Opava is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 56,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Opava River. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia. It was a historical capital of Czech Silesia.

The Moravian-Silesian Region is one of the 14 administrative regions of the Czech Republic. Before May 2001, it was called the Ostrava Region. The region is located in the north-eastern part of its historical region of Moravia and in most of the Czech part of the historical region of Silesia. The region borders the Olomouc Region to the west and the Zlín Region to the south. It also borders two other countries – Poland to the north and Slovakia to the east.