Sosnowiec

Main square

Flag

Coat of arms

Sosnowiec

Coordinates: 50°18′N 19°10′E / 50.300°N 19.167°E

Country

city county

Town rights

1902

Government

• Mayor

Arkadiusz Chęciński

Area

• City

91.06 km² (35.16 sq mi)

Elevation

250 m (820 ft)

Population (2013)

• City

214,488

• Density

2,400/km² (6,100/sq mi)

• Urban

2,746,000

• Metro

4,620,624

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

41-200 to 41-225

Area code(s)

+48 32

Car plates

Website

http://www.sosnowiec.pl

Sosnowiec ([sɔˈsnɔvʲɛt͡s]; German: Sosnowitz) is an industrial city county in southern Poland, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association. Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region, it is one of the cities of the Katowice urban area – a 2.7-million-person conurbation – and within a greater Upper Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 220,450 (June 2009).

Sosnowiec is the centre of the Zagłębie Dąbrowskie area within the historic Lesser Poland region near the border with Silesia. It is located about 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast to the downtown of Katowice and 65 km (40 mi) northwest of Kraków, situated in the Silesian Upland on the rivers Brynica and Przemsza, a tributary of the Vistula. The city is part of Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999. Previously (since 1945), it was part of Katowice Voivodeship, and before World War II, Sosnowiec belonged to Kielce Voivodeship.

Allegedly its name comes from Polish word , referring to the pine forests which were common prior to 1830. It was originally known as Sosnowice. Other variations of the name include Sosnowietz, Sosnowitz, Sosnovitz (Yiddish), Sosnovyts, Sosnowyts, Sosnovytz, Sosnowytz, and Sosnovetz. There are five other smaller towns in Poland also called Sosnowiec, located in the Kielce Voivodship, Łódź Voivodship, and Opole Voivodship.

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Wikipedia