Cheb (Czech pronunciation:[ˈxɛp]; German:Eger), is a city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ohře (also called Eger in German), at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrčiny and near the border with Germany. Prior to 1945, which saw the expulsion of the German speaking population, the town was the centre of the German-speaking region known as Egerland, and was part of the Northern Austro-Bavarian dialect area.