ZASP

Warsaw (Warszawa) has been Poland's capital since 1596 and is home to over 1.75 million people. As one of the most important transportation, economic and commercial centers in Central and Eastern Europe, Warsaw enjoys great political and cultural importance. The city is home to numerous institutions, universities, theaters, museums and monuments. Located on either side of the Vistula River in the Mazovian Voivodeship, Warsaw is the center of Poland's second-largest conurbation, with around 3.5 million inhabitants. The urban area is divided into 18 districts, of which Śródmieście forms the city center and the reconstructed Old Town of Warsaw, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Warsaw is bordered by Legionowo, Marki, Ząbki, Zielonka, Sulejówek, Halinów, Józefów, Konstancin-Jeziorna, Piaseczno, Pruszków, Piastów, Ożarów, Łomianki and Jabłonna. Thanks to its favorable position on the trade route along the Vistula, Warsaw emerged in the early Middle Ages. However, the city only gained political importance in the 15th century when the Dukes of Mazovia moved their seat to Warsaw. In the 16th century, thanks to its central position between Krakow and Vilnius, Warsaw became the seat of parliament and power of the Polish-Lithuanian noble republic. Its heyday was the 17th and 18th centuries. Even after the partitions of Poland, the city continued to grow rapidly thanks to industrialization in the 19th century, and became the third-largest city in the Tsarist Russian Empire. After the First World War, Warsaw became the capital of the Second Polish Republic. Warsaw was almost entirely destroyed during the Second World War. After the war, the city was largely rebuilt true to the original, and the lovingly reconstructed Old Town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980.