastern part of the Czech Republic, near the Czech-Polish frontier. It has never formed an administrative unit and for this paper it was delimitate with the territory of Austrian Silesia and two (later three) political districts of the north-east Moravia. The research was based on the Austrian Statistics, series of natural change (Österreichische Statistik, Bewegung der Bevölkerung der im Reichsrathe vertretenen Königreiche und Länder...) published 1884-1916 and it was determined with a period of 1880-1913. It included 12 political districts and three towns with special administrative status. The region make possible to survey some differences in the population behaviour between industrial and agricultural areas during the FDT. The Ostrava and Fryštát region was an industrial core of the agglomeration and a space with a mixed society of immigrants from different lands and countries with distinct cultural patterns, traditions and life experiences.