WROCŁAW: Population: 644,000. Area: 292.8 sq km. Situated in the southwest of the country, it is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland (bishopric estabilished in A.D. 1000). A central location in the heart of Europe, where trade routes from the south to the Baltic Sea and from the west to Russia have crossed for centuries, gives the city great advantages and creates unique possibilities for further development. Thanks to the international airport, a well developed railway network, land routes, and the Oder River waterway, Wrocław is well connected to nearby major European cities (Warsaw, Berlin, Vienna).

Wrocław is a center of industry, trade, science and culture. Twelve academies and universities with several Polish Academy of Science (PAN) institutes form the scientific basis for industry.


LOWER SILESIA. Occupying an area of 19,948 square kilometers, Lower Silesia accounts for 9 percent of Poland's total area. It has a population of 2.98 million, with150 inhabitants per sq km. The province lies in the southwest of Poland in the basin of the Oder River. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic, which lends the region excellent opportunities for development as well as cultural and economic relations on an international scale. Wrocław, the capital of the province, was founded in the early 10th century. Since the year 1000, the city has been the seat of the bishop.
Apart from its ideal location at a crossroads of transportation routes, the region's main advantage is its inhabitants-young, educated and enterprising people. They own about 250,000 businesses. Lower Silesia is also home to three Special Economic Zones, numerous schools of higher education, with 100,000 students, and 30 annual festivals, many of them international.

The largest cities in the region are Jelenia Góra, Legnica and Wałbrzych. Tourist attractions such as Karkonoski National Park, the Lower Silesian Woods, Milickie Lakes and Ślęża Mountain Range occupy almost one-fifth of Lower Silesia.