Upper Silesian Industrial Region Explained

The Upper Silesian Industrial Region (Polish: Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy, pronounced as /pl/, Polish abbreviation: GOP pronounced as /pl/; German: Oberschlesisches Industriegebiet) is a large industrial region in Poland.^[1] It lies mainly in the Silesian Voivodeship, centered on Katowice.

It is situated in the northern part of Upper Silesian Coal Basin, a home of altogether 5 million people (Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area). In the south-west it borders the Rybnik Coal Area (Polish: Rybnicki Okręg Węglowy, ROW). Covers 3,200 km² and about 3.5 million people.

The Upper Silesian Industrial Region is located in the province of Upper Silesia and Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland in a basin between the Vistula and Oder rivers.

Upper Silesian Industrial Region is an area with enormous concentration of industry. Dominates here:

• Mining industry (more than a dozen active coal mines, mainly as Katowicki Holding Węglowy, Kompania Węglowa, JSW, Węglokoks)
• Iron and steel industry (more than a dozen active iron and nonferrous metals)
• Transport industry (example General Motors Manufacturing Poland and Fiat Auto Poland, Alstom Konstal, Bumar-Łabędy)
• The energy industry (more than a dozen plants)
• Mechanical engineering
• Chemical industry

See also

• Metropolis GZM
• Rybnik Coal Area

Literature

• "Katowice i Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy" - Krystyna Szaraniec & Lech Szaraniec & Karol Szarowski, Katowickie Towarzystwo Społeczno-Kulturalne, Katowice 1980
• "Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy: liczby, fakty, problemy" - Marek Grabania, Wydawnictwo Śląsk, Katowice 1964
• "Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy w świetle nowych opracowań zachodnioniemieckich" - Marian Frank, Silesian Institute in Katowice, Katowice 1960

Notes and References

1. "Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy" - PWN Encyclopedia