List of cities and towns in Poland

A list of cities and towns in Poland, preceded by a table of major Polish cities. The table ranks cities by population based on data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland. Note that in the Polish system of administration there is no difference between a city and a town. There are only cities (having city rights) and villages (which do not have city rights).

As of 30 June 2020, there are 944 cities and towns in Poland.^[1]

Polish cities belong to the following size ranges in terms of the number of inhabitants:

• 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 and towns from 100,000 to 250,000: Gdynia, Częstochowa, Radom, Toruń, Sosnowiec, Rzeszów, 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
• 907 cities and towns below 100,000

66 cities are cities with powiat rights. In Polish cities, public administration bodies are the city's president or mayor. The city council is the decision-making and control body.

Largest cities and towns by population

Below is the list of the most populated cities and towns in Poland.^[2][3] The seats of either a voivode, or a voivodeship legislature, are marked in bold.

Name	Voivodeship	Pop. 30 June 2020	Pop. Dec. 2007	Pop. 1999	Pop. 1970	Pop. 1960	Pop. 1950	Pop. 1900	Change 2020 - 2007
Warsaw	Masovian	1,793,579	1,706,624	1,618,468	1,315,648	1,139,189	822,036	756,400	4.92%
Kraków	Lesser Poland	780,981	766,583	740,666	583,444	481,296	343,638	120,300	1.63%
Łódź	Łódź	677,286	753,192	806,728	762,699	709,698	620,273	351,600	-9.82%
Wrocław	Lower Silesian	643,782	632,930	643,877	526,000	430,522	308,925	422,700	1.60%
Poznań	Greater Poland	533,830	567,932	578,235	471,900	408,132	320,670	126,000	-5.83%
Gdańsk (part of Tricity metropolitan area)	Pomeranian	471,525	458,717	458,988	365,600	286,940	194,633	140,600	2.66%
Szczecin	West Pomeranian	400,990	410,811	416,988	338,000	269,318	178,907	210,700	-2.17%
Bydgoszcz	Kuyavian-Pomeranian	346,739	361,222	386,855	282,200	232,007	162,524	52,200	-3.61%
Lublin	Lublin	339,547	351,806	356,251	238,500	181,304	116,629	53,600	-3.42%
Białystok	Podlaskie	297,585	294,143	285,000	168,500	120,921	68,503	66,000	1.16%
Katowice (centre of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	291,774	317,220	345,934	305,000	269,926	175,496	31,700	-7.71%
Gdynia (part of Tricity metropolitan area)	Pomeranian	245,867	250,242	253,521	191,500	147,625	103,458	900	-1.56%
Częstochowa	Silesian	219,278	242,300	257,812	188,189	164,906	112,198	53,700	-9.02%
Radom	Masovian	210,532	224,857	232,262	159,480	130,116	80,298	30,100	-6.00%
Toruń	Kuyavian-Pomeranian	201,106	206,619	211,955	129,872	104,906	80,637	29,600	-2.50%
Sosnowiec (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	198,996	222,586	244,102	145,000	131,654	96,448	86,700	-10.16%
Rzeszów	Podkarpackie	196,821	166,454	162,049	83,105	62,526	28,133	18,300	17.88%
Kielce	Świętokrzyskie	194,218	205,902	212,383	126,950	89,500	61,332	23,200	-5.37%
Gliwice (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	178,186	197,393	212,164	172,000	135,300	119,968	52,400	-9.52%
Olsztyn	Warmian-Masurian	171,853	175,710	171,131	94,753	67,887	43,831	24,300	-2.12%
Zabrze (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	171,691	189,062	200,177	197,840	190,049	172,355	26,000	-8.82%
Bielsko-Biała	Silesian	170,303	175,690	178,963	106,200	75,527		17,400	-2.86%
Bytom (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	164,447	184,765	205,560	187,500	182,578	173,955	51,400	-10.56%
Zielona Góra	Lubusz	141,280	117,523	118,182	73,485	54,291	31,634	21,000	20.17%
Rybnik	Silesian	137,782	141,080	144,582	43,700	34,099	27,222	7,200	-2.11%
Ruda Śląska (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	137,030	144,584	159,665	143,122	131,667	33,962	14,800	-4.99%
Opole	Opole	128,012	126,748	129,553	86,900	63,500	38,464	30,100	1.02%
Tychy (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	127,307	129,776	133,178	71,500	49,914		4,900	-1.68%
Gorzów Wielkopolski	Lubusz	123,341	125,411	126,019	74,782	58,671	32,825	33,600	-1.43%
Elbląg	Warmian-Masurian	119,097	126,710	129,782	90,051	76,513	48,112	52,500	-5.83%
Płock	Masovian	118,989	126,968	131,011	71,900	42,798	33,128	27,000	-5.94%
Dąbrowa Górnicza (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	118,899	128,795	131,037	61,700	55,720	32,446	3,000	-7.32%
Wałbrzych	Lower Silesian	110,603	123,635	136,923	125,200	117,209	93,842	16,400	-9.93%
Włocławek	Kuyavian-Pomeranian	109,347	118,432	123,373	82,599	66,820	54,536	23,000	-7.22%
Tarnów	Lesser Poland	108,177	116,118	118,297	85,929	70,835	37,405	31,700	-6.58%
Chorzów (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	107,443	113,678	121,708	151,946	147,037	129,456	57,900	-5.16%
Koszalin	West Pomeranian	106,880	107,376	109,941	65,200	44,410	18,940	20,400	-0.31%
Kalisz	Greater Poland	99,761	108,031	106,641	81,454	69,946	55,542	22,000	-7.21%
Legnica	Lower Silesian	99,072	104,754	109,335	76,000	64,185	39,010	54,900	-5.16%
Grudziądz	Kuyavian-Pomeranian	94,076	99,090	102,434	75,668	64,965	45,327	32,700	-4.77%
Jaworzno (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	90,759	96,600	99,800	63,600	53,089	20,229	17,500	-5.67%
Słupsk	Pomeranian	90,320	97,419	102,370	68,939	53,383	33,115	27,300	-6.92%
Jastrzębie Zdrój	Silesian	88,425	93,939	102,294	24,500			1,700	-5.53%
Nowy Sącz	Lesser Poland	83,762	84,468	83,911	41,300	34,179	26,216
Jelenia Góra	Lower Silesian	78,778	86,220	93,407	55,900	49,617	34,996
Siedlce	Masovian	78,258	76,939	76,056	39,280	32,587	25,322
Mysłowice (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	74,601	74,912	76,231	44,700	40,228	35,720
Konin	Greater Poland	73,176	80,140	83,462	40,794	17,638	12,145
Piła	Greater Poland	72,949	74,687	79,568	43,992	33,785	21,085	18,405
Piotrków Trybunalski	Łódź	72,785	78,475	81,433	59,843	52,782	42,289
Inowrocław	Kuyavian-Pomeranian	72,561	75,681	79,517	54,911	47,267	38,005
Lubin	Lower Silesian	72,142	76,306	82,711	28,900	5,471	2,743
Ostrów Wielkopolski	Greater Poland	71,829	72,360	74,635	49,705	42,579	32,787	11,800
Suwałki	Podlaskie	69,786	69,281	68,815	25,572	19,868	15,456
Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski	Świętokrzyskie	67,975	73,111	79,047	50,147	38,108	20,273
Gniezno	Greater Poland	67,968	69,732	71,460	50,926	44,080	36,039
Stargard	West Pomeranian	67,753	70,217	74,166	44,640	33,650	20,684
Głogów	Lower Silesian	66,627	68,297	74,294	20,558	9,179	3,825
Siemianowice Śląskie (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	66,587	71,621	75,218	67,401	62,411	52,994
Pabianice	Łódź	64,445	69,842	74,689	62,402	56,222	48,817
Leszno	Greater Poland	63,323	64,057	62,597	33,985	29,157	22,572
Zamość	Lublin	63,223	66,375	67,099	35,114	27,638	21,558	11,300
Łomża	Podlaskie	62,795	63,036	64,915	25,800	19,876	14,839
Żory	Silesian	62,670	62,008	63,683	8,700	6,795	5,037
Pruszków	Masovian	62,489	55,621	53,295	43,366	38,016	27,583
Ełk	Warmian-Masurian	62,125	56,698	56,464	27,400	21,952	13,665
Tarnowskie Góry	Silesian	61,756	60,975	63,126	34,400	28,612	23,115
Tomaszów Mazowiecki	Łódź	61,645	66,232	69,389	55,011	48,546	39,391
Chełm	Lublin	61,588	67,782	70,759	39,135	31,108	20,550
Przemyśl	Podkarpackie	60,442	66,867	68,345	53,509	47,442	32,948
Kędzierzyn-Koźle	Opole	60,383	65,161	69,875
Mielec	Podkarpackie	60,229	61,005	64,455	27,000	22,132	9,205
Stalowa Wola	Podkarpackie	60,179	64,988	71,805	30,100	22,932	7,167
Tczew	Pomeranian	59,828	60,271	61,124	41,000	33,696	24,619	12,808
Biała Podlaska	Lublin	57,194	57,783	58,599	26,500	20,148	13,345
Bełchatów	Łódź	56,740	61,496	61,018	9,250	7,327	5,146
Świdnica	Lower Silesian	56,564	59,998	65,016	47,673	39,078	27,805	28,439
Będzin	Silesian	56,191	58,639	60,084	42,800	39,478	34,410
Zgierz	Łódź	55,985	58,164	58,862	43,025	36,666	26,169
Piekary Śląskie (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	54,860	59,061	61,753	36,400	32,226	22,944
Racibórz	Silesian	54,529	56,919	64,093	40,600	32,523	26,447	25,250
Legionowo	Masovian	53,809	51,058	51,301	20,836	19,835
Ostrołęka	Masovian	51,893	54,109	55,511	22,187	15,216	10,409
Świętochłowice (part of Katowice metropolitan area)	Silesian	49,363	54,525	57,174	57,842	57,422	56,663	37,952

All other cities and towns alphabetically

Augustów

Białystok

Bielsko-Biała

Bydgoszcz

Bytom

Chorzów

Częstochowa

Dąbrowa Górnicza

Elbląg

Gdańsk

Gdynia

Gliwice

Głogów

Gorzów Wielkopolski

Grudziądz

Inowrocław

Jastrzębie-Zdrój

Jelenia Góra

Kalisz

Katowice

Kielce

Konin

Koszalin

Kraków

Legnica

Łódź

Muszyna

Mysłowice

Nowy Sącz

Olsztyn

Opole

Piotrków Trybunalski

Płock

Poznań

Radom

Rzeszów

Ruda Śląska

Rybnik

Słupsk

Sosnowiec

Szczecin

Tarnów

Toruń

Tychy

Wałbrzych

Warsaw

Wloclawek

Wrocław

Zabrze

Zielona Góra

A

B

Ba-Be

Bi-Bl

Bo-Br

Bu-By

C

Ce-Ch

Ci-Cz

Ć

• Ćmielów

D

Da-Do

Dr-Dz

E

• Elbląg
• Ełk

F

• Frampol
• Frombork

G

Ga-Gn

Go - Gó

Gr-Gu

H

• Hajnówka
• Halinów
• Hel
• Hrubieszów

I

J

K

Ka-Kc

Ke-Kn

Ko

Kr-Kw

L

La-Li

Lu-Lw

Ł

M

• Mechowiec

Ma

Mi

Mo-My

N

Na-Ni

No-Ny

O

Ob-Or

Os-Oz

P

Pa-Pe

Pi-Pl

Pn-Po

Pr-Py

R

Ra

Re-Rz

S

Sa-Si

Sk-Sl

So

St

Su-Sy

Sz

Ś

T

U

W

Wa-Wę

Wi-Wł

Wo-Wy

Z

Ż

Localities by Population

According to the law there are two main types of localities (Polish: miejscowość):^[4]

• a) independent localities (miejscowość samodzielna) called in register as basic localities (miejscowość podstawowa) - e.g. a city/town and a village, these are always independent localities, and
• b) not independent localities (miejscowość niesamodzielna) integral parts of localities, each of which belongs to some basic locality - e.g. part of city/town, part of village, hamlet and housing estate, these are always not independent localities, however e.g. settlement and colony, these can be independent or not independent localities.

In 2015 there was 103,086 official names of localities and their parts, including (23 types):^[5]

• 915 names of cities and towns (miasto),

6,710 names of parts of cities and towns (część miasta),

• 43,069 names of villages (wieś),

36,262 names of parts of villages (część wsi),

520 names of settlements of villages (osada wsi),

974 names of colonies of villages (kolonia wsi),

224 names of forest settlements of villages (osada leśna wsi),

5 names of housing estates of villages (osiedle wsi),

4,619 names of hamlets of villages (przysiółek wsi),

• 5,132 names of settlements (osada),

10 names of parts of settlements (część osady),

3 names of settlements of settlements (osada osady),

6 names of colonies of settlements (kolonia osady),

56 names of hamlets of settlements (przysiółek osady),

• 2,203 names of colonies (kolonia),

200 names of parts of colonies (część kolonii),

0 names of settlements of colonies (osada kolonii),

11 names of colonies of colonies (kolonia kolonii),

41 names of hamlets of colonies (przysiółek kolonii),

• 1,966 names of forest settlements (osada leśna),
• 5 names of housing estates (osiedle),
• 133 names of hamlets (przysiółek),
• 22 names of tourist refuges (schronisko turystyczne).

Thus, there are 53,445 of independent localities, called basic localities (8 types: "urban" - cities/towns, "rural" - villages, settlements, colonies, forest settlements, housing estates, hamlets and tourist refuges) and 49,641 of not independent localities, integral parts of basic localities (15 types: "urban" - parts of cities and towns, "rural" - parts of villages, settlements of villages, colonies of villages, forest settlements of villages, housing estates of villages, hamlets of villages, parts of settlements, settlements of settlements, colonies of settlements, hamlets of settlements, parts of colonies, settlements of colonies, colonies of colonies and hamlets of colonies).

A statistical locality (miejscowość statystyczna)^[4] is a separated collection of several localities (out of all 23 types) for statistical purposes, for which statistical data are collected and compiled together. In a special case, the team may contain only one locality. There are two types of statistical localities:

I - city/town (miasto) including one "urban" basic locality and their integral parts, and

II - rural locality (miejscowość wiejska) including at least one "rural" basic locality and their integral parts.

In 2011 there was 42,490 of statistical localities.^[6] Thus, a large number (approx. 11,000) of the "rural" basic localities is taken together under the statistical localities (however, this data do not stipulate how many of tham are fully uninhabited).

Footnotes

See also

• List of former cities of Poland
• List of Polish cities 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)

External links

• Castles of Poland
• Central Statistical Office of Poland
• City Population: Poland (statistics & map)
• Map at Archive.today (archived 2012-12-16)