Katowice

Katowice (UK: /ˌkætəˈviːtsə/ KAT-ə-VEET-sə,^[3] US: /ˌkɑːt-/ KAHT-,^[4] Polish: [katɔˈvitsɛ] (listen))^[a] is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland, and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th-most populous city in Poland, while its urban area is the most populous in the country and one of the most populous in the EU.

As of December 31, 2020 estimate, Katowice has a population of 290,553. Katowice is a central part of the Metropolis GZM, with a population of 2.3 million, and a part of a larger Upper Silesian metropolitan area that extends into the Czech Republic and has a population of 5-5.3 million people.^[6][2] Katowice is a center of commerce, business, transportation, and culture in southern Poland, with numerous public companies headquartered in the city or in its suburbs, important cultural institutions such as Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, award-winning music festivals such as Off Festival and Tauron New Music, and transportation infrastructure such as Katowice Korfanty Airport. It also hosts the finals of Intel Extreme Masters, an Esports video game tournament. In 2015, Katowice joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and was named a UNESCO City of Music.^[7] Katowice is also home to a few major universities, with approximately 80,000 students attending.

Throughout the mid-18th century, Katowice developed into a village following the discovery of rich coal reserves in the area. In 1742 the First Silesian War transferred Upper Silesia, including Katowice, to Prussia. In the first half of the 19th century, intensive industrialization transformed local mills and farms into industrial steelworks, mines, foundries and artisan workshops. Following Germany's defeat in World War I and the Silesian Uprisings, Katowice and parts of Upper Silesia were reintegrated with the reborn Polish Republic.^[8] The city became the capital of the autonomous Silesian Voivodeship. During World War II, in 1939, after the Wehrmacht seized the town, Katowice and the provinces were annexed and occupied by Nazi Germany. The city was eventually liberated by the Soviet army on 27 January 1945,^[9] and restored to Poland.

Since 2020, the city has been classified as a Gamma - global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network^[10] and is considered as an emerging metropolis.^[11] The whole metropolitan area is the 16th most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union with an output amounting to $114.5 billion.^[12]

The area around Katowice, in Upper Silesia, has been inhabited by ethnic Silesian tribes from its earliest documented history.^[13] While the name Katowice (Katowicze) is mentioned for the first time in 1598, other villages and settlements that would eventually become parts of modern Katowice have been established earlier, with Dąb being the oldest, mentioned in 1299 for the first time in a document issued by Duke Casimir of Bytom. Bogucice, Ligota, Szopenice and Podlesie were all established in early 14th century. Aside from farming, people living in the area would also work in hammer mills: the first one, Kuźnica Bogucka, is mentioned in 1397.

The area which would become Katowice was initially ruled by the Polish Silesian Piast dynasty until its extinction.^[14] From 1327, the region was under administration of the Kingdom of Bohemia under the Holy Roman Empire. As part of the Bohemian Crown, it was passed to the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526.^[15] In 1742, along with most of Silesia, it was seized by Prussia following the First Silesian War. The two subsequent Silesian Wars left the area severely depopulated and with economy in ruins. In 1838, Franz von Winckler bought Katowice from Karl Friedrich Lehmann and in 1841, he made it the headquarters of his estate.^[16]