Warsaw

Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and most populous city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the river Vistula in east-central Poland.

Its population is officially estimated at 1.87 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of around 3.5 million residents, which makes Warsaw the 7th most populous city in the European Union.

The city area measures 517 square kilometres (200 square miles) and comprises 18 districts, while the metropolitan area covers 6,100 square kilometres (2,355 square miles). Warsaw is classified as an alpha global city, a major political, economic and cultural hub, and the country's seat of government. It is also the capital of the Masovian Voivodeship.

Warsaw traces its origins to a small fishing town which became the seat of the Duchy of Masovia in 1413. The city rose to prominence after 1596, when Sigismund III decided to move the Polish capital and his royal court from Kraków. Warsaw surpassed Gdańsk as Poland's most populous city by the 18th century.