The country's largest seaport and shipbuilding centre, 354 km (220 miles) north-west of the capital, Warsaw. It is the focus of Trojmiasto (Tri-City) - the combined urban area of Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia, which stretches for 40 km (25 miles) along the Gulf of Gdansk, and has a million inhabitants.
Gdansk was already a large Polish stronghold, fishing port, and crafts and amber-trading town 1000 years ago. At different times since then it has been ruled by Poles, Teutonic Knights and Germans. For 28 years (1807-15 and 1919-39) it was the Free City of Danzig. Hitler's claim to the city in 1939 led to the German invasion of Poland and the start of the Second World War. A member of the Hanseatic League of mostly north German towns from 1343, Gdansk prospered on trade. Shipbuilding began only in 1850, and most of its other main industries - engineering, chemicals and food processing - began only after 1950.
Gothic churches, a Renaissance town hall and the 14th-century Great Mill are the pride of the oldest parts of the city. The medieval layout survives, with nine parallel streets ending at the river with watergates, where goods were once loaded and unloaded. Each August, the city holds the Dominican Fair - a good time to buy souvenirs and antiques.
Three crosses stand outside the Lenin Shipyard, one of the city's largest. In 1980, the yard was the birthplace of Solidarity, Eastern Europe's only independent trade union, banned in 1981, but still in existence. The crosses were set up to commemorate workers killed in civil demonstrations following massive increases in food prices in 1970.
Population 464 500
Gdynia (Gdingen)
Baltic seaport 16 km (10 miles) north-west of Gdansk. Founded as a fishing village in 1224, the port now handles about 18 million tonnes of cargo a year.
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