The Capital City of Warsaw Miasto Stołeczne Warszawa
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Semper invicta  ("Always invincible")
The Capital City of Warsaw
Coordinates: 52°13′56.28″N 21°00′30.36″E / 52.2323, 21.0084333
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Masovian
County	city county
City rights	turn of the 13th century
Boroughs	18 districts Bemowo Białołęka Bielany Mokotów Ochota Praga North Praga South Rembertów Śródmieście Targówek Ursus Ursynów Wawer Wesoła Wilanów Włochy Wola Żoliborz
Government
- Mayor	Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (PO)
Area
- City	517 km² (199.6 sq mi)
- Metro	6,100.43 km² (2,355.4 sq mi)
Elevation	100 m (328 ft)
Population (2007)
- City	1 706 624
- Density	3,291/km² (8,523.7/sq mi)
- Metro	3,350,000
- Metro Density	549.14/km² (1,422.3/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: http://www.um.warszawa.pl/

Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa [varˈʂava] ( listen); also known by other names) is the capital and largest city of Poland. 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 2007 was estimated at 1,706,624, with a metropolitan area of approximately 3,350,000.^[1] 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).^[2] Warsaw is the 8th largest city in the European Union.

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

[edit] Etymology

An older spelling of Warsaw in Polish is Warszewa or Warszowa, meaning "owned by Warsz".^[3] Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman Wars and his wife Sawa.^[4] Actually, Warsz was a 12th/13th century nobleman 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).^[6] 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.

[edit] Geography

[edit] Location

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.

[edit] Climate

Warsaw's climate is continental humid. The average temperature is −2 ℃ (28 ℉) 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.

Weather averages for Warsaw
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	0 (33)	1 (34)	6 (44)	12 (54)	18 (65)	21 (70)	22 (73)	22 (73)	17 (64)	12 (54)	5 (42)	2 (36)	11 (53)
Average low °C (°F)	-4 (24)	-4 (24)	-1 (31)	3 (37)	8 (47)	11 (52)	13 (55)	12 (54)	8 (47)	4 (40)	1 (33)	-2 (27)	3 (39)
Precipitation cm (inches)	2.8 (1.1)	2.6 (1)	3 (1.2)	3.8 (1.5)	5 (2)	6.6 (2.6)	7.6 (3)	7.1 (2.8)	4.6 (1.8)	4 (1.6)	3.8 (1.5)	3.6 (1.4)	54.9 (21.6)
Source: Weatherbase[7] 2008-02-11

[edit] Districts

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.^[8] Each of the boroughs includes several neighbourhoods which have no legal or administrative status. Warsaw has two historic districts, called Old Town (Stare Miasto) and New Town (Nowe Miasto) in the borough of Śródmieście.^[9]

[edit] Cityscape

Warsaw's mixture of architectural styles reflects the turbulent history of the city and country. During World War II, Warsaw was razed to the ground by bombing raids and planned destruction.^[10] After liberation, rebuilding began as in other cities of the communist-ruled PRL. Most of historical buildings were thoroughly reconstructed. However, some of the buildings from 19th century, preserved in reconstructible form were eradicated in the 1950s and 1960s (e.g. Leopold Kronenberg Palace).^[11] Mass residential blocks were erected, with basic design typical of Eastern bloc countries.

Public spaces attract heavy investment, so that the city has gained entirely new squares, parks and monuments. Warsaw's current urban landscape is one of modern and contemporary architecture.

A panorama of modern Warsaw, taken from Pole Mokotowskie

[edit] History

Main article: History of Warsaw

[edit] Early history

1411 St. Mary's Church in Warsaw New Town.

The first fortified settlements on the site of today's Warsaw were Bródno (9th/10th century) and Jazdów (12th/13th century).^[13] After Jazdów was raided, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa. The Płock prince Bolesław II of Masovia, established this settlement, the modern Warsaw, about 1300. The first historical document attesting to the existence of a Warsaw castellan dates to 1313.^[14] Fuller information about the age of the city is contained in the court case against the Teutonic Knights which took place in Warsaw cathedral in 1339.^[14] 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.^[13] Fourteenth-century Warsaw's economy rested on crafts and trade. The townsmen, of uniform natonality at the time, were marked by a great disparity in their financial status.^[14] At the top were the rich patricians while the plebeians formed the lower strata.^[14] Upon the extinction of the local ducal line, the duchy was reincorporated into the Polish Crown in 1526.^[13]

[edit] 16th to 18th century

This differentiation and the growing social contrasts resulted in 1525 in the first revolt of the poor of Warsaw against the rich and the authority they exercised.^[14] As a result of this struggle the so-called third order was admitted to the city authorities and shared power with the bodies formed by the patricians: the council and the assessors.^[14] The story of Warsaw populace's struggle for social liberation dates from that first demonstration in 1525.^[14]

In 1529, Warsaw for the first time became the seat of the General Sejm, permanent since 1569.^[13] 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.^[13] At the time of the transformation of Warsaw from one of the main Polish towns into the country's capital, it already numbered some 14,000 inhabitants. The old walled city had 169 houses; the new Warsaw outside the walls numbered 204 houses, while the suburbs had as many as 320.^[14]

Battle of Warsaw in 1656.

In the following years the town expanded towards the suburbs. Several private independent districts were established, the property of aristocrats and the gentry, which were ruled by their own laws. They were settled by craftsmen and tradesmen.^[14] The peak of their development came in the wake of Warsaw's revival after the Swedish invasion which had seriously ravaged the city.^[14] Three times between 1655-1658 the city was under siege and three times it was taken and pillaged by the Swedish, Brandenburgian and Transylvanian forces.^[13][15] The mid-17th century architecture of the Old and New Towns survived until Nazi invasion.^[14] The style was late Renaissance with Gothic ground floors preserved from the fire of 1607.^[14] In the 17th and early part of the 18th century, during the rule of the great nobles oligarchy, magnificent Baroque residences rose all around Warsaw.^[14]

In 1700, the Great Northern War broke out. The city was besieged several times. In 1702 Warsaw was captured by the Swedish troops under King Charles XII.^[16] The city suffered severely from the Swedish occupation. On September 1, 1704 Warsaw was retaken by Saxon Army of Augustus the Strong after five days of a severe artillery bombardment.^[12][17] In 1704, after the escape of Augustus, the Swedes installed Stanisław Leszczyński on Polish throne.^[16] It compelled Augustus to introduce Poland to war alongside with Russia (alliance was concluded in Narva summer 1704). On 21 October 1705 Saxon-Russian army laid siege to the city.^[12][17] In 1707, by virtue of the peace treaty between Augustus II and Charles XII, Russian allied troops entered Warsaw.^[12] After two months, Russian forces were removed from Warsaw. Several times during that war the city was obliged to pay heavy contributions.^[12]

The second half of the 18th and first half of the 19th century marked a new and characteristic stage in the development of the city.^[14] Warsaw turned into an early-capitalistic principal city. The growth of political activity, development of progressive ideas, political and economic changes – all this exercised an impact on the formation of the city whose architecture began to reflect the contemporary aspirations and trends.^[14]

Religion was an element of Russification in the Russian Empire. This Roman Catholic Church in Warsaw was seized and converted into a Russian Orthodox Church while Warsaw was a part of the Russian Empire.

The composition of the Warsaw population altered during the Enlightenment. Factories developed, the number of workers increased, the class of merchants, industrialists and financiers expanded.^[14] At the same time there was a strong migration of peasants from the rural areas.^[14] In 1792, Warsaw had 115,000 inhabitants as compared with 24,000 in 1754.^[14] These changes brought about the development of the building trade. New noblemen's residences were put up, the middle ciass built its own houses which showed a marked social ditferentiation.^[14] The residences of the representatives of the wealthiest stratum – the big merchants aud bankers – matched those of the magnates.^[14] A new type of city dwellings developed, catering to the needs and tastes of the bourgeoisie. The artistic medium for all these buildings was that of antiquity, which, although its different social origin was not analyzed at the time, expressed the progressive ideas of the Enhightenment.^[14]

[edit] 19th to 20th century

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 1806, Warsaw was made the capital of the newly created Duchy of Warsaw.^[13] Following the Congress of Vienna of 1815, Warsaw became the center of the Congress Poland, a constitutional monarchy under a personal union with Imperial Russia.^[13] 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.^[13] 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.^[13]

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.^[19] Poland stopped on itself the full brunt of the Red Army and defeated an idea of the "export of the revolution."^[20][21]

[edit] World War II

Over eight out of every ten buildings in Warsaw were destroyed by the end of World War II.

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.^[22] When the order came to annihilate the Ghetto as part of Hitler's "Final Solution" on April 19, 1943, Jewish fighters launched the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.^[23] Despite being heavily outgunned and outnumbered, the Ghetto held out for almost a month.^[23] When the fighting ended, almost all survivors were massacred, only few managed to escape or hide.^[23][24]

By July 1944, the Red Army was deep into Polish territory and pursuing the Germans toward Warsaw.^[10] Knowing that Stalin was hostile to the idea of an independent Poland, the Polish government-in-exile in London gave orders to the underground Home Army (AK) to try to seize the control of Warsaw from the Germans before the Red Army arrived. Thus, on 1 August 1944, as the Red Army was nearing the city, the Warsaw Uprising began.^[10] The armed struggle, planned to last 48 hours, went on for 63 days. Eventually the Home Army fighters and civilians assisting them were forced to capitulate.^[10] They were transported to the PoW camps in Germany, while the entire civilian population was expelled.^[10]

Historical buildings reconstructed after World War II (2006).

Hitler, ignoring the agreed terms of the capitulation, ordered the entire city to be razed to the ground and the library and museum collections taken to Germany or burned.^[10] Monuments and government buildings were blown up by special German troops known as Verbrennungs und Vernichtungskommando ("Burning and Destruction Detachments").^[10] About 85% of the city had been destroyed, including the historic Old Town and the Royal Castle.^[25]

On January 17, 1945 - after the beginning of the Vistula–Oder Offensive of the Red Army - Soviet troops entered the ruins of the city of Warsaw, and liberated Warsaw's suburbs from German occupation. The city was swiftly taken by the Soviet Army, which rapidly advanced towards Łódź, as German forces regrouped at a more westward position.

[edit] Modern times

Most of the city was destroyed during World War II. Next to the remnants of Gothic architecture the ruins of splendid edificies from the time of the Congress Poland and ferroconcrete relics of prewar bilding jutted out of the of rubble.^[14]

After the war, 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.^[26]

In 1995, the Warsaw Metro opened. With the entry of Poland into the European Union in 2004, Warsaw is currently experiencing the biggest economic boom of its history.^[27] The opening match of UEFA Euro 2012 is scheduled to take place in Warsaw.^[28]

1573

1617

1656

1770

[edit] Demographics

Historically, Warsaw has been a destination for internal and foreign immigration, especially from Central and Eastern Europe. For nearly 300 years it was known as the "Old Paris" or "Second Paris". It was always a centre of European culture, existed as a major European city, and was a destination for many Europeans. Demographically it was the most diverse city in Poland, with as much as 20% of its population being either Jewish (Warsaw's prewar Jewish population of more than 350,000 constituted about 30 percent of the city's total population)^[29] 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.^[29] Most of the modern day population growth is based on internal migration and urbanization.

Population 1880–2006

Comparison of Warsaw's city boundaries today and in 1939.

[edit] Municipal government

Belweder.

The rococo Branicki Palace houses the city government.

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 current President of Warsaw is Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz.

[edit] Politics

The Sejm building.

Main article: Members of Sejm from Warsaw constituency

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.

[edit] Transport

Although many streets were widened, and new ones created, during rebuilding of Warsaw in 1950s, the city is currently plagued with traffic problems.^[31] Public transport in Warsaw is ubiquitous, serving the city with buses, tramways, and metro.

[edit] Roads and highways

The city center.

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 planned to run approximately 10 kilometers (6 mi) from the city centre through the city streets and across two new bridges.^[32] The other is planned to become a part of both the A-2 motorway (itself a part of the European route E30 from Cork to Moscow) and the S-7 (Gdańsk–Kraków) express road, and will run through a tunnel under the southern area of Ursynów.^[32] It is to be completed between 2010 and 2012.

[edit] Airports

Terminal 2 façade.

Warsaw has one international airport, Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport (usually referred to as Okęcie airport), located just 10 kilometers (6 mi) from the city centre.^[33] With over 70 international and domestic flights a day and with over 9,268,551 passengers served in 2007, it is by far the biggest airport in Poland.^[33] Immediately adjacent to the main terminal complex Terminal 1, is the Etiuda terminal, serving routes flown by low-cost carriers.^[33] A new Terminal 2 has been opened in March 2008 in order to alleviate current overcrowding, and to extend the airport's capacity by another 6 million passengers. Terminal 2 servers domestic and international flights operated only by Star Alliance carriers.

There are plans to convert the disused military Modlin Airport, 35 kilometers (22 mi) north of the city centre, into Warsaw's second airport, mainly for low-cost carriers.^[34] It will not be ready for use before 2010 at the earliest.

There also are long-term plans to build an entirely new international airport. Its location is yet to be decided.

[edit] Public transport

Świętokrzyski Bridge.

Public transport in Warsaw includes, buses, trams (streetcars), metro, light rail Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa line and regional rail,^[35] all managed by ZTM (Zarząd Transportu Miejskiego, the Warsaw Transport Authority). Regional rail is operated by Szybka Kolej Miejska (Fast Urban Rail) and Koleje Mazowieckie (Mazovian Railoads). There are also some suburban bus lines run by private operators.^[36]

There are three tourist routes: "T", a vintage tram running in July and August; bus "100" which runs on weekends and which operates the only double-decker bus owned by the city; and the "180" bus, a regular scheduled service that follows the "Royal Route" from the War Cemetery in the North, near the Old Town and down city's most prestigious thoroughfares – Krakowskie Przedmieście, Nowy Świat and Aleje Ujazdowskie – and terminating at Wilanów Palace.

[edit] Buses

Bus service covers the entire city, with approximately 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.

[edit] Trams

Main article: Warsaw tram system

A modern tram in Warsaw.

Plac Wilsona metro station.

The first tram (streetcar) line in Warsaw was opened on 11 December 1866.^[37] The last horse-drawn tram ran on 26 March 1908.^[37] In the period between the world wars, the tram network was extended significantly. After the German invasion of September 1939 the service was halted for approximately three months due to war damage, but the trams were back in service by 1940.^[37] In 1941 the present colors of the cars were introduced (yellow and red, in the colors of the Flag of Warsaw. Previously, trams were painted either white and red, or entirely red).

During the Warsaw Uprising, the tram system was destroyed. The first tram line was reopened on 20 June 1945. Following the Second World War, the tram network in Warsaw underwent fast development.^[37] The tracks reached all the principal parts of the city. However, in the 1960s, the official policy of both Polish and Soviet authorities promoted the use of Soviet oil; hence more buses were purchased and the tram network was shortened.

Currently, the Tramwaje Warszawskie company runs 863 cars on over 240 kilometers (149 mi) of tracks. Twenty-odd lines run across the city with additional lines opened on special occasions (such as All-Saints Day).

[edit] Metro

Main article: Warsaw Metro

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

[edit] Railway

Main article: Warsaw Railway Junction

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 five other major railway stations and a number of smaller suburban stations.

The main railway line crosses the city in a tunnel (tunel średnic