In terms of size, number of municipalities, and population, it ranks among the smaller regions of the Czech Republic.

[10] The spas are visited by Czechs as well as by people from the rest of Europe, Russia, Israel and North America.

[11] The Karlovy Vary spa wafer, a local food item, was awarded protected designation of origin (PDO) status by the European Commission in 2011.

[12] The water from the region is used in locally produced beverages including Mattoni from Karlovy Vary and Aquila from the village of Kyselka.

The region is also part of the so-called Black Triangle, an area of heavy industrialization and environmental damage on the three-way border of Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

[17] The Czech University of Life Sciences Prague opened a centre in the village of Dalovice in the Karlovy Vary District in 2007.