Blansko (Czech pronunciation: [ˈblansko]; German: Blanz) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Svitava River, on the border of the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area. It is mainly an industrial town. Blansko was a market town from the 16th century and became a town only in 1905. The town experienced its greatest growth in the second half of the 20th century thanks to the development of the engineering industry.