DECIN, a town on the right bank of the Elbe in Czecho slovakia ; it owes its chief importance, past and present, to the fact that it shares with the sister-town of Podmokly (q.v.) the guardianship of the entrance to Bohemia from Saxony. In addi tion to being a customs town and port and a great centre of trade it has a varied development of industry, its products comprising chemicals, confectionery, dyes, plaster of Paris, cotton goods, cellulose, flour and beer. The town is dominated by a rocky height crowned by an old i 7th century chateau and the frontier position is evident in the fact that its control has alternated be tween Saxony and Bohemia and in the composition of the present population, 11,244, of whom 9,289 are German. The town has road and rail connection with Podmokly by bridges.