–1RYHPEHU 201, Brno, Czech Republic Problems of very small municipalities in the South Moravian Region perceived by their mayors Andrea Leskova, Antonin Vaishar Department of Applied and Landscape Ecology Mendel University in Brno Zemedelska 1, 613 00 Brno CZECH REPUBLIC yleskova@mendelu.cz Abstract: The Czech Republic is characterized by high fragmentation of settlements and high number of very small municipalities. The high fragmentation of municipalities in the Czech Republic has long been discussed. The debaters indicate a number of problems arising from management and sustainability of a very small municipality as well as a lack of willingness to merge the municipalities. This research deals with the problems of very small municipalities of up to 200 inhabitants in the South Moravian Region perceived by their own mayors. The mayors of selected very small municipalities are contacted and in a semi-structured interview they are asked about the problems they register in the municipality. The most interviewed mayors perceive as a problem a high unnecessary increasing administration. Problems associated with municipal management generally occur in interviews very often. Other common problems are social problems such as population decline or moving socially weak and troubled people, which occur mainly in districts distant from Brno (Hodonín and Znojmo districts). Key Words: small municipalities, unnecessary increasing administration, municipal management, social problems, population decline INTRODUCTION The Czech Republic with its relatively high number of municipalities (6 258 municipalities, 2017) is characterized by a high fragmentation of the municipalities and has a different settlement structure compared to other European countries. Swianiewicz (2002) indicates that the Czech Republic has 80% of municipalities with less than 1000 inhabitants, France 77%, Slovakia 68%, Spain 61%, Hungary 54%, Latvia 32%, Italy 24%, whereas 16 countries of the EU do not have such municipalities. An optimal municipal size and efficiency is the subject of several researchers (Martins 1995, Holzer et al. 2009, Zafra-Gómez and Pérez Muñiz 2010). An average population per municipality in the Czech Republic is about 1 700 inhabitants. A very small municipality in this work is defined as a municipality with less than 200 permanent residents. There are almost 1 500 municipalities (24%) of this size category in the Czech Republic (CSO 2017). Kadeřábková and Jetmar (2010) state that the small municipalities have limited ability to ensure their further development (or to maintain their attractiveness for their inhabitants) under the current rules for the distribution of public funds. Hampl and Müller (1998) see the high fragmentation of municipalities in the Czech Republic as unsustainable, they see problem mainly in the sphere of municipal management and excessive fragmentation of financial resources. However, despite the rational arguments against fragmentation, they do not expect changes in the functioning of the municipalities in that time, they assume resistance of the municipalities themselves, even those well-functioning and wealthy. Further they add that radical reforms of the municipal systems in developed European countries have been carried out in a period of prosperity, in which they believe that the general public is more open for administrative changes. The Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (2015) reports that for the long-term problems of small municipalities with up to 500 inhabitants there is a lack of civic amenities (school, library, post office, medical ordination, grocery and other services), almost 20% of the population of municipalities is not connected to sewerage and 10% of them are not supplied by public water supply, a lot of municipalities do not have a sewage treatment plant yet. Other problems include poor transport 230