**Polis** means a city, a city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens. In context with Ancient Greece *polis* means nearly always "city-state."

The word originates from the ancient Greek city-states, which developed during the Archaic period and existed well into Roman times, when the equivalent Latin word was *civitas*, that means 'citizenhood' as well.

An ancient *polis* often centered around a citadel, called the *acropolis*. Nearly always it had an *agora* (market) and typically one or more temples and a *gymnasium*. Many citizens of a *polis* did not live in the central city but in the suburbs or countryside. The Greeks regarded the *polis* as a religious and political association: while the *polis* would control territory and colonies beyond the city itself, the *polis* would not simply consist of a geographical area.

Words coming from "polis"
-------------------------

Modern European languages have many words that come from *polis*. In English there are **policy**, **polity**, **police** and **politics.** In Greek, words coming from *polis* include *politēs* and *politismos*.

A number of words end in the word "-polis". Most refer to a special kind of city and/or state. Some examples are:

* Megalopolis, made by adding Greek word for "big" and meaning a conurbation built by merging several cities and their suburbs.
* Metropolis, made by adding the Greek word for "mother" and meaning the mother city of a colony, the see of a metropolitan archbishop, or a Metropolitan area.

Other refer to part of a city or a group of cities, such as:

* Acropolis, 'high city' — upper part of a polis, often citadel and/or site of major temple(s).
* Tripolis, a group of three cities, retained in the names of a Tripoli in Libya and a namesake in Lebanon

### Other cities

The names of several other towns and cities in Europe and the Middle East have contained the suffix "*-polis*" since antiquity; or currently feature modernized spellings, such as "*-pol*". Some of the examples are:

* **Heliopolis**, Egypt
* **Persepolis**, Iran
* **Sevastopol**, Crimea, Ukraine

The names of other cities were also given the suffix "*-polis*" after antiquity, either referring to ancient names or simply unrelated:

* **Annapolis**, Maryland, United States of America
* **Indianapolis**, Indiana, United States of America
* **Minneapolis**, Minnesota, United States of America
* **Illiopolis**, Illinois, United States of America
* **Metropolis**, Illinois, United States of America
* Demopolis, Alabama, United States of America
* Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
* Thermopolis, Wyoming, Unites States of America

Their are a large number of cities ending in polis located in Brazil, particularly in the state of Goiás. Examples include:

* Anápolis
* Nerópolis
* Pirenópolis
* Figueirópolis
* Palmeirópolis

Further reading
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* Hansen, Mogens Herman. *Polis: An Introduction to the Ancient Greek City-State*. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 0-19-920849-2; paperback, ISBN 0-19-920850-6).
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|  | *This article includes text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Please add to the article as needed.* |