History of Warsaw
History of Warsaw
Warsaw has seen a lot of changes in the history of Poland, but some of late have been quite momentous. Warsaw is the capital of Poland, and also it’s largest city. It’s a vibrant massive eastern European city, with close to two million residents, and thousands upon thousands of visitors to the city and country every year. It’s only about 170 miles from the Baltic Sea.
In many quarters Warsaw, is often referred to by it’s nickname of the Phoenix city. It has been granted that nickname, because has been able to recover from the massive damage, physically, and economically it suffered in World War II. It is hard to imagine, looking at, or visiting Warsaw today, that it did indeed suffer, the cataclysmic damage it sustained during that dark episodes of world history.
Prior to World War II, Warsaw, Poland had a government in place, that was known as a municipal government, however with rise and fall of Communism things are substantially different in Warsaw today. As a result of the ‘Warsaw Act’ passed into law in the 1990′s, the city and country is now run in a more democratic way, with 18 separate and distinct districts governing the Polish people of Warsaw. This districts, are very much like the different States of the United States, each with their own elected officials, and rules and regulations, which are honored and adhered to in their own district. Every city in Poland has a Mayor, with Warsaw having it’s own mayor, but in Warsaw, since it’s the capital of Poland, the mayor here, out of respect is known as the President. The only city in Poland, where that distinction is made. Most elected officials run for office every four years.
Probably the biggest boost to the local economy of Warsaw, the entire country, has been the implementation, of the Warsaw Metro, which serves the city and the entire country. There were plans and talks going on in Warsaw for decades prior to the Warsaw Metro, finally being operative in 1995. That is when the first track and train, was used to ferry passengers from one point to another. There were extensive plans and blueprints laid down, for the next 13 years, with most of tracks laid down by 2008. There are some expansions that are expected to be fully completed by the end of 2013. Click here for a Warsaw Map.
However, the Warsaw Metro, has enabled Warsaw, to be seen as a very competitive European city. The Warsaw metro, services over 6 million passengers a year. Those figures comprise residents going to and from work daily. Visitors traveling to Warsaw from all over the world into the area, and more local visitors, that are in the city of Warsaw, to see friends and family. Now will all the state of the art technology that the city boosts, it has brought them gracefully into the 21 century, making the city one that has seen a growth in their economy, that is currently the highest percentage of growth in 30 years.