page_title: Białystok
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Białystok / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Biała river near Fasty village (gmina Dobrzyniewo Duże), seen from road bridge. Polski: Rzeka Biała w okolicach wsi Fasty (gmina Dobrzyniewo Duże), widziana z mostu drogowego.
context_page_description: Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and is the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is in the Podlaskie Plain on the banks of the Biała River in the Podlaskie region, known collectively as the Green Lungs of Poland.
  The city charter dates back to 1692, but settlement activity in the area dates back to the 14th century. Białystok has traditionally been one of the leading center of academic, cultural and artistic life in Podlaskie and is the most important economic center in northeastern Poland. The location of the city in the neighborhood of Belarus, Lithuania and Russia, with convenient transportation connections, creates excellent conditions for economic and cultural development of the city. The geographical and historical conditions helped to foster Białystok as a place where people of different cultures, religions and nationalities lived together for centuries. It has shaped the specific character of the city – openness, friendliness and hospitality.
  Among cities of Poland, Białystok is second in terms of population density, eleventh in population, and thirteenth in area. The city and its adjacent municipalities constitute Metropolitan Białystok.
context_section_description: Białystok is in the Białystok Uplands (Polish: Wysoczyzna Białostocka) of the Podlaskie Plain (Polish: Nizina Północnopodlaska), part of what is known collectively as the Green Lungs of Poland. The Biała River, a left tributary of the Supraśl River, passes through the city.
  The landscape of the Białystok Upland is diverse, with high moraine hills in excess of  200 m (660 ft) above sea level. Vast areas of outwash are occupied by forests, which created a number of nature reserves including Knyszyn Forest, of which a portion exists within the city limits.
  The city has a Warm Summer Continental climate (Dfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system, which is characterized by warm temperatures during summer and long and frosty winters. It is substantially different from most of the other Polish lowlands. The region is one of the coldest in Poland, with the average temperature in January being −5 °C (23 °F). The average temperature in a year is 7 °C (45 °F). The number of frost days ranges from 50 to 60, with frost from 110 to 138 days and the duration of snow cover from 90 to 110 days. Mean annual rainfall values oscillate around 550 millimetres (21.7 in), and the vegetation period lasts 200 to 210 days.
caption: Biała River near Białystok
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