Why the Silesia province?
The Silesian Voivodeship is the most important industrial region, located in the southern part of Poland. The region neighbours Opolskie, Łódzkie, Świętokrzyskie and Małopolskie voivodeships, borders the Czech Republic and Slovakia from the south. Six European capitals are within the reach of 600 kilometres from the capital of the region-Katowice, namely: Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Vienna, Budapest and Berlin.
Silesia is polycentric - administration, universities, cultural institutions and major companies are mostly concentrated in large cities belonging to the Silesian agglomeration, such as Katowice, Sosnowiec, Bytom, Gliwice, Zabrze, Tychy and Chorzów. Significant role is also played by the capitals of sub-regions: Rybnik, Bielsko-Biała and Częstochowa.
A high degree of urbanisation is reflected by the fact that almost 77% of Silesians live in 71 cities, of which:
- 3 have over than 200,000 citizens,
- 9 have from 100,000 to 200,000 citizens,
- 11 have from 50,000 to 100,000 citizens.
What results from the above is that every third Polish major city is located in the Silesian Voivodeship. The region is the 14th largest, and 2nd most populated in Poland. This relatively small territory, covering an area of 12,333 km2, which is 3.9 % of Poland’s total area, is inhabited by over 4,5 mln people, which accounts for 11.8 % of Poland’s population – the highest in Poland population density index, i.e. 369 people/km2 against 123 people/km2 for Poland and 114 people/km2 reported in the UE. Such high human concentration on a relatively small area creates a very good market.
Being the largest urbanized area in the Central-Eastern Europe, the Upper Silesian agglomeration decides about the uniqueness of the region. The local urban network is very dense and consists of cities and towns which are actually connected with one another, stretching for approximately 70 km – from Dąbrowa Górnicza to Gliwice. The region boasts 32 higher education institutions, hundred thousands of companies and Poland’s most developed railway and tram networks.
up-dating: February 2019
