Dąbrowa Górnicza

Dąbrowa Górnicza
Downtown Dąbrowa Górnicza
Flag Coat of arms
Dąbrowa Górnicza
Coordinates: 50°19′N 19°16′E / 50.317°N 19.267°E / 50.317; 19.267
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Silesian
County	city county
Town rights	1916
Government
- Mayor	Zbigniew Podraza
Area
- City	188 km2 (72.6 sq mi)
Population (2009)
- City	128,040
- Density	681.1/km2 (1,763.9/sq mi)
- Urban	2,746,000
- Metro	5,294,000
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	41-300 to 42-530
Area code(s)	+48 32
Car plates	SD
Sister cities:	Alchevsk Studénka Câmpulung Moldovenesc
Website	http://www.dabrowa-gornicza.pl/

Dąbrowa Górnicza [dɔmˈbrɔva ɡurˈnit​͡ʂa] ( listen) is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland, nearby Katowice. The north-east district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of almost 3 millions. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula).

It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999, previously it was in Katowice Voivodeship. Dąbrowa Górnicza is one of the cities of the 2,7 million conurbation - Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,2 million people.^[1] The population of the city itself is roughly only 127,500 or so (Dec 2010).^[2]

Church in Dąbrowa Górnicza

Museum

History

In the first half of the 18th century Dąbrowa was a small agricultural settlement belonging to the Będzin parish. First mentioned in 1726. According to a census of the Archdiocese of Kraków from 1787 the settlement numbered 184 inhabitants. After the Third Partition of Poland (1795) incorporated into the Prussian province of New Silesia. The Prussians discovered rich deposits of coal here and the first coal mine was established by Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden in 1796. The settlement started to grow in 19th century. The Huta Bankowa steel works, which is still a going concern, was built in Dąbrowa Górnicza in 1834. The 1970s saw the construction of the Huta Katowice steel works, which is nowadays the biggest steel producing plant in Poland, after privatization owned by ArcelorMittal. In the 1970s the town expanded territorially and economically. In 1975 and 1977 the neighboring localities of Strzemieszyce Małe, Strzemieszyce Wielkie, Ząbkowice and others became suburbanized. The population of Dąbrowa Górnicza reached its peak in 1982 with 152,373 inhabitants. In the 1990s all coal mines there had been closed, because of lack of coal. But the oldest part of the town Reden still exists.

City Library

Education

• Silesian Technical University, Faculty of Chemistry, Industrial and Environmental Chemistry course
• Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu
• Wyższa Szkoła Planowania Strategicznego

Voivodeship road 910 in city centre

Transport

There are many important routes crossing in Dąbrowa Górnicza. These include expressway S1 and national road 94. Expressway S1 is a direct connection to motorway A4 and to Katowice International Airport. Also Dąbrowa Górnicza has rich railway network access including Warsaw-Katowice line (VI Pan-European corridor) and nearby Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line terminal in Sławków.

Notable people born in Dąbrowa Górnicza

• Karol Adamiecki (1866–1933), economist, engineer
• Janusz Gajos (b. 1939), actor
• Jerzy Janikowski (1952–2006), Olympic fencer
• Sobieslaw Zasada (b. 1930), rally driver, businessman

"Nemo" Waterpark

"Zielona" Park

Church in Strzemieszyce Wielkie

Etymology of Dąbrowa Górnicza

The place name "Dąbrowa", derived from the Polish word dąb (oak), denotes an "oak grove", as the territory of the original village is believed to be covered by oak forests back in the early days of its existence. Since in the 19th century the settlement grew to be an important coal mining center, its name was supplemented by the adjective "Górnicza" ("mining") in 1919.

References

1. ^ European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON)[1]
2. ^ Central Statistical Office, Warsaw 2010, "Population. Size and Structure by Territorial Division, as of June 30, 2009" (PDF). http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/PUBL_L_ludnosc_stan_struktura_30_06_2009.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-31. 

External links

• Encyclopaedia Britannica Dąbrowa Górnicza
• Dąbrowa Górnicza page for investors
• Forum about Dąbrowa Górnicza
• The City of Dąbrowa Górnicza

Coordinates: 50°20′N 19°11′E / 50.333°N 19.183°E / 50.333; 19.183