The Szczecin metropolitan area is the

urban agglomeration 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 ...

of the city of

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

and surrounding towns in the Polish-

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

border area. The

Larger Urban Zone The functional urban area (FUA), previously known as larger urban zone (LUZ), is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan and surrounding areas which may or may not be exclusively urban. It consists of a city and its commuting zo ...

defined by

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 ...

includes 777,806 people living on 5249 km² in the area (2012). It includes the cities and towns of

Stargard Stargard (; 1945: ''Starogród'', 1950–2016: ''Stargard Szczeciński''; or ''Stargard an der Ihna''; ) is a city in northwestern Poland, located in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 2021 it was inhabited by 67,293 people. It is situated on ...

Świnoujście Świnoujście (; ; ; meaning " Świna ivermouth"; ) is a city in Western Pomerania and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, in the extreme north-west of Poland, mainly on the islands of Usedom and Wolin, and Karsibór island, once ...

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

Schwedt Schwedt (or Schwedt/Oder; ) is a town in Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. With the official status of a ''Große Kreisstadt, Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (major district town), it is the largest town of the Uckermark (district), Uckermark ...

Goleniów Goleniów (; ) is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland with 22,844 inhabitants as of 2011. It is the capital of Goleniów County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The town's area is , and its geographical position is 53°33'N, 14°49'E. It is ...

Gryfino Gryfino () is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 21,393 inhabitants (2017). It is the capital of Gryfino County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The town is located on the Odra Wschodnia, the eastern branch of the Oder river, about ...

Prenzlau Prenzlau (; ) is a town in Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany, the administrative seat of Uckermark District. It is also the centre of the historic Uckermark region. Geography The town is located on the Ucker river, about north of Berlin. ...

Pasewalk Pasewalk () is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. Located on the Uecker river, it is the capital of the former Uecker-Randow district, and the seat of the Uecker-Randow-T ...

Ueckermünde Ueckermünde () is a seaport town in northeast Germany, located in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, Pomerania, Western Pomerania, near Germany's border with Poland's Police County. Ueckermünde has a long and varied history, going back to ...

Eggesin Eggesin () is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the river Uecker, 7 km southeast of Ueckermünde, and 42 km northwest of Szczecin. History From 1648 to 172 ...

, Gartz,

Stepnica Stepnica (, or ''Bad Stepenitz'') is a town in Goleniów County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Stepnica. It lies approximately north-west of Goleniów and ...

Penkun Penkun () is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, and one of the smallest in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in north-eastern Germany. It is situated east of Prenzlau, and southwest of Szczecin. Penkun is known for its Renaissance cast ...

, Brüssow and Nowe Warpno. There are a group of villages situated between Szczecin and towns of the agglomeration. The villages of Mierzyn,

Löcknitz Löcknitz is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in north-eastern Germany, located in the historic region of Pomerania, west of the German-Polish border and west of Szczecin ...

, Przecław, Dobra, Trzebież and Kobylanka are parts of the urban system. It is the second largest metropolitan area in Pomerania after the Tricity metropolitan area. Since 2012, the agglomeration is actively developed as the core of a wider European

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 ...

, likely including the German districts of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte,

Vorpommern-Greifswald Vorpommern-Greifswald is a district in the east of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Vorpommern-Rügen, the Baltic Sea, Poland (West Pomeranian Voiv ...

Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, which straddles the Uckermark (district), Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. ...

and the West Pomeranian districts neighbouring Szczecin in Poland. The German part of the Szczecin metropolitan area contains municipalities with some of the highest percentages of Polish residents in Germany, such as Gartz,

and Mescherin.

Transport and economy

The ports of

and

are located within the metropolitan area. The local airport is the

Solidarity Szczecin–Goleniów Airport Solidarity Szczecin–Goleniów Airport ( Polish: ''Port Lotniczy Szczecin–Goleniów im. NSZZ Solidarność'') is the main domestic and international airport serving the city of Szczecin in Poland and is located northeast of the city, near th ...

near

, whereas the main railway station is the Szczecin Główny railway station, with direct connections to other major cities in Poland, such as

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, Tricity,

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

and

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 ...

. The Świnoujście LNG terminal is located in Świnoujście.

Sights

Historic landmarks of the Szczecin metropolitan area include the Ducal Castle and

National Museum in Szczecin The National Museum in Szczecin () is a national museum in Szczecin, Poland, established on 1 August 1945. The museum features ancient and modern art, archaeological, historical, numismatic, nautical and ethnographic collections and is divided int ...

, the Gothic Collegiate church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Stargard and the Kołbacz Abbey, with the latter two listed as Historic Monuments of Poland. Świnoujście, the third largest city of the metropolitan area, is a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...

. The Świnoujście Lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the world. The War Cemetery in Stargard is the burial place of over 5,000 Allied soldiers and prisoners of war from both world wars, including Polish, French, Serbian/Yugoslav, Russian/Soviet, Italian, Romanian, Belgian, British, Moroccan, Portuguese and Dutch. There is a memorial to British pilots of the No. 617 Squadron RAF shot down by Germany in

Karsibór Karsibór ( or ''Caseburg'') is an island in the Szczecin Lagoon, Poland, which was created by the cutting of the Piast Canal which separated it from the island of Usedom. The island was named after its largest village (now district of the town ...

, Świnoujście. A notable phenomenon on a worldly scale is the Crooked Forest outside the town of

Sports

Subcenters

Szczecin muzeum narodowe.jpg,

Świnoujście, Polska, ul. Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego - panoramio (2).jpg, Historic tenement houses in

Port Police (Terminal Morski).jpg, Port of Police MühlentorPasewalk.JPG, Medieval Mill Gate in

References

Szczecin Police, West Pomeranian Voivodeship Świnoujście Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Towns in Brandenburg Towns in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Vorpommern-Greifswald Metropolitan areas of Poland Urban areas in Poland {{Poland-geo-stub

Transport and economy

Sights

Sports

Subcenters

See also

References