The Katowice urban area (Polish: Konurbacja katowicka, pronounced [kɔnurˈbat͡sja katɔˈvit͡ska]), also known as the Upper Silesian urban area (Polish: Konurbacja górnośląska, pronounced [kɔnurˈbat͡sja ɡurnɔˈɕlɔ̃ska]), is an urban area/conurbation in southern Poland, centered on Katowice. It is located in the Silesian Voivodeship and in a small part of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. The Katowice urban area is the largest urban area in Poland and one of the largest in the European Union.

Its population is about 2.7 million. The Katowice urban area covers the majority of the population and area of the Katowice metropolitan area (a population of between 3 million and 3.5 million) and is part of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, which has a population of 5.3 million people.^[1] Also this is part of Upper Silesian metropolitan region (Katowice-Kraków metropolitan region), which has a population of around 6.8 million with among others Kraków metropolitan area.

Alternative names

English: Katowice conurbation, Upper Silesian conurbation, Upper Silesian urban area.
Polish: konurbacja katowicka, konurbacja górnośląska, konurbacja śląska, aglomeracja katowicka, aglomeracja górnośląska.^{[citation needed]}

Statistics

There are given differing population numbers in different sources.

• 1,726,000 – according to Demographia (April 2020). Labeled as 21st largest urban area in the European Union.^[2]
• 2,700,000 – according to Metropolis.pl^[3]
• 2,746,000 – according to the scientific description by Tadeusz Markowski.^[4]
• 2,733,000 (2,928,000 – counting the whole powiats adjacent to the city) – according to the scientific description by Paweł Swianiewicz and Urszula Klimska.^[5]
• 2,775,000 – according to citypopulation.de.^[6]
• 2,764,971 – number of inhabitants resident in 42 adjacent cities and towns in the conurbation, in an area of 2,411 km², population density: 1,146.82/km² (2,970.2/sq mi) (1 January 2008) – on the basis of data from the Central Statistical Office in Poland.^[7]
• 2,746,460 – according to the Eurostat. Markered as 13th largest urban zone in Europe.^[8]
• 2,886,700 – according to the scientific description by Kazimierz Fiedorowicz and Jacek Fiedorowicz.^[9]
• 3,029,000 – according to the European Spatial Planning Observation Network. Markered as 13th largest metropolitan area in European Union and also 6th polycentric metropolitan area in EU.^[1]
• 3,069,000 – according to the United Nations.^[10]
• 3,239,200 – according to the Ministry of Regional Development of Poland^[11]
• 3,450,141 – according to Eurostat^[12]
• 3,488,000 – according to www.worldatlas.com.^[13]
• 3,500,000 – according to PWN Encyclopedia.^[14][15]
• 3,500,000 – according to the scientific description by Jerzy Parysek and Alexander Tölle.^[16]

Administration of urban area

Adjacent cities and statistics (1 January 2008):^[7]