The Moravian-Silesian Region is one of the 14 administrative Regions of the Czech Republic.  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.

Once a highly industrialized region, it was called the "Steel Heart of the Country" in the communist era. There are, in addition, several mountainous areas where the landscape is relatively preserved. Nowadays, the economy of the region benefits from its location in the Czech/Polish/Slovak borderlands.

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The geography of the region varies considerably, comprising many landforms from lowlands to high mountains whose summits lie above the tree line.

In the west lie the Hrubý Jeseník mountains, with the highest mountain of the region, and all Moravia), Praděd, rising 1491 metres. The mountains are heavily forested, with many spectacular places and famous spas such as Karlova Studánka and Jeseník and are therefore very popular with tourists. There are also several ski resorts, including Červenohorské Sedlo and Ovčárna, with long-lasting snow cover. The Hrubý Jeseník mountains slowly merge into the rolling hills of the Nízký Jeseník and Oderské Vrchy, rising to 800 m at Slunečná and 680 m at Fidlův Kopec respectively.

To the east, the landscape gradually descends into the Moravian Gate (Moravská brána) valley with the Bečva and Odra rivers. The former flows to the south-west, the latter to the north-east, where the terrain spreads into the flat Ostrava and Opava basins (Ostravská a Opavská pánev), where most of the population lives. The region's heavy industry, which has been in decline for the last decade, is located there too, benefiting from huge deposits of hard coal. The confluence of the rivers Odra and Olše is the lowest point of the region, at 195 m.

To the south-east, towards the Slovakian border, the landscape sharply rises into the Moravian-Silesian Beskids (often referred to just as Beskydy), with its highest mountain Lysá Hora at 1323 m, which is the place with the highest annual rainfall in the Czech Republic, 1,500 mm (100 in) a year. The mountains are heavily forested and serve as a holiday resort for the industrial north.

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The total population of the region was 1,262,660 (men 48.83%, women 51.20%) in 2002, which makes it the most populous Region in the Czech Republic. 86.9% are Czechs, 3.3% Slovaks, 3.0% Poles, 2.3% Moravians,0.8% Silesians, 0.3% Germans and 0.2% Romani, though this last figure might be considerably higher as Romani often do not officially admit their nationality. 40.2% of the population are religious, mostly Roman Catholic, while 52.3% declare themselves atheists.

The population density is 227.3 inhabitants per km², which is the second highest in the country, after the capital Prague. Most of the population is urban, with 62% living in towns with over 20,000 inhabitants.