śląskie

LOCATION

The śląskie province is situated in the southern part of Poland. It belongs to the smallest regions of Poland – it covers the territory  of 12 294 km². It is divided into 17 districts, 19 cities having district rights and 165 communes; 68 cities. The city of Katowice is the administrative center. The main cities are: Katowice, Częstochowa, Sosnowiec, Gliwice, Bytom, Zabrze, Bielsko – Biała. The region of Silesia (Śląsk) belongs to one of the strongest economic districts in Poland (the second after the mazowieckie province). The dynamic activity of the industry present here and the development of the private sector and services contribute to this state of affairs. Silesia is a mining region with 38 open mines of hard bituminous coal as well as 25 mills and mill factories and 43 power plants, and heat and power plants. Thanks to the conducted reorganization of the whole economy, there has been improved the efficiency of mines and there occurred a development of such industrial branches as: electronics, car industry, foodstuff processing, computer science and services from the tourism area.

NATURE AND TOURISM

The most interesting tourist regions of this province are the Częstochowska Upland and the Beskidy Zachodnie range. The attraction of the Częstochowska Upland (with the Landscape Park The Eagle Nests) are picturesque rocks and inselbergs having fantastic shapes (karst phenomena), gorges, valleys and numerous caves. In the corner of the Upland – on the border with the małopolskie province – there is the Błędowska Desert – the greatest area of airy sands of a post – glacial origin in Poland. In the following towns there occur recreation – tourist centers: Poraj (by the lake Poraj), Żarki – Letnisko, Golden Stream (Złoty Potok). A well – developed and willingly visited by tourists is the mountain area – the Beskidy Zachodnie range (especially the Beskid Śląski and Żywiecki range) with many rest – recreation centers. There are here very good conditions for doing winter sports (especially Szczyrk – the ski lift on the Skrzyczne mountain) and for mountain hiking tourism. The retention reservoirs on the Soła river – the Międzybrodzkie Lake and the Żywieckie Lake are the place for doing water sports. The attraction of the Beskid Mały range is the picturesque Soła River Gorge. The city of Częstochowa with the Jasna Mountain (Jasna Góra) is the biggest center of religious cult in Poland.

Accommodations: 793

Other attractions: 679

Events in the area: 198