Nowe Warpno

Town Hall in Nowe Warpno, built 1697, one of the most distinctive town halls in Poland

Coat of arms

Nowe Warpno

Coordinates: 53°43′N 14°16′E / 53.717°N 14.267°E

Country

Poland

Area

• Total

24.56 km² (9.48 sq mi)

Population (2006)

• Total

1,170

• Density

48/km² (120/sq mi)

Postal code

72-022

Nowe Warpno [ˈnɔvɛ ˈvarpnɔ] (German: Neuwarp) is a town in northwestern Poland, in Police County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies on the shore of the Szczecin Lagoon, very close to the border with Germany. It is the seat of the urban-rural gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Nowe Warpno.

The town's population is 1,170 (according to figures for 2006). The rural part of its gmina has the lowest population density of any such division in Poland, with only 2.09 persons/km²; the town's density (48.8/km²) raises the overall population density of the gmina to 7.88/km², still the fourth lowest in Poland.

Until World War II the town was in Germany, and was known by its German name, Neuwarp. It was transferred to Poland in 1945 as part of the territorial changes agreed at the Potsdam Conference. The native Germans were expelled and replaced with Poles.

The town is located on the inlet of Neuwarp Bay on the southern shore of the Szczecin Lagoon. Across an 800 m wide strait lies the town of Altwarp in the German part of Pomerania. (Alt and Neu mean "old" and "new" in German; in Polish Nowe also means "new".) A small uninhabited island being part of Nowe Warpno lies only 70 m off the coast of Altwarp.

A ferry runs between Nowe Warpno and Altwarp (Stare Warpno) across the German border. There used to be a duty-free shop on board, but this ended when Poland joined the European Union.

Nearby Podgrodzie is in Nowe Warpno district (in the past it was a separate locality). It lies on a picturesque headland with several vacation centres.

...
Wikipedia