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Bielsko-Biala

Bielsko-Biała
Main city sight
Main city sight
Flag of Bielsko-Biała
Flag
Coat of arms of Bielsko-Biała
Coat of arms
Bielsko-Biała is located in Poland
Bielsko-Biała
Bielsko-Biała
Coordinates: 49°49′21″N 19°2′40″E / 49.82250°N 19.04444°E / 49.82250; 19.04444
Country Poland
Voivodeship Silesian
County city county
Town rights 1312 Bielsko
1723 Biała
Government
 • Mayor Jacek Krywult
Area
 • City 124.51 km2 (48.07 sq mi)
Highest elevation 1,117 m (3,665 ft)
Lowest elevation 262 m (860 ft)
Population (2013)
 • City 173,699
 • Density 1,400/km2 (3,600/sq mi)
 • Urban 325,000
 • Metro 5,294,000
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 43-300 to 43-382
Area code(s) (+48) 033
Car plates SB
Website http://www.um.bielsko.pl

Bielsko-Biała [ˈbʲɛlskɔ ˈbʲawa] (Czech: Bílsko-Bělá; German: Bielitz-Biala) is a city in Southern Poland with the population of approx. 174,000 (December 2013). The city is a centre of the approx. 325,000 large and is a major industrial (particularly automotive), transport and touristic hub. Neighbouring the Beskid Mountains to the south, Bielsko-Biała is composed of two former cities on opposite banks of the Biała River, Silesian Bielsko and Lesser Poland's Biała, merged in 1951.

Both city names, Bielsko and Biała refer to the Biała River, with etymology stemming from either biel or biała, which means "white" in Polish.

The remnants of a fortified settlement in what is now the Stare Bielsko (Old Bielsko) district of the city were discovered between 1933 and 1938 by a Polish archaeological team. The settlement was dated to the 12th - 14th centuries. Its dwellers manufactured iron from ore and specialized in smithery. The current centre of the town was probably developed as early as the first half of the 13th century. At that time a castle (which still survives today) was built on a hill.

In the second half of the 13th century, the Piast dukes of Opole invited German settlers to colonize the Silesian Foothills. As the dukes then also ruled over the Lesser Polish lands east of the Biała River, settlements arose on both banks like Bielitz (now Stare Bielsko), Nickelsdorf (Mikuszowice Śląskie), Kamitz (Kamienica), Batzdorf (Komorowice Śląskie) and Kurzwald in the west as well as Kunzendorf (Lipnik), Alzen (Hałcnów) and Wilmesau (Wilamowice) in the east. Nearby settlements in the mountains were Lobnitz (Wapienica) and Bistrai (Bystra).


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