Katowice metropolitan area, also known as Upper Silesian metropolitan areaZuzanna Neuve-Église: Od metropolii podzielonej do metropolii zjednoczonej - kształtowanie się tożsamości instytucji metropolitalnego zarządzania w kontekście relacji miast górnośląskiego obszaru metropolitalnego
/ref>W. Sroka, B. Pölling: The Potential and Significance of Urban Agriculture on the Basis of the Ruhr Metropolis and the Upper Silesian Metropolis
p. 182, footnote 5. (), is the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

and its

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

, with a population of around 2.5 million (2023). It lies within the areas of the historic regions of

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

, and Dąbrowa Basin. It is sometimes considered a part of the polycentric

Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area The Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan areaBrookings Institutionbr>Redefining global cities: The seven types of global metro economies(2016), p. 16. European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON"''Metroborder: Cross-border Polycentric Metropol ...

, which has a population of 5.3 million people (2002). Also this is (with Kraków metropolitan area among others) a part of ,Koncepcja Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania Kraju 2030
/ref> European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON
"''ESPON project 1.1.1. Potentials for polycentric development in Europe''"
– Final report, March 2005, which has a population of around 6.8 million.

Demographics

There are given differing population numbers in different sources. * 2,225,000 (2024) – according to ''citypopulation.de''. * 2,535,354 (2023) – according to

Eurostat Eurostat ("European Statistical Office"; also DG ESTAT) is a department of the European Commission ( Directorate-General), located in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statist ...

* 2,700,000 (2006) – according to Metropolis.pl * 2,746,000 (2001) – according to the scientific description by Tadeusz Markowski. * 2,733,000 (2002) – according to the scientific description by Paweł Swianiewicz and Urszula Klimska. * 2,886,700 (2004) – according to the scientific description by Kazimierz Fiedorowicz and Jacek Fiedorowicz. * 3,029,000 (2002) – according to the European Spatial Planning Observation Network. Markered as 13th largest metropolitan area in European Union and also 6th polycentric metropolitan area in EU."''Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3)''"
- European Spatial Planning Observation Network, 2007 * 3,069,000 – according to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. * 3,239,200 (2003) – according to the Ministry of Regional Development of Poland * 3,488,000 – according to ''www.worldatlas.com''. * 3,500,000 – according to PWN Encyclopedia."''Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy''"
- PWN Encyclopedia * 3,500,000 – according to the scientific description by Jerzy Parysek and Alexander Tölle.

Metropolis GZM

The Metropolis GZM (, formally in Polish Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia) is a metropolitan association composed of 41 contiguous

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, created on 1 July 2017. It has an area of 2553 km² and a population of 2 128 034 (2023). The Metropolis GZM does not include Jaworzno, whose authorities decided not to join the association.

References

{{Reflist Katowice Geography of Silesian Voivodeship Demographics of Poland Upper Silesia Metropolitan areas of Poland