List of cities and towns in Poland
The list of cities and towns in Poland, consisting of three sections: the full list of all 107 cities in Poland by size, followed by a table of the most populated cities and towns in Poland, and finally, the full alphabetical list of all 107 Polish cities and 968 towns combined.
As of 30 April 2022, there are altogether 2477 municipalities (gmina) in Poland:
- 1513 of them are rural gminas containing exclusively rural areas, each of them forms a part of one of the 314 regular powiats, but never as its seat,
- the remaining 968 ones contain a locality classified either as a city or a town, among them:
- 666 towns are managed together with their rural surroundings under a single local government in the form of an eponymous urban-rural gmina, itself forming a part of a regular powiat, sometimes as its seat,
- 302 cities and towns are standalone as an urban gmina, including
- 195 standalone towns, each of them forming a part of a regular powiat, sometimes as its seat,
- 107 cities (governed by a city mayor or prezydent miasta), among them:
- 41 cities are a part (and in such case always also the seat) of an eponymous regular powiat, formed with at least two other municipalities,
- 66 cities hold status of a city with powiat rights (an independent city) which is an urban gmina operating also as a powiat in its own right within a voivodeship, among them:
- 37 cities are over 100,000, including
- 18 cities which serve as a seat for voivode or the voivodeship sejmik, thus being informally called voivodeship cities or capitals (in spite of only 16 voivodeships existing in Poland; the discrepancy is caused by the fact that both institutions are seated in a single capital city in only 14 of the 16 voivodeships, while in each of the remaining two they are divided equally between a pair of capital cities),
- 37 cities are over 100,000, including
Currently, no city in Poland constitutes a separate voivodeship in its own right, through 5 cities held such status in the past.
A standalone urban gmina such as a city or a standalone town may nevertheless be also a seat of an eponymous rural gmina surrounding it in spite of not being a part of its territory; in parallel, a city with powiat rights which is a standalone powiat in its own right may nevertheless be also a seat of an eponymous regular powiat surrounding it in spite of not being a part of its territory (such gmina or powiat thus often being ″doughnut-shaped″ as a result).
General principles[edit]
All municipalities in Poland are governed regardless of their type under the mandatory mayor–council government system. Executive power in a rural gmina is exercised by a wójt, while the homologue in municipalities containing cities or towns is called accordingly either a city mayor (prezydent miasta) or a town mayor (burmistrz), all of them elected by a two-round direct election, while the town/city council is the legislative, budget-making and oversight body. Any local laws considered non-compliant with the national ones may be invalidated by the respective voivode, whose rulings may be appealed to an administrative court. Decisions in individual cases may in turn be appealed to quasi-judicial bodies named local government boards of appeal , their ruling subject to appeal to an administrative court. A town or city mayor may be scrutinized or denied funding for his/her projects by the council, but is not politically responsible to it and does not require its confidence to remain in office; therefore, cohabitation is not uncommon. A recall referendum may however be triggered either in respect to the wójt/town mayor/city mayor or to the municipal council through a petition supported by at least 1/10 of eligible voters, but the turnout in the recall referendum must be at least 3/5 of the number of people voting in the original election in order for the referendum to be valid and binding. In addition, elected bodies of any municipality may be suspended by the Prime Minister of Poland in case of persisting law transgressions or negligence, resulting in such case in the municipality being placed under receivership. In a city with powiat rights, the city mayor additionally has the powers and duties of a powiat executive board and a starosta, while the city council has the powers and duties of a powiat (county) council; both nevertheless being elected under the municipal election rules rather than those applicable to county elections.
Cities[edit]
In spite of no linguistic distinction between a city and a town in the Polish language (both translated miasto), a city may be recognized among other Polish urban municipalities through being managed by a city mayor (prezydent miasta, literally translated city president) instead of a town mayor (burmistrz) as the head of the city executive, thus being informally called miasto prezydenckie, with such privilege automatically awarded to municipalities either inhabited by more than 100,000 residents (currently 37) or those enjoying the status of a city with powiat rights (currently 66). As of 2022, all of the former group fit into the latter, though it was not always the case in the past. There is, however, a number of exemptions due to historic or political reasons, when a municipality meets neither of these two conditions but nevertheless has the city status, including the only 3 capitals of the former voivodeships of Poland (1975–1998) not meeting the abovementioned criteria, as well as 38 other municipalities which do not fit into any of the mentioned categories but have nevertheless been allowed to keep the earlier awarded status due to unspecified historical reasons. Among the 37 cities over 100,000, 18 are seats of voivode or voivodeship sejmik, thus carrying the informal designation of a voivodeship city.
The 107 Polish cities belong to the following size ranges in terms of the number of inhabitants (cites with powiat rights are indicated with italics; the seats of either a voivode, or a voivodeship legislature, are marked in bold):
- 1 city larger than 1,000,000: Warsaw
- 4 cities from 500,000 to 1,000,000: Kraków, Łódź, Wrocław, Poznań
- 6 cities from 250,000 to 500,000: Gdańsk, Szczecin, Bydgoszcz, Lublin, Białystok, Katowice
- 26 cities from 100,000 to 250,000: Gdynia, Częstochowa, Radom, Rzeszów, Toruń, Sosnowiec, Kielce, Gliwice, Olsztyn, Zabrze, Bielsko-Biała, Bytom, Zielona Góra, Rybnik, Ruda Śląska, Opole, Tychy, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Elbląg, Płock, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Wałbrzych, Włocławek, Tarnów, Chorzów, Koszalin
- 45 cities from 50,000 to 100,000: Kalisz, Legnica, Grudziądz, Jaworzno, Słupsk, Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Nowy Sącz, Jelenia Góra, Siedlce, Mysłowice, Konin, Piła, Piotrków Trybunalski, Inowrocław, Lubin, Ostrów Wielkopolski, Suwałki, Stargard, Gniezno, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Siemianowice Śląskie, Głogów, Pabianice, Leszno, Żory, Zamość, Pruszków, Łomża, Ełk, Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Chełm, Mielec, Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Przemyśl, Stalowa Wola, Tczew, Biała Podlaska, Bełchatów, Świdnica, Będzin, Zgierz, Piekary Śląskie, Racibórz, Legionowo, Ostrołęka
- 25 cities from 35,000 to 50,000: Świętochłowice, Wejherowo, Zawiercie, Skierniewice, Starachowice, Wodzisław Śląski, Starogard Gdański, Puławy, Tarnobrzeg, Kołobrzeg, Krosno, Radomsko, Otwock, Skarżysko-Kamienna, Ciechanów, Kutno, Sieradz, Zduńska Wola, Świnoujście, Żyrardów, Bolesławiec, Nowa Sól, Knurów, Oświęcim, and Sopot.
The biggest towns (e.g. Tarnowskie Góry, Rumia, Piaseczno) are larger than a number of cities.
Largest cities and towns by population[edit]
Poland contains:
- 1 city over 1,000,000
- 4 cities from 500,000 to 999,999:
- 6 cities from 250,000 to 499,999:
- 26 cities from 100,000 to 249,999:
- 45 cities and 1 town from 50,000 to 99,999
- 25 cities and 69 towns from 25,000 to 49,999
- 221 towns from 10,000 do 24,999
- 187 towns from 5,000 to 9,999
- 220 towns from 2,500 to 4,999
- 140 towns from 1,000 to 2,499
- 9 towns below 1,000.
Below is the table of the most populated cities and towns in Poland. The table ranks cities by population based on data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland.[1][2]
Name | Voivodeship | Pop. 1 January 2022 | Pop. 1 January 2021 | Pop. 30 June 2020 |
Pop. Dec. 2007 |
Pop. 1999 |
Pop. 1970 |
Pop. 1960 |
Pop. 1950 |
Pop. 1900 |
Change 2020 - 2007 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Warsaw | ![]() |
1,795,569 | 1,794,166 | 1,793,579 | 1,706,624 | 1,618,468 | 1,315,648 | 1,139,189 | 822,036 | 756,400 | 4.92% |
Kraków | ![]() |
782,137 | 779,966 | 780,981 | 766,583 | 740,666 | 583,444 | 481,296 | 343,638 | 120,300 | 1.63% |
Łódź | ![]() |
664,071 | 672,185 | 677,286 | 753,192 | 806,728 | 762,699 | 709,698 | 620,273 | 351,600 | -9.82% |
Wrocław | ![]() |
642,687 | 641,928 | 643,782 | 632,930 | 643,877 | 526,000 | 430,522 | 308,925 | 422,700 | 1.60% |
Poznań | ![]() |
529,410 | 532,048 | 533,830 | 567,932 | 578,235 | 471,900 | 408,132 | 320,670 | 126,000 | -5.83% |
Gdańsk (part of Tricity metropolitan area) | ![]() |
470,621 | 471,525 | 458,717 | 458,988 | 365,600 | 286,940 | 194,633 | 140,600 | 2.66% | |
Szczecin | ![]() |
395,513 | 400,990 | 410,811 | 416,988 | 338,000 | 269,318 | 178,907 | 210,700 | -2.17% | |
Bydgoszcz | ![]() |
339,053 | 346,739 | 361,222 | 386,855 | 282,200 | 232,007 | 162,524 | 52,200 | -3.61% | |
Lublin | ![]() |
336,339 | 339,547 | 351,806 | 356,251 | 238,500 | 181,304 | 116,629 | 53,600 | -3.42% | |
Białystok | ![]() |
295,683 | 297,585 | 294,143 | 285,000 | 168,500 | 120,921 | 68,503 | 66,000 | 1.16% | |
Katowice (centre of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
286,960 | 291,774 | 317,220 | 345,934 | 305,000 | 269,926 | 175,496 | 31,700 | -7.71% | |
Gdynia (part of Tricity metropolitan area) | ![]() |
243,918 | 245,867 | 250,242 | 253,521 | 191,500 | 147,625 | 103,458 | 900 | -1.56% | |
Częstochowa | ![]() |
214,342 | 219,278 | 242,300 | 257,812 | 188,189 | 164,906 | 112,198 | 53,700 | -9.02% | |
Radom | ![]() |
206,942 | 210,532 | 224,857 | 232,262 | 159,480 | 130,116 | 80,298 | 30,100 | -6.00% | |
Rzeszów | ![]() |
198,609 | 196,821 | 166,454 | 162,049 | 83,105 | 62,526 | 28,133 | 18,300 | 17.88% | |
Toruń | ![]() |
196,935 | 201,106 | 206,619 | 211,955 | 129,872 | 104,906 | 80,637 | 29,600 | -2.50% | |
Sosnowiec (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
194,818 | 198,996 | 222,586 | 244,102 | 145,000 | 131,654 | 96,448 | 86,700 | -10.16% | |
Kielce | ![]() |
191,448 | 194,218 | 205,902 | 212,383 | 126,950 | 89,500 | 61,332 | 23,200 | -5.37% | |
Gliwice (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
175,102 | 178,186 | 197,393 | 212,164 | 172,000 | 135,300 | 119,968 | 52,400 | -9.52% | |
Olsztyn | ![]() |
169,793 | 171,853 | 175,710 | 171,131 | 94,753 | 67,887 | 43,831 | 24,300 | -2.12% | |
Zabrze (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
168,946 | 171,691 | 189,062 | 200,177 | 197,840 | 190,049 | 172,355 | 26,000 | -8.82% | |
Bielsko-Biała | ![]() |
168,319 | 170,303 | 175,690 | 178,963 | 106,200 | 75,527 | 17,400 | -2.86% | ||
Bytom (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
161,139 | 164,447 | 184,765 | 205,560 | 187,500 | 182,578 | 173,955 | 51,400 | -10.56% | |
Zielona Góra | ![]() |
140,403 | 141,280 | 117,523 | 118,182 | 73,485 | 54,291 | 31,634 | 21,000 | 20.17% | |
Rybnik | ![]() |
135,994 | 137,782 | 141,080 | 144,582 | 43,700 | 34,099 | 27,222 | 7,200 | -2.11% | |
Ruda Śląska (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
135,008 | 137,030 | 144,584 | 159,665 | 143,122 | 131,667 | 33,962 | 14,800 | -4.99% | |
Opole | ![]() |
127,077 | 128,012 | 126,748 | 129,553 | 86,900 | 63,500 | 38,464 | 30,100 | 1.02% | |
Tychy (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
125,781 | 127,307 | 129,776 | 133,178 | 71,500 | 49,914 | 4,900 | -1.68% | ||
Gorzów Wielkopolski | ![]() |
120,087 | 123,341 | 125,411 | 126,019 | 74,782 | 58,671 | 32,825 | 33,600 | -1.43% | |
Elbląg | ![]() |
117,390 | 119,097 | 126,710 | 129,782 | 90,051 | 76,513 | 48,112 | 52,500 | -5.83% | |
Dąbrowa Górnicza (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
116,971 | 118,899 | 128,795 | 131,037 | 61,700 | 55,720 | 32,446 | 3,000 | -7.32% | |
Płock | ![]() |
116,962 | 118,989 | 126,968 | 131,011 | 71,900 | 42,798 | 33,128 | 27,000 | -5.94% | |
Wałbrzych | ![]() |
108,222 | 110,603 | 123,635 | 136,923 | 125,200 | 117,209 | 93,842 | 16,400 | -9.93% | |
Włocławek | ![]() |
106,928 | 109,347 | 118,432 | 123,373 | 82,599 | 66,820 | 54,536 | 23,000 | -7.22% | |
Tarnów | ![]() |
105,922 | 108,177 | 116,118 | 118,297 | 85,929 | 70,835 | 37,405 | 31,700 | -6.58% | |
Chorzów (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
105,628 | 107,443 | 113,678 | 121,708 | 151,946 | 147,037 | 129,456 | 57,900 | -5.16% | |
Koszalin | ![]() |
104,994 | 106,880 | 107,376 | 109,941 | 65,200 | 44,410 | 18,940 | 20,400 | -0.31% | |
Kalisz | ![]() |
99,761 | 108,031 | 106,641 | 81,454 | 69,946 | 55,542 | 22,000 | -7.21% | ||
Legnica | ![]() |
99,072 | 104,754 | 109,335 | 76,000 | 64,185 | 39,010 | 54,900 | -5.16% | ||
Grudziądz | ![]() |
94,076 | 99,090 | 102,434 | 75,668 | 64,965 | 45,327 | 32,700 | -4.77% | ||
Jaworzno (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
90,759 | 96,600 | 99,800 | 63,600 | 53,089 | 20,229 | 17,500 | -5.67% | ||
Słupsk | ![]() |
90,320 | 97,419 | 102,370 | 68,939 | 53,383 | 33,115 | 27,300 | -6.92% | ||
Jastrzębie Zdrój | ![]() |
88,425 | 93,939 | 102,294 | 24,500 | 1,700 | -5.53% | ||||
Nowy Sącz | ![]() |
83,762 | 84,468 | 83,911 | 41,300 | 34,179 | 26,216 | ||||
Jelenia Góra | ![]() |
78,778 | 86,220 | 93,407 | 55,900 | 49,617 | 34,996 | ||||
Siedlce | ![]() |
78,258 | 76,939 | 76,056 | 39,280 | 32,587 | 25,322 | ||||
Mysłowice (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
74,601 | 74,912 | 76,231 | 44,700 | 40,228 | 35,720 | ||||
Konin | ![]() |
73,176 | 80,140 | 83,462 | 40,794 | 17,638 | 12,145 | ||||
Piła | ![]() |
72,949 | 74,687 | 79,568 | 43,992 | 33,785 | 21,085 | 18,405 | |||
Piotrków Trybunalski | ![]() |
72,785 | 78,475 | 81,433 | 59,843 | 52,782 | 42,289 | ||||
Lubin | ![]() |
72,142 | 76,306 | 82,711 | 28,900 | 5,471 | 2,743 | ||||
Inowrocław | ![]() |
72,561 | 75,681 | 79,517 | 54,911 | 47,267 | 38,005 | ||||
Ostrów Wielkopolski | ![]() |
71,829 | 72,360 | 74,635 | 49,705 | 42,579 | 32,787 | 11,800 | |||
Suwałki | ![]() |
70,126 | 69,786 | 69,281 | 68,815 | 25,572 | 19,868 | 15,456 | 11,000 | ||
Stargard | ![]() |
67,753 | 70,217 | 74,166 | 44,640 | 33,650 | 20,684 | ||||
Gniezno | ![]() |
67,968 | 69,732 | 71,460 | 50,926 | 44,080 | 36,039 | ||||
Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski | ![]() |
67,975 | 73,111 | 79,047 | 50,147 | 38,108 | 20,273 | ||||
Siemianowice Śląskie (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
66,587 | 71,621 | 75,218 | 67,401 | 62,411 | 52,994 | ||||
Głogów | ![]() |
66,627 | 68,297 | 74,294 | 20,558 | 9,179 | 3,825 | ||||
Pabianice | ![]() |
64,445 | 69,842 | 74,689 | 62,402 | 56,222 | 48,817 | ||||
Leszno | ![]() |
63,323 | 64,057 | 62,597 | 33,985 | 29,157 | 22,572 | ||||
Żory | ![]() |
62,670 | 62,008 | 63,683 | 8,700 | 6,795 | 5,037 | ||||
Zamość | ![]() |
63,223 | 66,375 | 67,099 | 35,114 | 27,638 | 21,558 | 11,300 | |||
Pruszków | ![]() |
62,489 | 55,621 | 53,295 | 43,366 | 38,016 | 27,583 | ||||
Łomża | ![]() |
62,795 | 63,036 | 64,915 | 25,800 | 19,876 | 14,839 | ||||
Ełk | ![]() |
62,125 | 56,698 | 56,464 | 27,400 | 21,952 | 13,665 | ||||
Tarnowskie Góry | ![]() |
61,756 | 60,975 | 63,126 | 34,400 | 28,612 | 23,115 | ||||
Tomaszów Mazowiecki | ![]() |
61,645 | 66,232 | 69,389 | 55,011 | 48,546 | 39,391 | ||||
Chełm | ![]() |
61,588 | 67,782 | 70,759 | 39,135 | 31,108 | 20,550 | ||||
Mielec | ![]() |
60,229 | 61,005 | 64,455 | 27,000 | 22,132 | 9,205 | ||||
Kędzierzyn-Koźle | ![]() |
60,383 | 65,161 | 69,875 | |||||||
Przemyśl | ![]() |
60,442 | 66,867 | 68,345 | 53,509 | 47,442 | 32,948 | ||||
Stalowa Wola | ![]() |
60,179 | 64,988 | 71,805 | 30,100 | 22,932 | 7,167 | ||||
Tczew | ![]() |
59,828 | 60,271 | 61,124 | 41,000 | 33,696 | 24,619 | 12,808 | |||
Biała Podlaska | ![]() |
57,194 | 57,783 | 58,599 | 26,500 | 20,148 | 13,345 | ||||
Bełchatów | ![]() |
56,740 | 61,496 | 61,018 | 9,250 | 7,327 | 5,146 | ||||
Świdnica | ![]() |
56,564 | 59,998 | 65,016 | 47,673 | 39,078 | 27,805 | 28,439 | |||
Będzin | ![]() |
56,191 | 58,639 | 60,084 | 42,800 | 39,478 | 34,410 | ||||
Zgierz | ![]() |
55,985 | 58,164 | 58,862 | 43,025 | 36,666 | 26,169 | ||||
Piekary Śląskie (part of Katowice metropolitan area) | ![]() |
54,860 | 59,061 | 61,753 | 36,400 | 32,226 | 22,944 | ||||
Racibórz | ![]() |
54,529 | 56,919 | 64,093 | 40,600 | 32,523 | 26,447 | 25,250 | |||
Legionowo | ![]() |
53,809 | 51,058 | 51,301 | 20,836 | 19,835 | |||||
Ostrołęka | ![]() |
51,893 | 54,109 | 55,511 | 22,187 | 15,216 | 10,409 |
Cities and towns alphabetically[edit]
A[edit]
B[edit]
Ba-Be[edit]
Bi-Bl[edit]
Bo-Br[edit]
Bu-By[edit]
C[edit]
Ce-Ch[edit]
Ci-Cz[edit]
Ć[edit]
D[edit]
Da-Do[edit]
Dr-Dz[edit]
E[edit]
F[edit]
G[edit]
Ga-Gn[edit]
Go - Gó[edit]
Gr-Gu[edit]
H[edit]
I[edit]
J[edit]
K[edit]
Ka-Kc[edit]
Ke-Kn[edit]
Ko[edit]
Kr-Kw[edit]
L[edit]
La-Li[edit]
Lu-Lw[edit]
Ł[edit]
M[edit]
Ma[edit]
Mi[edit]
Mo-My[edit]
N[edit]
Na-Ni[edit]
No-Ny[edit]
O[edit]
Ob-Or[edit]
Os-Oz[edit]
P[edit]
Pa-Pe[edit]
Pi-Pl[edit]
Pn-Po[edit]
Pr-Py[edit]
R[edit]
Ra[edit]
Re-Rz[edit]
S[edit]
Sa-Si[edit]
Sk-Sl[edit]
So[edit]
St[edit]
Su-Sy[edit]
Sz[edit]
Ś[edit]
T[edit]
U[edit]
W[edit]
Wa-Wę[edit]
Wi-Wł[edit]
Wo-Wy[edit]
Z[edit]
Ż[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ 2016 population - GUS – Baza Demografia: Wyniki badań bieżących: Stan i struktura ludności: Ludność: 2016: Ludność stan w dniu 31 XII (Central Statistical Office: Demography Database: Population as of 31 December 2016).
- ^ 2007 population - GUS – Baza Demografia: Wyniki badań bieżących: Stan i struktura ludności: Ludność: 2007: Ludność stan w dniu 31 XII (Central Statistical Office: Demography Database: Population as of 31 December 2007).
See also[edit]
- List of former towns of Poland
- List of Polish cities and towns damaged in World War II
- list of places which obtained/regained town status in the years since 1900: Nadania praw miejskich w Polsce po 1900 (Polish Wikipedia)