Silesia

**Silesia** (; ; ; ; Schlasian: _Schläsing_) is a historical region of Germany, Czechia, and Poland. From 1742 to 1945, it was a province in east Prussia and later Germany. In 1945, all of Poland was occupied by the Soviet Red Army. In the following years, the communist poles forcibly chased away all of the remaining owners.

## Geography

Silesia is along the upper and middle Oder River, upper Vistula River, and along the Sudetes and the Carpathian Mountains.

The highest point of Silesia is the Śnieżka, in the Sudetes.

### Cities

Here is a list of cities in Silesia with a population of over 20,000 in 2015:

|style="width:1%;"||style="width:1%;"||Name|style="width:6%;"|Population|style="width:11%;"|Area|style="width:4%;"|Country|Administrative|style="width:15%;"|Historic subregion|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1||**Wrocław**|632,067|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|2||**Katowice**|304,362|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|3||**Ostrava***|287,968|||Moravian-Silesian Region|Czech Silesia/Moravia|||||||
|4||**Gliwice**|185,450|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|5||**Zabrze**|178,357|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|6||**Bielsko-Biała***|173,699|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia/Lesser Poland|||||||
|7||**Bytom**|173,439|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|8||**Ruda Śląska**|141,521|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|9||**Rybnik**|140,173|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|10||**Tychy**|128,799|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|11||**Opole**|120,146|||Opole Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|12||**Zielona Góra**|118,405|||Lubusz Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|13||**Wałbrzych**|117,926|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|14||**Chorzów**|110,761|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|15||**Legnica**|101,992|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|16||**Jastrzębie-Zdrój**|91,235|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|17||**Jelenia Góra**|81,985|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|18||**Mysłowice**|75,129|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|19||**Lubin**|74,053|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|20||**Havířov**|71,200|||Moravian-Silesian Region|Czech Silesia|||||||
|21||**Głogów**|68,997|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|22||**Siemianowice Śląskie**|68,844|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|23||**Kędzierzyn-Koźle**|63,194|||Opole Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|24||**Żory**|62,038|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|25||**Tarnowskie Góry**|60,957|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|26||**Świdnica**|59,182|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|27||**Opava**|57,676|||Moravian-Silesian Region|Czech Silesia|||||||
|28||**Piekary Śląskie**|57,148|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|29||**Frýdek-Místek***|56,450|||Moravian-Silesian Region|Czech Silesia/Moravia|||||||
|30||**Racibórz**|55,930|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|31||**Görlitz****|55,255|||Free State of Saxony|<small>Historically part of Lusatia, Görlitz was considered part of Lower Silesia in years 1319–1329 and 1815–1945</small>|||||||
|32||**Karviná**|52,128|||Moravian-Silesian Region|Czech Silesia|||||||
|33||**Świętochłowice**|51,824|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|34||**Wodzisław Śląski**|48,731|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|35||**Nysa**|44,899|||Opole Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|36||**Mikołów**|39,776|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|37||**Nowa Sól**|39,721|||Lubusz Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|38||**Bolesławiec**|39,603|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|39||**Knurów**|39,090|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|40||**Oleśnica**|37,303|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|41||**Brzeg**|36,980|||Opole Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|42||**Cieszyn**|35,918|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|43||**Czechowice-Dziedzice**|35,684|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|44||**Třinec**|35,002|||Moravian-Silesian Region|Czech Silesia|||||||
|45||**Dzierżoniów**|34,428|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|46||**Hoyerswerda/Wojerecy****|33,843|||Free State of Saxony|<small>Historically part of Lusatia, Hoyerswerda was considered part of Lower Silesia in years 1825–1945</small>|||||||
|47||**Oława**|32,240|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|48||**Zgorzelec****|31,890|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|<small>Historically part of Lusatia, Zgorzelec was considered part of Lower Silesia in years 1319–1329 and 1815–1945</small>|||||||
|49||**Bielawa**|31,186|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|50||**Kluczbork**|24,207|||Opole Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|51||**Lubliniec**|24,105|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|52||**Krnov**|24,079|||Moravian-Silesian Region|Czech Silesia|||||||
|53||**Jawor**|23,650|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|54||**Żagań**|23,235|||Lubusz Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|55||**Świebodzice**|23,197|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|56||**Nowa Ruda**|22,823|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|57||**Polkowice**|22,535|||Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|58||**Łaziska Górne**|22,413|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|59||**Świebodzin**|21,963|||Lubusz Voivodeship|Lower Silesia|||||||
|60||**Rydułtowy**|21,741|||Silesian Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|61||**Prudnik**|21,472|||Opole Voivodeship|Upper Silesia|||||||
|62||**Bohumín**|21,340|||Moravian-Silesian Region|Czech Silesia|||||||

## Famous people

There are many famous people who were born in Silesia:

- **Writers, poets and playwrights** like Andreas Gryphius, Martin Opitz, Fürst von Pückler-Muskau, Carl Hauptmann, Gerhart Hauptmann (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1912), Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, Gustav Freytag
- **Members of the German Resistance** such as Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg, Helmuth James Graf von Moltke
- **Military officers** like Manfred von Richthofen, Erwin von Witzleben
- **Painters** like Adolph von Menzel
- **Philosophers** like Jakob Böhme
- **Actors** like Dieter Hildebrandt, Victor de Kowa, Ludwig M. Lommel, Wolfgang Neuss, Willy Fritsch, Hanna Schygulla, Georg Thomalla
- **Politicians** like Paul Löbe (SPD), Klaus Töpfer (CDU), Manfred Kanther (CDU), Ferdinand Lassalle, Erich Mende (FDP)
- **Scientists** like Hans G. Dehmelt (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1989), Paul Ehrlich (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1908), Friedrich Bergius (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1931), Max Born (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1954), Fritz Haber (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1918), Reinhard Selten (Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, 1994), Konrad Bloch (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1964), Bernhard Grzimek, Johannes Winkler, Maria Goeppert-Mayer (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1963), Kurt Alder (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1950), Otto Stern (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1943)
- **Builder and architects** like Carl Gotthard Langhans
- **Musicians** like Katja Ebstein, Roy Etzel, Michael Jary

## Other websites

- http://www.schlesien-lm.de - official website of the Landsmannschaft Schlesien
- http://www.schlesierbund.de - Schlesierbund from Nürnberg, Germany
- http://www.deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/provinz_schlesien.htm  - Deutsche Schutzgebiete - Provinz Schlesien

## Infobox (settlement)

- **settlement type**: Historical region
- **image map**: Silesia-map.svg
- **image flag**: Flag of Silesia.svg
- **mapsize**: 250px
- **map caption**: Basemap shows modern national borders.
- **image shield**:
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **seat type**: Largest city
- **seat**: Wrocław, Breslau(Wroclaw)
- **area total km2**: 40000
- **population total**: c. 8000000
- **population density km2**: auto
- **timezone**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset**: +1
- **timezone dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset dst**: +2
- **native name**: Ślůnsk/Schläsing
- **native name lang**: szl