Sopot | |||
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Pier in Sopot
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Motto: Najmniejsze z wielkich miast (Smallest of the big cities) |
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Coordinates: 54°26′N 18°33′E / 54.433°N 18.550°E | |||
Country | Poland | ||
Voivodeship | Pomeranian | ||
County | city county | ||
Established | 8th century | ||
Town rights | 1901 | ||
Government | |||
• Mayor | Jacek Karnowski | ||
Area | |||
• City | 17.31 km2 (6.68 sq mi) | ||
Population (31.12.2010) | |||
• City | 38,141 | ||
• Density | 2,200/km2 (5,700/sq mi) | ||
• Metro | 1,035,000 (Tricity) | ||
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
Postal code | 81-701 to 81-878 | ||
Area code(s) | +48 58 | ||
Car plates | GSP | ||
Climate | Cfb | ||
Website | www |
Sopot [ˈsɔpɔt] (Kashubian: Sopòt; German: Zoppot (listen)) is a seaside resort town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000.
Sopot is a town with powiat (county) status, in Pomeranian Voivodeship. Until 1999 it was part of the Gdańsk Voivodeship. It lies between the larger cities of Gdańsk to the southeast and Gdynia to the northwest. The three cities together make up the metropolitan area of Tri-City.
Sopot is a major health-spa and tourist resort destination. It has the longest wooden pier in Europe, at 515.5 metres, stretching out into the Bay of Gdańsk. The city is also famous for its Sopot International Song Festival, the largest such event in Europe after the Eurovision Song Contest. Among its other attractions is a fountain of bromide spring water, known as the "inhalation mushroom".
The name is thought to derive from an old Slavic word sopot meaning "stream" or "spring". The same root occurs in a number of other Slavic toponyms; it is probably onomatopeic, imitating the sound of running water - murmur (Šepot). (Today several streams run into the sea in the area of the town.)