The name of the Vysočina region derives from the name of the Českomoravská vrchovina (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands), a hilly, undulating area situated between the two historical lands of the Czech Republic. Vysočina reaches over 800 meters in altitude, in the two distinct mountain ranges of Žďárské vrchy in the north of the region and Jihlavské vrchy in the south-west. The main European water divide (i.e. the point which determines whether rivers flow to the north or south), echoing the former frontier between Bohemia and Moravia, divides the region into two parts almost equal in area. Bordering the South-Moravian Region to the east, the South-Bohemian and Central Bohemian Regions to the west, and sharing a border with the Pardubice Region to the north-east, the region is situated in the very heart of the Czech Republic.
Natural conditions scattered the population of Vysočina into over seven hundred towns and villages, interconnected by a rich web of roads. Small villages near the local centre, which is usually a quiet small town with a population of three to ten thousand, are typical of Vysočina. There are only four towns with a population over twenty thousand; Jihlava, the regional capital, has a population of fifty thousand. Increasing standards of living and mobility make this situation an asset. People in Vysočina are able to enjoy the advantages of living in the countryside while being guaranteed easy access to the modern facilities offered by local urban centres. More than half of the region's population are able to reach the regional capital within thirty minutes.
History has provided Vysočina with numerous historic monuments, three of which - the historical centre of Telč, the Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora near Žďár nad Sázavou, and the Jewish Ghetto together with St. Prokop's Basilica in Třebíč - have been classified as international UNESCO monuments. The landmarks left by history complement the way people have changed the countryside, completing its beauty.
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