Řeka
Řeka is a municipality and village in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. The municipality has a significant Polish minority.
Etymology
The name literally means 'river'.Geography
Řeka is located about east of Frýdek-Místek and southeast of Ostrava. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids mountain range. The highest point is the Šindelná mountain at above sea level, located on the southeastern municipal border. The Ropičanka Stream originates in the municipal territory and then flows across the municipality.History
Řeka was founded in 1644 was formed by the separation from Smilovice and Guty, and originally named Řeka smilovská. It belonged then to the Duchy of Teschen. The village was established as a typical mountain settlement by associating already existing scattered mountain pastures and mountain farms. In the following years, other small farmers settled in the newly formed village. The main source of livelihood of the inhabitants was mountain farming.After Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire a modern municipal division was introduced in the re-established Austrian Silesia. The village as a municipality was subscribed to the political and legal district of Cieszyn. According to the censuses conducted in 1880–1910, the majority were native Polish-speakers accompanied by a small German-speaking minority and Czech-speaking people. In terms of religion in 1910 the majority were Protestants, followed by Roman Catholics and 3 people adhering to another faiths.
After World War I, Polish–Czechoslovak War and the division of Cieszyn Silesia in 1920, it became a part of Czechoslovakia. Following the Munich Agreement, in October 1938 together with the Trans-Olza region it was annexed by Poland, administratively adjoined to Cieszyn County of Silesian Voivodeship. It was then annexed by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II. After the war it was restored to Czechoslovakia.