Bielsko Industrial Region
| Bielsko-Biała | |||
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11th November Street in Bielsko-Biała
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 Bielsko-Biała
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| Coordinates: 49°49′21″N 19°2′40″E / 49.82250°N 19.04444°E | |||
| Country | Poland | ||
| Voivodeship | Silesian | ||
| County | city county | ||
| Town rights | 1312 Bielsko 1723 Biała |
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| 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 tourism 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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Wikipedia