Karviná (German and Polish Karwin), city in the northeastern Czech Republic, located near Ostrava and the Polish border. It is a mining and manufacturing center situated in the coalfields of Silesia; products include chemicals and metals. The city became part of Czechoslovakia in 1920. It was seized by Poland in 1938 and occupied subsequently by Germans during World War II (1939-1945). After the war Karviná was returned to Czechoslovakia. Karviná annexed the town of Frystát in 1949. In 1993 the city became part of the independent Czech Republic after Czechoslovakia ceased to exist. Population (1994) 67,568.
