Warsaw Warszawa (Polish)
Capital city and county
Capital City of Warsaw Polish: miasto stołeczne Warszawa
The Downtown district Royal Castle and Sigismund's Column Nicolaus Copernicus Monument Łazienki Park Main Market Square Royal Route Warsaw Old Town Wilanów Palace
Flag Coat of arms Brandmark
Nickname:  Phoenix City[1]
Motto:  Semper invicta  (Latin "Ever invincible")
Show Warsaw Show Masovian Voivodeship Show Poland Show Europe
Coordinates: 52°13′48″N 21°00′40″E / 52.23000°N 21.01111°E / 52.23000; 21.01111
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Masovian
County	City county
Founded	13th century
City rights	1323
City Hall	Commission Palace
Districts	18 districts
Government
• Type	Mayor–council government
• Body	Warsaw City Council
• City mayor	Rafał Trzaskowski (KO)
• Sejm of Poland	20 members
• EP	Warsaw constituency
Area
• Capital city and county	517.24 km2 (199.71 sq mi)
• Metro	6,100.43 km2 (2,355.39 sq mi)
Elevation	78–116 m (328 ft)
Population  (2023)
• Capital city and county	1,863,056 (1st)[2]
• Rank	1st in Poland 7th in European Union
• Density	3,601/km2 (9,330/sq mi)
• Metro	3,269,510[3]
• Metro density	509.1/km2 (1,319/sq mi)
Demonym	Varsovian
GDP [4][5]
• Capital city and county	€77.957 billion (2021)
• Metro	€114.436 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	00-001 to 04-999
Area code	+48 22
City budget	zł 24.368 billion (€5.4 billion)[6]
International airports	Chopin (WAW) Modlin (WMI) (not in Warsaw)
Rapid transit system	Metro
Website	warszawa.pl
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Historic Centre of Warsaw
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, vi
Designated	1980 (4th session)
Reference no.	30
UNESCO region	Europe

Warsaw,^[a] officially the Capital City of Warsaw,^[7][b] is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at 1.86 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of 3.27 million residents, which makes Warsaw the 7th most-populous city in the European Union.^[2] The city area measures 517 km² (200 sq mi) and comprises 18 districts, while the metropolitan area covers 6,100 km² (2,355 sq mi).^[8] Warsaw is an alpha global city,^[9] a major cultural, political and economic hub, and the country's seat of government. It is also capital of the Masovian Voivodeship.

Warsaw traces its origins to a small fishing town in Masovia. The city rose to prominence in the late 16th century, when Sigismund III decided to move the Polish capital and his royal court from Kraków. Warsaw served as the de facto capital of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1795, and subsequently as the seat of Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. The 19th century and its Industrial Revolution brought a demographic boom which made it one of the largest and most densely populated cities in Europe. Known then for its elegant architecture and boulevards, Warsaw was bombed and besieged at the start of World War II in 1939.^[10][11][12] Much of the historic city was destroyed and its diverse population decimated by the Ghetto Uprising in 1943, the general Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and systematic razing.

Warsaw is served by two international airports, the busiest being Warsaw Chopin as well as the smaller Warsaw Modlin intended for low-cost carriers. Major public transport services operating in the city include the Warsaw Metro, buses, commuter rail service and an extensive tram network. The city is a significant centre of research and development, business process outsourcing, and information technology outsourcing. The Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe.^[13][14] Frontex, the European Union agency for external border security, and ODIHR, one of the principal institutions of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, have their headquarters in Warsaw. As of 2022, Warsaw has one of the highest number of skyscrapers in Europe while Varso Place is the tallest building in the European Union.

The city is home to renowned universities such as the University of Warsaw, the Warsaw University of Technology, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Chopin University of Music and Kozminski University. It also hosts the Polish Academy of Sciences, National Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Museum, Zachęta Art Gallery and the Warsaw Grand Theatre, the largest of its kind in the world.^[15] The reconstructed Old Town, which represents examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period,^[16] was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1980. Other architectural attractions include the Royal Castle, Sigismund's Column, the Wilanów Palace, the Palace on the Isle, St. John's Archcathedral, Main Market Square, and numerous churches and mansions along the Royal Route. The Warsaw Zoo is among the largest and most-visited zoological gardens in the country. The city possesses thriving arts and club scenes, gourmet restaurants and large urban green spaces, with around a quarter of the city's area occupied by parks.^[17][18] In sports, the city is known as the home of the top-tier football club Legia Warsaw, the Warsaw Marathon and Poland's national football stadium Stadion Narodowy.

Toponymy and names

Warsaw's name in the Polish language is Warszawa. Other previous spellings of the name may have included: Warszewa, Warszowa, Worszewa or Werszewa.^[19][20] The exact origin and meaning of the name is uncertain and has not been fully determined.^[21][22] Originally, Warszawa was the name of a small fishing settlement on the banks of the Vistula river. One theory states that Warszawa means "belonging to Warsz", Warsz being a shortened form of the masculine Old Polish name Warcisław, which etymologically is linked with Wrocław.^[23] However the ending -awa is unusual for a large city; the names of Polish cities derived from personal names usually end in -ów/owo/ew/ewo (e.g. Piotrków, Adamów).

Folk etymology attributes the city name to Wars and Sawa. There are several versions of the legend with their appearance. According to one version, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula with whom fisherman Wars fell in love.^[24][25] The official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa ("The Capital City of Warsaw").^[26]

A native or resident of Warsaw is known as a Varsovian – in Polish warszawiak, warszawianin (male), warszawianka (female), warszawiacy, and warszawianie (plural).

History

1300–1800

The first fortified settlements on the site of today's Warsaw were located in Bródno (9th/10th century) and Jazdów (12th/13th century).^[27] After Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new fortified settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called "Warszowa". The Prince of Płock, Bolesław II of Masovia, established the modern-day city in about 1300 and the first historical document attesting to the existence of a castellany dates to 1313.^[28] With the completion of St John's Cathedral in 1390, Warsaw became one of the seats of the Dukes of Masovia and was officially made capital of the Masovian Duchy in 1413.^[27] The economy then predominantly rested on craftsmanship or trade, and the town housed approximately 4,500 people at the time.

During the 15th century, the population migrated and spread beyond the northern city wall into a newly formed self-governing precinct called New Town. The existing older settlement became eventually known as the Old Town. Both possessed their own town charter and independent councils. The aim of establishing a separate district was to accommodate new incomers or "undesirables" who were not permitted to settle in Old Town, particularly Jews.^[29] Social and financial disparities between the classes in the two precincts led to a minor revolt in 1525.^[28] Following the sudden death of Janusz III and the extinction of the local ducal line, Masovia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland in 1526.^[27] Bona Sforza, wife of Sigismund I of Poland, was widely accused of poisoning the duke to uphold Polish rule over Warsaw.^[30][31]

In 1529, Warsaw for the first time became the seat of a General Sejm and held that privilege permanently from 1569.^[27] The city's rising importance encouraged the construction of a new set of defenses, including the landmark Barbican. Renowned Italian architects were brought to Warsaw to reshape the Royal Castle, the streets and the marketplace, resulting in the Old Town's early Italianate appearance. In 1573, the city gave its name to the Warsaw Confederation which formally established religious freedom in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Due to its central location between the capitals of the Commonwealth's two component parts, Poland and Lithuania, which were Kraków and Vilnius respectively, Warsaw became the capital of the Commonwealth and the Polish Crown when Sigismund III Vasa transferred his royal court in 1596.^[27] In the subsequent years the town significantly expanded to the south and westwards. Several private independent districts (jurydyka) were the property of aristocrats and the gentry, which they ruled by their own laws. Between 1655 and 1658 the city was besieged and pillaged by the Swedish, Brandenburgian and Transylvanian forces.^[27][32] The conduct of the Great Northern War (1700–1721) also forced Warsaw to pay heavy tributes to the invading armies.^[33]

The reign of Augustus II and Augustus III was a time of great development for Warsaw, which turned into an early-capitalist city. The Saxon monarchs employed many German architects, sculptors and engineers, who rebuilt the city in a style similar to Dresden. The year 1727 marked the opening of the Saxon Garden in Warsaw, the first publicly accessible park.^[34] The Załuski Library, the first Polish public library and the largest at the time, was founded in 1747.^[35] Stanisław II Augustus, who remodelled the interior of the Royal Castle, also made Warsaw a centre of culture and the arts.^[36][37] He extended the Royal Baths Park and ordered the construction or refurbishment of numerous palaces, mansions and richly-decorated tenements. This earned Warsaw the nickname Paris of the North.^[38]

Warsaw remained the capital of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1795 when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the third and final partition of Poland;^[39] it subsequently became the capital of the province of South Prussia. During this time, Louis XVIII of France spent his exile in Warsaw under the pseudonym Comte de Lille.^[40]

1800–1939

Warsaw was made the capital of a newly created French client state, known as the Duchy of Warsaw, after a portion of Poland's territory was liberated from Prussia, Russia and Austria by Napoleon in 1806.^[27] Following Napoleon's defeat and exile, the 1815 Congress of Vienna assigned Warsaw to Congress Poland, a constitutional monarchy within the easternmost sector (or partition) under a personal union with Imperial Russia.^[27] The Royal University of Warsaw was established in 1816.

With the violation of the Polish constitution, the 1830 November Uprising broke out against foreign influence. The Polish-Russian war of 1831 ended in the uprising's defeat and in the curtailment of Congress Poland's autonomy.^[27] On 27 February 1861, a Warsaw crowd protesting against Russian control over Congress Poland was fired upon by Russian troops.^[41][42] Five people were killed. The Underground Polish National Government resided in Warsaw during the January Uprising in 1863–64.^[42]

Warsaw flourished throughout the 19th century under Mayor Sokrates Starynkiewicz (1875–92), who was appointed by 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 modernisation of trams, street lighting, and gas infrastructure.^[27] Between 1850 and 1882, the population grew by 134% to 383,000 as a result of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. Many migrated from surrounding rural Masovian towns and villages to the city for employment opportunities. The western borough of Wola was transformed from an agricultural periphery occupied mostly by small farms and windmills (mills being the namesake of Wola's central neighbourhood Młynów) to an industrial and manufacturing centre.^[43] Metallurgical, textile and glassware factories were commonplace, with chimneys dominating the westernmost skyline.^[44]

Marszałkowska Street as it appeared in 1912

Warsaw National Philharmonic in 1918

Like London, Warsaw's population was subjected to income segmentation. Gentrification of inner suburbs forced poorer residents to move across the river into Praga or Powiśle and Solec districts, similar to the East End of London and London Docklands.^[45] Poorer religious and ethnic minorities, such as the Jews, settled in the crowded parts of northern Warsaw, in Muranów.^[46] The Imperial Census of 1897 recorded 626,000 people living in Warsaw, making it the third-largest city of the Empire after St. Petersburg and Moscow as well as the largest city in the region.^[47] Grand architectural complexes and structures were also erected in the city centre, including the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Church of the Holiest Saviour and tenements along Marszałkowska Street.

During World War I, Warsaw was occupied by Germany from 4 August 1915 until November 1918. The Armistice of 11 November 1918 concluded that defeated Germany is to withdraw from all foreign areas, which included Warsaw.^[48] Germany did so, and underground leader Józef Piłsudski returned to Warsaw on the same day which marked the beginning of the Second Polish Republic, the first truly sovereign Polish state after 1795. In the course of the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921), the 1920 Battle of Warsaw was fought on the eastern outskirts of the city. Poland successfully defended the capital, stopped the brunt of the Bolshevik Red Army and temporarily halted the "export of the communist revolution" to other parts of Europe.^[49]

The interwar period (1918–1939) was a time of major development in the city's infrastructure. New modernist housing estates were built in Mokotów to de-clutter the densely populated inner suburbs. In 1921, Warsaw's total area was estimated at only 124.7 km² with 1 million inhabitants–over 8,000 people/km² made Warsaw more densely populated than contemporary London.^[50] The Średnicowy Bridge was constructed for railway (1921–1931), connecting both parts of the city across the Vistula. Warszawa Główna railway station (1932–1939) was not completed due to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Stefan Starzyński was the Mayor of Warsaw between 1934 and 1939.

Second World War

After the German Invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 started the Second World War, Warsaw was defended until 27 September. Central Poland, including Warsaw, came under the rule of the General Government, a German Nazi colonial administration. All higher education institutions were immediately closed and Warsaw's entire Jewish population – several hundred thousand, some 30% of the city – were herded into the Warsaw Ghetto.^[52] In July 1942, the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto began to be deported en masse to the Aktion Reinhard extermination camps, particularly Treblinka.^[52] The city would become the centre of urban resistance to Nazi rule in occupied Europe.^[53] When the order came to annihilate the ghetto as part of Hitler's "Final Solution" on 19 April 1943, Jewish fighters launched the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.^[54] Despite being heavily outgunned and outnumbered, the ghetto held out for almost a month.^[54] When the fighting ended, almost all survivors were massacred, with only a few managing to escape or hide.^[54][55]

By July 1944, the Red Army was deep into Polish territory and pursuing the Nazis toward Warsaw.^[57] The Polish government-in-exile in London gave orders to the underground Home Army (AK) to try to seize control of Warsaw before the Red Army arrived. Thus, on 1 August 1944, as the Red Army was nearing the city, the Warsaw uprising began.^[57] The armed struggle, planned to last 48 hours, was partially successful, however, it went on for 63 days. Eventually, the Home Army fighters and civilians assisting them were forced to capitulate.^[57] They were transported to PoW camps in Germany, while the entire civilian population was expelled.^[57] Polish civilian deaths are estimated at between 150,000 and 200,000.^[58]

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.^[57] Monuments and government buildings were blown up by special German troops known as Verbrennungs- und Vernichtungskommando ("Burning and Destruction Detachments").^[57] About 85% of the city was destroyed, including the historic Old Town and the Royal Castle.^[59]

On 17 January 1945 – after the beginning of the Vistula–Oder Offensive of the Red Army – Soviet troops and Polish troops of the First Polish Army entered the ruins of Warsaw, and liberated Warsaw's suburbs from German occupation.^[60] The city was swiftly taken by the Soviet Army, which rapidly advanced towards Łódź, as German forces regrouped at a more westward position.

1945–1989

St. Alexander's Church at Three Crosses Square before the war and today - many monuments were rebuilt in a changed form

In 1945, after the bombings, revolts, fighting, and demolition had ended, most of Warsaw lay in ruins. The area of the former ghetto was razed to the ground, with only a sea of rubble remaining. The immense destruction prompted a temporary transfer of the new government and its officials to Łódź, which became the transitional seat of power. Nevertheless, Warsaw officially resumed its role as the capital of Poland and the country's centre of political and economic life.

After World War II, the "Bricks for Warsaw" campaign was initiated and large prefabricated housing projects were erected in Warsaw to address the major housing shortage. Plattenbau-styled apartment buildings were seen as a solution to avoid Warsaw's former density problem and to create more green spaces. Some of the buildings from the 19th century that have survived in a reasonably reconstructible form were nonetheless demolished in the 1950s and 1960s, like the Kronenberg Palace.^[61][62] The Śródmieście (central) region's urban system was completely reshaped; former cobblestone streets were asphalted and significantly widened for traffic use. Many notable streets such as Gęsia, Nalewki and Wielka disappeared as a result of these changes and some were split in half due to the construction of Plac Defilad (Parade Square), one of the largest of its kind in Europe.^[63]

Much of the central district was also designated for future skyscrapers. The 237-metre Palace of Culture and Science resembling New York's Empire State Building was built as a gift from the Soviet Union.^[64] Warsaw's urban landscape is one of modern and contemporary architecture.^[65] Despite wartime destruction and post-war remodelling, many of the historic streets, buildings, and churches were restored to their original form.

John Paul II's visits to his native country in 1979 and 1983 brought support to the budding "Solidarity" movement and encouraged the growing anti-communist fervor there.^[66] In 1979, less than a year after becoming pope, John Paul celebrated Mass in Victory Square in Warsaw and ended his sermon with a call to "renew the face" of Poland.^[66] These words were meaningful for Varsovians and Poles who understood them as the incentive for liberal-democratic reforms.^[66]

1989–present

In 1995, the Warsaw Metro opened with a single line.^[67] A second line was opened in March 2015.^[68] On 28 September 2022, three new Warsaw metro stations were opened, increasing the number of Warsaw Metro stations to 36 and its length to 38.3 kilometers.^[69] In February 2023, Warsaw's mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, announced plans to more than double the size of the city's metro system by 2050.^[70]

With the entry of Poland into the European Union in 2004,^[71][update] Warsaw is experiencing the largest economic boom of its history.^[72] The opening fixture of UEFA Euro 2012 took place in Warsaw^[73] and the city also hosted the 2013 United Nations Climate Change Conference^[74] and the 2016 NATO Summit.^[75] As of August 2022, Warsaw had received around 180,000 refugees from Ukraine, because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The amount means a tenth of the Polish capital's population of 1.8 million — the largest single group of Ukrainian refugees anywhere.^[76]

Geography

Location and topography

Warsaw lies in east-central Poland about 300 km (190 mi) from the Carpathian Mountains and about 260 km (160 mi) from the Baltic Sea, 523 km (325 mi) east of Berlin, Germany.^[77] The city straddles the Vistula River. It is located in the heartland of the Masovian Plain, and its average elevation is 100 m (330 ft) above sea level. The highest point on the left side of the city lies at a height of 115.7 m (380 ft) ("Redutowa" bus depot, district of Wola), on the right side – 122.1 m (401 ft) ("Groszówka" estate, district of Wesoła, by the eastern border). The lowest point lies at a height 75.6 m (248 ft) (at the right bank of the Vistula, by the eastern border of Warsaw). There are some hills (mostly artificial) located within the confines of the city – e.g. Warsaw Uprising Hill (121 m (397 ft)) and Szczęśliwice hill (138 m (453 ft) – the highest point of Warsaw in general).

Warsaw is located on two main geomorphologic formations: the plain moraine plateau and the Vistula Valley with its asymmetrical pattern of different terraces. The Vistula River is the specific axis of Warsaw, which divides the city into two parts, left and right. The left one is situated both on the moraine plateau (10 to 25 m (33 to 82 ft) above Vistula level) and on the Vistula terraces (max. 6.5 m (21 ft) above Vistula level). The significant element of the relief, in this part of Warsaw, is the edge of moraine plateau called Warsaw Escarpment. It is 20 to 25 m (66 to 82 ft) high in the Old Town and Central district and about 10 m (33 ft) in the north and south of Warsaw. It goes through the city and plays an important role as a landmark.

The plain moraine plateau has only a few natural and artificial ponds and also groups of clay pits. The pattern of the Vistula terraces is asymmetrical. The left side consists mainly of two levels: the highest one contains former flooded terraces and the lowest one is the floodplain terrace. The contemporary flooded terrace still has visible valleys and ground depressions with water systems coming from the old Vistula – riverbed. They consist of still quite natural streams and lakes as well as the pattern of drainage ditches. The right side of Warsaw has a different pattern of geomorphological forms. There are several levels of the Vistula plain terraces (flooded as well as formerly flooded), and only a small part is a not-so-visible moraine escarpment. Aeolian sand with a number of dunes parted by peat swamps or small ponds cover the highest terrace. These are mainly forested areas (pine forest).

Climate

Warsaw experiences an oceanic (Köppen: Cfb) or humid continental (Köppen: Dfb) climate, depending on the isotherm used;^[78][79] although the city used to be humid continental regardless of isotherm prior to the recent effect of climate change and the city's urban heat island.^{[80][81][82][83]} Meanwhile, by the genetic climate classification of Wincenty Okołowicz, it has a temperate "fusion" climate, with both oceanic and continental features.^[84]

The city has cold, sometimes snowy, cloudy winters, and warm, relatively sunny but frequently stormy summers. Spring and autumn can be unpredictable, highly prone to sudden weather changes; however, temperatures are usually mild, especially around May and September.^[80] The daily average temperature ranges between −1.5 °C (29 °F) in January and 19.7 °C (67.5 °F) in July and the mean year temperature is 9.0 °C (48.2 °F). Temperatures may reach 30 °C (86 °F) in the summer, although the effects of hot weather are usually offset by relatively low dew points and large diurnal temperature differences. Warsaw is Europe's sixth driest major city (driest in Central Europe), with yearly rainfall averaging 482 mm (19.0 in), the wettest month being July.^[85]