Warsaw

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Warsaw
Warszawa
Flag of Warsaw
Flag
Coat of arms of  Warsaw
Coat of arms
Motto: Semper invicta (Always invincible)
Warsaw (Poland)
Warsaw
Warsaw
Coordinates: 52°15′N 21°00′E / 52.25, 21
Country Flag of Poland Poland
Voivodeship Masovia
Powiat city county
Gmina Warszawa
Districts 18 boroughs
City Rights turn of the 13th century
Government
 - Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (PO)
Area
 - City 516.9 km² (199.6 sq mi)
 - Metro 6,100.43 km² (2,355.4 sq mi)
Elevation 100 m (328 ft)
Population (December 2006)
 - City 1,702,100
 - Metro 3,050,000
 - Metro Density 3,258/km² (8,438.2/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 00-001 to 04-999
Area code(s) +48 22
Car Plates WA, WB, WD, WE, WF, WH, WI, WJ, WK, WN, WT, WU, WW, WX, WY
Website: www.um.warszawa.pl

Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa, [varˈʂava] ; known also by other names) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. It is located on the Vistula River roughly 370 kilometers (230 mi) from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2006 was estimated at 1,700,536, with a metropolitan area of approximately 2,600,000. The city area is 516.9 square kilometers (199.6 sq mi), with an agglomeration of 6,100.43 square kilometers (2,355.4 sq mi) (Warsaw Metro Area — Obszar Metropolitalny Warszawy). Warsaw is the 8th biggest city in the European Union.

Warsaw gave its name to the Warsaw Pact, Warsaw Convention, Treaty of Warsaw and the Warsaw Uprising.

An older spelling of Warsaw in Polish is Warszewa or Warszowa, meaning "owned by Warsz". Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman Wars and his wife Sawa.[4]. Actually, Warsz was a nobleman (12th/13th century) who owned a village located at the site of today's Mariensztat neighbourhood [5].

The official city name in full is The Capital City of Warsaw (Polish: Miasto Stołeczne Warszawa). Warsaw has been known in Latin as Varsovia. A native or resident of Warsaw is called Varsovian. See wiktionary:Warsaw for the name in other languages.

Warsaw straddles the Vistula River. It is located in the heartland of the Masovian Plain, and its average altitude is 100 metres (330 ft) above sea level, although there are some hills (mostly artificial) located within the confines of the city

Warsaw's climate is continental humid. The average temperature is −2 °C (28 °F) in January and 18 °C (64 °F) in July. Temperatures may often reach 30 °C (86 °F) in the summer. Yearly rainfall averages 680 millimeters (26.8 in), the most rainy month being July.

Warsaw is a powiat (county), and is further divided into 18 boroughs, each one known as a dzielnica (map), each one with its own administrative body. Each of the boroughs includes several neighbourhoods which have no legal or administrative status. The best known neighbourhoods are the Old Town (Stare Miasto) and New Town (Nowe Miasto) in the borough of Śródmieście.[citation needed]

Districts of Warsaw (since 2002)
Districts of Warsaw (since 2002)
District Population Area
Mokotów 226,911 35.4 km² (13.7 sq mi)
Praga Południe 185,077 22.4 km² (8.6 sq mi)
Ursynów 143,935 44.6 km² (17.2 sq mi)
Wola 142,025 19.26 km² (7.4 sq mi)
Bielany 135,307 32.3 km² (12.5 sq mi)
Śródmieście 134,306 15.6 km² (6 sq mi)
Targówek 122,872 24.37 km² (9.4 sq mi)
Bemowo 107,197 24.95 km² (9.6 sq mi)
Ochota 91,643 9.7 km² (3.7 sq mi)
Białołęka 76,999 74 km² (28.6 sq mi)
Praga Północ 73,207 11.4 km² (4.4 sq mi)
Wawer 66,094 79.71 km² (30.8 sq mi)
Żoliborz 49,275 8.5 km² (3.3 sq mi)
Ursus 47,285 9.35 km² (3.6 sq mi)
Włochy 39,778 28.63 km² (11.1 sq mi)
Rembertów 22,688 19.30 km² (7.5 sq mi)
Wesoła 20,749 22.6 km² (8.7 sq mi)
Wilanów 15,188 36.73 km² (14.2 sq mi)
Total 1,700,536 517.90 km² (200 sq mi)

Historic Centre of Warsaw*
UNESCO World Heritage Site

State Party Flag of Poland Poland
Type Cultural
Criteria ii, vi
Reference 30
Region Europe and North America
Inscription History
Inscription 1981  (4th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
Region as classified by UNESCO.
Warsaw in 1573
Warsaw in 1573
Warsaw in 1656
Warsaw in 1656
Warsaw in 1770 by Canaletto
Warsaw in 1770 by Canaletto

The first fortified settlements on the site of today's Warsaw were Bródno (9th/10th century) and Jazdów (12th/13th century). After Jazdów was raided, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa. In the beginning of the 14th century it became one of the seats of the Dukes of Masovia, becoming the capital of Masovia in 1413 . Upon the extinction of the local ducal line, the duchy was reincorporated into the Polish Crown in 1526. In 1529 Warsaw for the first time became the seat of the General Sejm, permanent since 1569. In 1573 Warsaw gave its name to the Warsaw Confederation, formally establishing religious freedom in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Due to its central location between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's capitals of Kraków and Vilnius, Warsaw became the capital of the Commonwealth and at the same time of the Polish Crown in 1596, when King Sigismund III Vasa moved the court from Kraków. Warsaw remained the capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1795, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia to become the capital of the province of South Prussia. Liberated by Napoleon's army in 1807, Warsaw was made the capital of the newly created Duchy of Warsaw. Following the Congress of Vienna of 1815, Warsaw became the centre of the Congress Poland, a constitutional monarchy under a personal union with Imperial Russia. The Royal University of Warsaw was established in 1816.

Following the repeated violations of the Polish constitution by the Russians, the 1830 November Uprising broke out. However, the Polish-Russian war of 1831 ended in the uprising's defeat and in the curtailment of the Kingdom's autonomy. On 27 February 1861 a Warsaw crowd protesting the Russian rule over Poland was fired upon by the Russian troops. Five people were killed. The Underground Polish National Government resided in Warsaw during January Uprising in 1863–4.

Warsaw flourished in the late nineteenth century under Mayor Sokrates Starynkiewicz (1875–92), a Russian-born general appointed by Tsar Alexander III. Under Starynkiewicz Warsaw saw its first water and sewer systems designed and built by the English engineer William Lindley and his son, William Heerlein Lindley, as well as the expansion and modernization of trams, street lighting and gas works.

Warsaw became the capital of the newly independent Poland in 1918. In the course of the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920, the huge Battle of Warsaw was fought on the Eastern outskirts of the city in which the capital was successfully defended and the Red Army defeated.

During the Second World War central Poland, including Warsaw, came under the rule of the General Government, a Nazi colonial administration. All higher education institutions were immediately closed and Warsaw's entire Jewish population — several hundred thousand, some 30% of the city — herded into the Warsaw Ghetto. When the order came to annihilate the Ghetto as part of Hitler's "final solution", Jewish fighters launched the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Despite being heavily outgunned and outnumbered, the Ghetto held out for almost a month. When the fighting ended, almost all survivors were massacred, only a few managed to escape or hide.

By July 1944 the Red Army was deep into the Polish territory, pursuing the Germans toward Warsaw. Knowing that Stalin was hostile to the idea of an independent Poland, the Polish government-in-exile based in London gave orders to the underground Home Army (AK) to try to seize the control of Warsaw from the Nazis just before the Red Army arrives. Thus, on 1 August 1944, as the Soviet army was nearing the city very fast, the Home Army and the civilian population started the Warsaw Uprising. The armed struggle, planned to last 48 hours, went on for 63 days, and eventually the Home Army fighters were forced to capitulate. They were transported to the POW camps in Germany, while the entire civilian population was expelled. Hitler, ignoring the agreed terms of the communist People's Republic of Poland, and the city was resettled and rebuilt. Large prefabricated housing projects were erected in Warsaw to address the housing shortage. The city resumed its role as the capital of Poland and the country's centre of political and economic life. Many of the historic streets, buildings, and churches were restored to their original form. In 1980, Warsaw's historic Old Town was inscribed onto UNESCO's World Heritage list.

In 1995 the Warsaw Metro opened, and with the entry of Poland into the European Union in 2004, Warsaw is currently experiencing the biggest economic boom of its history.[citation needed]

Warsaw has historically been a destination of internal and foreign immigration, especially from Eastern Europe. For nearly 300 years it was the largest capital east of Paris, and was known as the Paris of Eastern Europe. Demographically it was the most diverse city in Poland, with as much as 20% of its population being either Jewish Poles or foreign born. World War II changed all of this, and to this day there is much less ethnic diversity than in the previous 300 years of the city's history. Most of the modern day population growth is based on internal migration and urbanization.

Population 1880–2006
Population 1880–2006
Comparison of modern city's boundaries with those of 1939
Comparison of modern city's boundaries with those of 1939
  • 1700: 30,000 (est.)
  • 1792: 120,000
  • 1800: 63,400
  • 1830: 139,700
  • 1850: 163,600
  • 1882: 383,000
  • 1900: 686,000
  • 1925: 1,003,000
  • 1939: 1,300,000
  • 1945: 422,000 (September)
  • 1950: 803,800
  • 1960: 1,136,000
  • 1970: 1,315,600
  • 1980: 1,596,100
  • 1990: 1,655,700
  • 2000: 1,672,400
  • 2002: 1,688,200
  • 2006: 1,702,100

Rococo Branicki Palace houses city government.
Rococo Branicki Palace houses city government.

Main article: President of Warsaw

According to the Warsaw Act (Ustawa warszawska) of October 27, 2002, the President of Warsaw carries out the executive duties in the city. The president's prerogative is, among others, governing the city-owned property that constitutes a major part of the city. The current President of Warsaw is Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz.

The Warsaw Act abolished all the former counties around Warsaw and formed one city powiat with a unified municipal government.

Legislative power in Warsaw is vested in a unicameral Warsaw City Council (Rada Miasta), which comprises 60 members. Council members are elected directly every four years. Like most legislative bodies, the City Council divides itself into committees which have the oversight of various functions of the city government. Bills passed by a simple majority are sent to the mayor (the President of Warsaw), who may sign them into law. If the mayor vetoes a bill, the Council has 30 days to override the veto by a two-thirds majority vote.

Each of the 18 separate city districts has its own council (Rada dzielnicy). Their duties are focused on aiding the President and the City Council, as well as supervising various municipal companies, city-owned property and schools. The head of each of the District Councils is named the Mayor (Burmistrz) and is elected by the local council from the candidates proposed by the President of Warsaw.

The Sejm building.
The Sejm building.

As the capital of Poland, Warsaw is the political centre of the country. All state agencies are located there, including the Polish Parliament, the Presidential Office and the Supreme Court. In the Polish parliament the city and the area are represented by 31 MPs (out of 460). Additionally, Warsaw elects two MEPs.

Although many streets were widened, and new ones created, during rebuilding of Warsaw in 1950s, the city is currently plagued with traffic problems.[citation needed]. Public transport in Warsaw is ubiquitous, serving the city with buses, tramways, and metro.

Warsaw lacks a good circular road system and most traffic goes directly through the city centre. Currently two circular roads are under consideration. The first (called OEW, or Obwodnica Etapowa Warszawy) is to run approximately 10 kilometers (6 mi) from the city centre through the city streets and across two new bridges. The other is to become a part of both the A-2 motorway (itself a part of the European route E30 from Berlin to Moscow) and the S-7 (GdańskKraków) express road, and will run through a tunnel under the southern area of Ursynów. It is to become completed between 2010 and 2012.

Terminal 2 façade
Terminal 2 façade

Warsaw has one airport, Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport (usually referred to as Okęcie airport), located just 10 kilometers (6 mi) from the city centre. With over 70 international and domestic flights a day and with over 8,270,000 passengers served in 2006, it is by far the biggest airport in Poland. Immediately adjacent to the main terminal complex Terminal 1, is the Etiuda terminal, serving routes flown by low-cost carriers. Domestic flights operate from a domestic terminal, adjoining Terminal 1. A new Terminal 2 is under construction (partly opened in 2006) in order to alleviate current overcrowding, and to extend the airport's capacity by another 6 million passengers.

There are plans to convert an ex-military airfield in Modlin, 20 kilometers (12 mi) north of Warsaw, into an airport for low-cost carriers, cargo and charter traffic. It will not be ready for use before 2008 at the earliest.

There also are long-term plans to build an entirely new international airport. Its location has not yet been decided.

Mass transit in Warsaw includes, buses, streetcars, metro and regional rail The first three are operated by the ZTM (Zarząd Transportu Miejskiego, the Warsaw Transport Authority). There are also some suburban bus lines run by private operators.

There are three tourist routes: "T", a vintage tram running in July and August, bus "100" which runs on weekends and is operated by the only double-decker bus owned by the city, and a "180" bus which follows the Royal Route from the War Cemetery in the North to Wilanów.

Bus service covers the entire city, with approx. 170 routes totalling about 2,603 kilometers (1,617 mi) in length, and with some 1,600 vehicles. Between midnight and 5 am the city and suburbs are served by night lines.

A modern streetcar in Warsaw
A modern streetcar in Warsaw
Plac Wilsona metro station
Plac Wilsona metro station

The first tramway (streetcar) line in Warsaw was opened on 11 December 1866. The last horse-drawn tram run on 26 March 1908. In the period between the world wars, the tramway network was nationalized and extended significantly. After the Defence War of 1939 the service was halted for approximately three months due to war losses. However, by 1940 the trams were back on track. In 1941 the present colours of the cars were introduced (yellow and red, in the Flag of Warsaw colours. Up to this point, the trams were painted either white and red, or entirely red).

During the Warsaw Uprising the tramway system was destroyed. However, the first tram line was opened again on 20 June 1945.

Following the Second World War the tramway in Warsaw underwent fast development. The tracks reached all the principal parts of the city. However, in the sixties the official policy of both Polish and Soviet authorities promoted the use of Soviet oil. The tramway net was shortened, while more buses were bought.

Currently the Tramwaje Warszawskie company runs 863 cars on almost 470 kilometers (292 mi) of track. Twenty-odd lines run across the city with additional lines opened on special occasions (such as All-Saints Day).

Main article: Warsaw Metro

See also Warsaw Trolleybuses for the history of this type of transport. Trolleybuses no longer operate in Warsaw.

The first railway opened in Warsaw in 1845 (the Warsaw-Vienna Railway). Nowadays Warsaw is one of the main railway hubs in Poland.

The main railway station is Warszawa Centralna serving both domestic traffic to almost every major city in Poland, and international connections mainly to Germany, Czech Republic and former Soviet Union countries. There are also 5 other major railway stations and a number of smaller suburban stations.

The main railway line crosses the city in a tunnel (tunel średnicowy) approximately 2.2 kilometers (1.4 mi) long and running directly under the city centre. It is part of an east-west line connecting the Warszawa Zachodnia, Warszawa Centralna and Warszawa Wschodnia stations through the tunnel and a railway bridge over the Vistula River.

The principal railway stations are:

Main article: Sports in Warsaw

Legia Warszawa — men's football team (est. 1916), (Polish Champion: 1955, 1956, 1969, 1970, 1993,1994, 1995, 2002, 2006; Polish Cup winner: 1955, 1956, 1964, 1966, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1995, 1997; Polish SuperCup winner: 1989, 1994, 1997; 1st league in 2006/2007 season)
Polonia Warszawa — men's football team (est. 1911), (Polish Champion: 1948, 2000; Polish Cup winner: 1952, 2001; Polish SuperCup winner: 2000; 2nd league in 2006/2007 season)

From 1833 to the outbreak of World War II, Plac Teatralny (Theatre Square) was the country's cultural hub and home to the various theatres.

The main building housed the Teatr Wielki from 1833–4, the Rozmaitości Theatre from 1836 to 1924 and then the National Theatre, the Reduta Theatre from 1919 to 1924, and from 1928 to 1939 — the Nowy Theatre, which staged productions of contemporary poetical drama, including those directed by Leon Schiller.

Teatr Wielki, home of National Theatre and Opera
Teatr Wielki, home of National Theatre and Opera

Nearby, in Ogród Saski (Saxon Garden), the Summer Theatre was in operation from 1870 to 1939, and in the inter-war period, the theatre complex also included Momus, Warsaw's first literary cabaret, and Leon Schiller's musical theatre Melodram. The Wojciech Bogusławski Theatre (1922–6), was the best example of "Polish monumental theatre". From the mid-1930s, the Teatr Wielki building housed the State Institute of Dramatic Arts — the first state-run academy of dramatic art, with an Acting Department and a Stage Directing Department.

Plac Teatralny and its environs was the venue for numerous parades, celebrations of state holidays, carnival balls, and concerts.

Warsaw is home to over 30 major theatres spread throughout the city, including the National Theatre (founded in 1765) and the Grand Theatre in Warsaw ([6]) (established 1778).

Warsaw also attracts many young and off-stream directors and performers who add to the city's theatre culture. Their productions may be viewed mostly in smaller theatres and Houses of Culture (Domy Kultury), mostly outside Śródmieście (downtown Warsaw). Warsaw hosts the International Theatrical Meetings.

Thanks to numerous musical venues, including the Teatr Wielki, the Polish National Opera, the Chamber Opera, the National Philharmonic Hall and the National Theatre, as well as the Roma and Buffo music theatres and the Congress Hall in the Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw hosts many events and festivals. Among the events worth particular attention are: the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition, the International Contemporary Music Festival Warsaw Autumn, the Jazz Jamboree, Warsaw Summer Jazz Days, the International Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition, the Mozart Festival, and the Festival of Old Music.

There are many museums and art galleries in Warsaw, the most notable are the Muzeum Narodowe, Zachęta Art Gallery, Centre for Contemporary Art, Museum of the Polish Army and the Warsaw Uprising Museum. The biggest of them, the Warsaw National Museum has numerous subsidiaries located in various parts of Warsaw, in particular in the Royal Castle and the Wilanów Palace.

Since World War II Warsaw has been the second most important centre of film production in Poland. It has also been featured in numerous movies, both Polish and foreign, for example Kanał and Korczak by Andrzej Wajda, Eroica by Andrzej Munk, The Decalogue by Krzysztof Kieślowski, Miś by Stanisław Bareja and The Pianist by Roman Polański.

Main gate of Warsaw University
Main gate of Warsaw University
Warsaw University old library building
Warsaw University old library building
For a full list of Warsaw-based institutions of higher education see: Education in Warsaw

Warsaw is one of the most important education centers of Poland. It is home to four major universities and over 62 smaller schools of higher education. The most important are:

See also: List of universities in Poland

The overall number of students of all grades of education in Warsaw is almost 500,000 (29% of the city population; 2002). The number of university students is over 255,000.

In 2007 Warsaw was ranked [1] the 67th world's most expensive city to live in. It was classified as a gamma world city (also known as a 'minor world city') on par with cities such as Rome and Beijing by Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Study Group and Network from Loughborough University.[2]

Warsaw skyscrapers
Warsaw skyscrapers
Złote Tarasy shopping center
Złote Tarasy shopping center

Warsaw, especially its city center (Śródmieście), is home not only to many national institutions and government agencies, but also to many domestic and international companies. In 2003, 268,307 companies were registered in the city. Foreign investors' financial participation in the city's development was estimated in 2002 at over 650 million euro. Warsaw produces more than 15% of Poland's national income. The GDP (PPP) per capita in Warsaw was about $28,000 in 2005.

At the same time the unemployment rate is one of the lowest in Poland, not exceeding 3%, according to the official figures.

The city itself collects around 8,740,882,000 złotys in taxes and direct government grants.

It has been said that Warsaw, together with Frankfurt, London and Paris, is one of the tallest cities in Europe. 11 of the tallest skyscrapers in Poland, 9 of which are office buildings, are located in Warsaw. The tallest structure, the centrally located Palace of Culture and Science, is the 4th tallest building in the European Union.

Warsaw hosts the headquarters of Frontex, the EU's border control agency.

Although Warsaw was home to a stock exchange since 1817, in 1945, because of political changes after World War II, it could not be recreated. It only started operating again in April 1991, after the reintroduction of the free-market economy. It is now the biggest stock exchange in the country, with more than 300 companies listed. Oddly enough, from 1991 until 2000 the stock exchange was situated in the building previously used as the headquarters of the PZPR (Polish Communist Party).

During Warsaw's reconstruction after World War II, the communist authorities decided that the city would become a major industrial center. Numerous large factories were built in the city or just outside it. The largest were the Huta Warszawa Steel Works and two car factories.

As the communist economy deteriorated, these factories lost significance and most went bankrupt after 1989. Today, the Arcelor Warszawa Steel Mill (formerly Huta Warszawa) is the only major factory remaining. The FSO car factory produces cars mostly for export.

Łazienki Park and the Fryderyk Chopin monument.
Łazienki Park and the Fryderyk Chopin monument.
Skyscrapers of Warsaw
Skyscrapers of Warsaw
  • Warsaw's oldest public park, the Ogród Saski, is located within 10 minutes' walk from the old town.
  • The Powązki Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in Europe,[citation needed] full of sculptures, some of them by the most renowned Polish artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Since it serves the religious communities of Warsaw, be it Catholics, Jews, Muslims or Protestants, it is often called a necropolis. Nearby is the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery, one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe.
  • To the north of the city centre is the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto.
  • The borough of Żoliborz is famous for its architecture from the 1920s and 1930s. Between Żoliborz and the Vistula is the Warsaw Citadel, a monument of 19th century military architecture.
A panorama of modern Warsaw, taken from Pole Mokotowskie
A panorama of modern Warsaw, taken from Pole Mokotowskie

Royal Castle as seen from the bank of Vistula river
Royal Castle as seen from the bank of Vistula river
Further information: Category:People from Warsaw

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  1. ^ Economist Intelligence Unit report [1] retrieved 15 June 2007
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ ATLAS — Warsaw [3] retrieved 24 October 2007

Warsaw by night
Warsaw by night


Warsaw in the European Union