Gdańsk ( gə-DANSK, also US:  gə-DAHNSK; Polish: [ɡdaɲsk] (listen); German: Danzig [ˈdantsɪç] (listen); Kashubian: Gduńsk; Latin: Gedanum, Dantiscum) is a city on the Baltic coast of northern Poland. With a population of 470,805, Gdańsk is the capital and largest city of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the most prominent city in the geographical region of Pomerania. It is Poland's principal seaport and the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city is situated at the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay, in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, the resort town of Sopot, and suburban communities; these form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto), with a population of approximately 1.5 million. Gdańsk lies at the mouth of the Motława River, connected to the Leniwka, a branch in the delta of the Vistula River, which drains 60 percent of Poland and connects Gdańsk with the Polish capital, Warsaw.
The city's history is complex, with periods of Polish, Prussian and German rule, and periods of autonomy as a free city-state. An important shipbuilding port and trade point since the Middle Ages, in 1361 it became a member of the Hanseatic League which defined its economic, demographic and urban landscape for several centuries. From 1918 to 1939, Gdańsk lay in the disputed Polish Corridor between Poland and Germany; its ambiguous political status created tensions that culminated in the Invasion of Poland and the first clash of the Second World War at nearby Westerplatte. The contemporary city was shaped by extensive border changes, expulsions and new settlement in or after 1945. In the 1980s, Gdańsk was the birthplace of the Solidarity movement, which played a major role in bringing an end to Communism in Poland and helped precipitate the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact.
Gdańsk is home to the University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk University of Technology, the National Museum, the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre, the Museum of the Second World War, the Polish Baltic Philharmonic and the European Solidarity Centre. The city also hosts St. Dominic's Fair, which dates back to 1260, and is regarded as one of the biggest trade and cultural events in Europe. Gdańsk has also topped rankings for the quality of life, safety and living standards worldwide, and its historic city center has been listed as one of Poland's national monuments.


The German name for Gdańsk is Danzig. The city's Latin name may be given as either Gedania, Gedanum or Dantiscum; the variety of Latin names reflects the mixed influence of Poles, Germans and Kashubians on this city. Other former spellings of the name include Dantsic and Dagstrica (in Polish), Danish: Danziger, Dutch: Danzig (historical English form: Dantzick), Estonian: Taaniske Italian :Danzica).
Gdynia ([ɡdɨˈnʲa], listen ) is a city in northern Poland, on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. It lies between Tricity to its north-west side and Warsaw to its south-east side .

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