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| Etymology | |
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The English translation of Białystok is "white slope".[2] Due to changing borders over the centuries, the city has been known as Belarusian: Беласток (Biełastok [bʲeɫaˈstok]), Yiddish: ביאַליסטאָק (Byalistok, Bjalistok), Ukrainian: Білосток Bilostok, Lithuanian: Baltstogė (Balstogė) and Russian: Белосток (Belostok). The Linguist A. P. Nepokupnyj proposes that the language source for Białystok is Yotvingian. Names with the -stok suffix as a second element of a hydronym are localized in the basin of the upper Narew.[3]
[edit] Tags:Wi,Edit,Belarusian,[bʲeɫaˈstok],Yiddish:,Ukrainian,Lithuanian,Russian,Yotvingian,Hydronym,Narew,Yotvingia, | |
| History | |
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For more details on this topic, see History of Białystok.
Branicki Palace
Archaeological discoveries show that the first settlements in the area of present day Białystok occurred during the Stone Age. Tombs of ancient settlers can be found in the district of Dojlidy.[4] In the early Iron Age a mix of Prussians, Yotvingians and Wielbark culture people settled in the area producing kurgans, the tombs of the chiefs in the area located in the current village of Rostołty.[5] Since then, the Białystok area has been at the crossroads of cultures. Trade routes linking the Baltic to the Black Sea favored the development of settlements with Yotvingia-Ruthenian-Polish cultural characteristics.[5]
The city of Białystok has existed for five centuries and during this time the fate of the city has been affected by various political and economic forces.
Surviving documents attest that around 1437 a representative of the Raczków family, Jakub Tabutowicz of the coat of arms Łabędź, received from Michael Žygimantaitis son of Sigismund Kęstutaitis, Duke of Lithuania, a wilderness area located along the river Biała that marked the beginning of Białystok as a settlement.[2][6]
Between the years 1617 and 1626 the first brick church and a castle were built. The two-floor castle, designed on a rectangular plan in the Gothic-Renaissance style, was the work of Job Bretfus. Extension of the castle was continued by Krzysztof Wiesiołowski, starost of Tykocin, Grand Marshal of Lithuania since 1635, and husband of Aleksandra Marianna Sobieska.[7] In 1637 he died childless, and as a result Białystok came under the management of his widow. After her death in 1645 the Wiesiołowski estate, including Białystok, passed to the Commonwealth in order to cover the costs of maintaining Tykocin Castle. In the years 1645–1659 Białystok was managed by the governors of Tykocin and was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[7][8]
In 1661 it was given to Stefan Czarniecki as a reward for his service in the victory over the Swedes during the Deluge. Four years later, it was given as a dowry of his daughter Aleksandra, who married Jan Klemens Branicki, thus passing into the hands of the Branicki family.[9][10] In 1692, Stefan Mikołaj Branicki, the son of Jan Klemens Branicki (Marshal of the Crown Court), obtained city rights for Białystok from King John III Sobieski. He constructed the Branicki Palace on the foundations of the castle of the Wiesiołowski family.[11] In the second half of the eighteenth century the ownership of the city was inherited by Field Crown Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki.[2] It was he who transformed the palace built by his father into a magnificent residence of a great noble.[12][13]
The end of the eighteenth century saw the division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in three steps, among the neighboring states. The Kingdom of Prussia acquired Białystok and the surrounding region during the third partition. The city became the capital of the New East Prussia province in 1795.[14] Prussia lost the territory following Napoleon Bonaparte's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition as the resultant 1807 Treaties of Tilsit awarded the area to the Russian Empire which then organized the region into the Belostok Oblast,[15] with the city as the regional center.[16]
At the end of the nineteenth century, the majority of the city's population was Jewish. According to Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 66,000, Jews constituted 41,900 (so around 63% percent).[17] This heritage can be seen on the Jewish Heritage Trail in Białystok.[18]
During World War I the Bialystok-Grodno District was the administrative division of German-controlled territory of Ober-Ost. It comprised the city, as the capital, and the surrounding Podlaskie region, roughly corresponding to the territory of the earlier Belostok Oblast.[19][20] At the end of World War I the city became part of the newly independent Second Polish Republic, as the capital of the Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939).[21]
With the beginning of World War II, Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union and initially the city came under Soviet control, as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It was incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR from 1939 to 1941 as the capital of the Belastok Voblast[22][23] After the Nazi attack on Soviet Union in 1941, the area was taken over by Germans and the city became the capital of Bezirk Białystok, a separate region in German occupied Poland, until 1944.[24][25]
Białystok Ghetto, 1941–1943
From the very beginning, the Nazis pursued a ruthless policy of pillage and removal of the non-German population. The 56,000 Jewish residents of the town were confined in a ghetto.[26] On August 15, 1943, the Białystok Ghetto Uprising began, and several hundred Polish Jews and members of the Anti-Fascist Military Organisation (Polish: Antyfaszystowska Organizacja Bojowa) started an armed struggle against the German troops who were carrying out the planned liquidation of the ghetto with deportations to the Treblinka extermination camp.[27]
The city had been liberated by the Red Army and on 20 September 1944 transferred to Poland. After the war, the city became capital of the initial Białystok Voivodeship (1945–1975) of the People's Republic of Poland.[28][29][30] After the 1975 administrative reorganization, the city was the capital of the smaller Białystok Voivodeship (1975–1998).[31] Since 1999 it has been the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship, Republic of Poland.[31]
City hall
Fountain at the Market Square
Old houses on Kosciusko's Market in Białystok
The papal altar at the Shrine of Divine Mercy
[edit] Tags:Poland,Voivodeship,Podlaskie,Dojlidy,Podlaskie Voivodeship,Jan Klemens Branicki,History Of Białystok,Branicki Palace,Stone Age,Iron Age,Prussians,Yotvingians,Wielbark Culture,Kurgans,Rostołty,Ruthenian,Łabędź,Michael Žygimantaitis,Sigismund Kęstutaitis,Job Bretfus,Krzysztof Wiesiołowski,Starost,Tykocin Castle,Tykocin,Grand Duchy Of Lithuania,Stefan Czarniecki,Deluge,Branicki Family,John Iii Sobieski,Field Crown Hetman,Division,Polish–lithuanian Commonwealth,Kingdom Of Prussia,Białystok And The Surrounding Region,Third Partition,New East Prussia,Napoleon Bonaparte,War Of The Fourth Coalition,Treaties Of Tilsit,Russian Empire,Belostok Oblast,Russian Census Of 1897,Jewish Heritage Trail In Białystok,World War I,German, | |
| Geography | |
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Biała River near Białystok
Białystok is situated 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.[32][33] 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 and kame in excess of 200 m (660 ft) above sea level. Vast areas of outwash, a glacial plain formed of sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a glacier, are covered by forests.[33]
Forests are an important part of the city character, they currently occupy approximately 1,756 ha (4,340 acres) (17.2% of the administrative area of the city) which places it as the fifth most "wooded" city in Poland; behind Katowice (38%), Bydgoszcz (30%), Toruń (22.9%) and Gdańsk (17.6%).[34]
Part of Knyszyn Forest is preserved within the city limits by two nature reserves—a total area of 105 ha (260 acres).[35] The Zwierzyniecki Forest Nature Reserve (Polish: Rezerwat przyrody Las Zwierzyniecki), which is contained within the city limits, is a fragment, 33.48 ha (82.7 acres), of the riparian forest with a dominant assemblage of oak and hornbeam.[36] The Antoniuk Nature Reserve (Polish: Rezerwat Przyrody Antoniuk) is a 70.07 ha (173.1 acres) park in the city that preserves the natural state of a forest fragment characteristic of the Białystok Upland, with a dominant mixed forest of hazel and spruce.[37]
Dojlidy Ponds Recreation Area
The 40 ha (99 acres) of forests lying in the vicinity of the Dojlidy Ponds are administered by the Central Sports and Recreation Center in Białystok (Polish: Miejski Ośrodek Sportu i Rekreacji w Białymstoku – MOSiR). The Dojlidy Ponds recreation area includes a public beach, walking trails, birdwatching and fishing.[38]
Climate
The city has a Warm Summer Continental or Hemiboreal climate (Dfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system, characterized by warm temperatures during summer and long and frosty winters.[39] It is substantially different from most of the other Polish lowlands.[39] The region is one of the coldest in Poland, with the average temperature in January being −6 °C (21 °F).[39] The average temperature in a year is 7 °C (45 °F).[39] 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.[39] Mean annual rainfall values oscillate around 580 mm (22.8 in), and the vegetation period lasts 200 to 210 days.[39]
Climate data for Białystok
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °C (°F)
12
(54)
16
(61)
20
(68)
24
(75)
30
(86)
30
(86)
33
(91)
32
(90)
28
(82)
22
(72)
12
(54)
11
(52)
33
(91)
Average high °C (°F)
−1
(30)
0
(32)
4
(39)
11
(52)
17
(63)
20
(68)
21
(70)
21
(70)
16
(61)
10
(50)
3
(37)
1
(34)
10.3
(50.5)
Average low °C (°F)
−6
(21)
−6
(21)
−2
(28)
1
(34)
7
(45)
10
(50)
12
(54)
11
(52)
7
(45)
3
(37)
0
(32)
−3
(27)
2
(36)
Record low °C (°F)
−34
(−29)
−25
(−13)
−23
(−9)
−7
(19)
−3
(27)
1
(34)
5
(41)
2
(36)
−4
(25)
−10
(14)
−16
(3)
−26
(−15)
−34
(−29)
Precipitation mm (inches)
30
(1.18)
20
(0.79)
30
(1.18)
30
(1.18)
50
(1.97)
70
(2.76)
70
(2.76)
70
(2.76)
50
(1.97)
40
(1.57)
40
(1.57)
40
(1.57)
580
(22.83)
Avg. precipitation days
8
7
8
8
8
10
10
9
9
8
10
10
106
Avg. rainy days
7
7
8
9
7
8
8
7
8
9
9
6
93
Avg. snowy days
9
10
7
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
7
41
Sunshine hours
21
54
139
138
207
236
217
205
162
97
27
20
1,523
Source no. 1: Weatherbase[40]
Source no. 2: ClimateData.eu[41]
[edit] Tags:Biała River,Central, | |
| Districts and Metropolitan Region | |
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Lipowa Street in Białystok at night
Districts of Białystok
Main article: Districts of Białystok
The city of Białystok is divided into 28 administrative units, known in Polish as osiedla.[42][43] The first 27 of these were created on October 25, 2004.[42] The 28th, Dojlidy Górne, was created by on October 23, 2006, out of three settlements which had been incorporated into the city: Dojlidy Górne, Kolonia Halickie, and Zagórki.[42]
The center of the city, Osiedle Centrum, surrounds Lipowa Street, the main street of the city. Lipowa Street extends from Rynek Kościuszki (the corner of Spółdzielczej Street) to Plac Niepodległości im. Romana Dmowskiego (the corner of Krakowska Street).[44] Over the centuries the name of this exclusive and elegant street has taken on a number of different names; Choroszcz, Nowolipie, Lipowa, Jozef Pilsudski, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, once again, to return, after the end of World War II, to its original name – Lipowa Street.
The city covers 10,212 ha (25,230 acres) of which 3,210 ha (7,900 acres) is agricultural land, 4,889 ha (12,080 acres) is urbanized areas, 85 ha (210 acres) is surface waters and 65 ha (160 acres) is wasteland.[45] The composition of the districts vary from residential near the city center, with a combination of multi-story apartment buildings and individual houses on small parcels, to industrial and agricultural at the city edges.[45]
Lipowa Street in Centrum, Białystok
Metropolitan Białystok
Main article: Metropolitan Białystok
Metropolitan Białystok was designated by the Voivodeship of the Regulation No. 52/05 of 16 May 2005 [46] to help develop the region economically. In 2006, the metropolitan area population was 450,254 inhabitants.[47] The municipalities adjacent to Białystok are slowly losing their agricultural character, becoming residential suburban neighborhoods with single-family housing and small businesses.[48]
[edit] Tags:Osiedle Centrum,Districts,Osiedla,Centrum,Metro, | |
| Demographics | |
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Main article: Demographics of Białystok
In June 2009, the population of the city was 294,399,[48] among cities of Poland, Białystok is second in terms of population density, eleventh in population, and thirteenth in area.[49]
Historically, Białystok has been a destination for internal and foreign immigration, especially from Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to the Polish minority, there was a significant Jewish majority in Białystok. According to Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 66,000, Jews constituted 41,900 (around 63% percent).[17] Białystok's pre-World War II Jewish population constituted about 63 percent of the city's total population of 107,000.[26] World War II changed all of this, in 1939, around 107,000 people lived in Białystok,[50] but in 1946 – only 56,759, and to this day there is much less ethnic diversity than in the previous 300 years of the city's history.[26] Currently the city's population is 97% Polish, 2.5% Belarusian and 0.5% of a number of minorities including Russians, Lipka Tatars, Ukrainians and Romani.[51] Most of the modern day population growth is based on internal migration within Poland and urbanization of surrounding areas.[51]
[edit] Tags:Eastern Europe, | |
| Governance | |
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Main article: Governance of Białystok
City government
Białystok, like other major cities in Poland, is a city county (Polish: Miasto na prawach powiatu).[52] The Legislative power in the city is vested in the unicameral Białystok City Council (Polish: Rada Miasta), which has 28 members.[53] Council members are elected direct Tags:County, | |
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