Bydgoszcz

Flag

Coat of arms

Bydgoszcz

Country

city county

Established

before 1238

Town rights

1346

Government

Area

• City

175.98 km² (67.95 sq mi)

Elevation

60 m (200 ft)

Population (2014)

• City

358,614

• Density

2,000/km² (5,300/sq mi)

• Metro

470,285

• Summer (DST)

Postal code

85-001 to 85-915

(+48) 52

Website

Bydgoszcz /ˈbɪdɡɒʃtʃ/ (Polish pronunciation: [ˈbɨdɡɔʂt͡ʂ], German: Bromberg [ˈbʁɔmbɛɐ̯k], Latin: Bydgostia) is a city in northern Poland, on the Brda and Vistula rivers. With a city population of 358,614 (June 2014), and an urban agglomeration with more than 470,000 inhabitants, Bydgoszcz is the eighth-largest city in Poland. It has been the seat of Bydgoszcz County and the co-capital, with Toruń, of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999. Prior to this, between 1947 and 1998, it was the capital of the Bydgoszcz Voivodeship, and before that, of the Pomeranian Voivodeship between 1945 and 1947.

Bydgoszcz is part of the metroplex Bydgoszcz-Toruń, which totals over 850,000 inhabitants. Bydgoszcz is the seat of Casimir the Great University, University of Technology and Life Sciences and a conservatory, as well as a Collegium Medicum of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Bydgoszcz hosts the Pomeranian Philharmonic concert hall, the Opera Nova opera house, and the Bydgoszcz Ignacy Jan Paderewski Airport. Due to its location between the Vistula and Odra rivers, and the water course of the Bydgoszcz Canal, the city forms part of a water system connected via the Noteć, Warta, Oder, and Elbe with the Rhine and Rotterdam.