Upper Silesian Industrial Region

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Central part of the Upper Silesian Industry Area.

Upper Silesian Industry Area (Upper Silesian Industrial Region), (Polish: Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy, GOP) is a conurbation in Upper Silesia and western Lesser Poland, Poland, centered around Katowice in the Silesian Voivodeship.

Upper Silesian Industry Area with its 2.8 million population and Rybnik Coal Area (Polish: Rybnicki Okręg Węglowy, ROW) with its 0.7 million population both lie within the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, a home of altogether 3,487,000 people.

[edit] Geography

Upper Silesian Industry Area is located in the historical region of Upper Silesia and Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland in a basin between the Vistula and Oder rivers.

Katowice, Silesian Parliament

Gliwice

The market square in Bytom

[edit] Climate

The climate of the area is continental humid. The average temperature is 17 degrees Celsius (-5°C in January and up to 30°C in July). Yearly rainfall averages at 750 mm, the most rainy month being July.

[edit] Main cities

City	Population	Area in km²
Katowice	314 500	164.6
Sosnowiec	233 284	91.26
Gliwice	205 086	134.2
Bytom	200 234	69.32
Zabrze	195 400	80.47
Ruda Śląska	145 470	77.7
Tychy	135 700	82.63
Dąbrowa Górnicza	130 560	188
Chorzów	114 686	33.5
Jaworzno	100 000	152.2
Mysłowice	78 300	66
Siemianowice Śląskie	75 700	25.5
Piekary Śląskie	64 600	39.6
Będzin	58 600	37.2
Świętochłowice	55 527	13.22
Knurów	42 000	34.2
Czeladź	35 200	17
Total	2 143 000	1304

[edit] Notable suburbs

Suburbs	Population	Area
Tarnowskie Góry	61 642	82,47 km²
Czerwionka-Leszczyny	41 068	115,65 km²
Mikołów	28 460	18,07 km²
Łaziska Górne	21 768	20,2 km²
Bieruń	19 724	40,31 km²
Pyskowice	18 717	31,14 km²
Orzesze	18 667	85 km²
Radzionków	17 300	13,14 km²
Lędziny	15 946	31,04 km²
Toszek	10 547	98,53 km²
Wojkowice	9 670	12,78 km²
Imielin	7 650	28,04 km²
Miasteczko Śląskie	7 585	68,3 km²
Sławków	6 770	36,6 km²
Total	285 464	681,27 km²

[edit] Transport

[edit] Public Transport

Tramway Katowice - Chorzów - Bytom

The mass transit system of the area consists of four branches -- buses, streetcars, trolleybuses and the regional rail united in the KZK GOP. Additional services are operated by private companies and the state-owned railways.

Trams

Silesian Interurbans - one of the largest streetcar systems in the World, in existence since 1894. The system spreads for more than 50 kilometres (east-west) and covers thirteen districts: Katowice, Będzin, Bytom, Chorzów, Czeladź, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Gliwice, Mysłowice, Ruda Śląska, Siemianowice Śląskie, Sosnowiec, Świętochłowice, and Zabrze.

[edit] Roads

Motorway A1 (Poland) (Czech - KATOWICE - Tricity / Baltic Sea)
Motorway A4 (Poland) (Germany - KATOWICE - Ukraine)

European route E40 (France - Belgium - Germany - KATOWICE - Ukraine - Russia - Uzbekistan - Kazakhstan)
European route E75 (Norway - Finland - KATOWICE - Slovakia - Hungary - Serbia - Macedonia - Croatia - Crete)
European route E462 (Czech Republic - KATOWICE)

[edit] Airports

The area is served by the Katowice International Airport, located some 30 km from the center of Katowice. With over 20 international and domestic flights daily, it is by far the biggest airport in Silesia (1.4 million passengers served in 2006; a new passenger terminal is currently being constructed).

Because of the long commute to the airport, there is a proposal to convert the much nearer sport aviation-serving Katowice-Muchowiec Airport into a so-called city airport, a second international airport for smaller, business-oriented traffic.

[edit] Railway

Standard gauge railway

The first railroad reached this area in 1846 (the Upper Silesia Railway, in Polish: Kolej Górnośląska; in German: Oberschlesische Eisenbahn). Nowadays Metropolis Katowice is one of the main railway nodes and exchange points in Silesia and in Poland. Cheap and fairly efficient, the Polskie Koleje Państwowe (Polish State-Owned Railways) in the area of the proposed union constitute one of the main transport hubs in Poland (the most important one being Warsaw).

The main railroad station is Katowice Central station. Both the domestic and the international connections run from there to almost every major city in Poland and Europe.

Broad gauge railway

Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa (known by its acronym LHS, English: Broad gauge metallurgy line) is the longest broad gauge railway line in Poland. Except for this one line, and a few very short stretches near border crossings, Poland uses the standard gauge for its railways, unlike Russia and the other former countries of the Soviet Union. The line runs on a single track for almost 400 km from the Polish-Ukrainian border, crossing it just east of Hrubieszów, to Sławków (one of the suburbs of the proposed union). It is used only for freight transport, mainly iron ore and coal. It is the westernmost broad gauge railway line in Europe that is connected to the broad gauge rail system of the countries which before 1991 constituted the Soviet Union. The line is managed by PKP Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa Spólka z o.o. company. Previous name of this line was Linia Hutniczo Siarkowa (English: Metallurgy - Sulfur Line), but after sulfur ceased to be transported on the line its name was changed.

[edit] Water Transport

Upper Silesian Industry Area also has several canals, including the Gliwice Canal (pl:Kanal Gliwicki) which links Gliwice Harbour to the Oder River and thus to the waterway network across much of Germany and to the Baltic Sea.

Klodnica Canal (pl: Kanal Klodnicki) is no longer used to transport goods, but it is popular with leisure cruisers.

[edit] Culture and Education

Katowice, Silesian Library

Upper Silesian Industry Area is one of the most important education centers of Poland (along with Warsaw). It is home to seven major universities and near 40 smaller schools of higher education. The most important are: