Warsaw, Poland's largest city with almost two million inhabitants, is a vibrant and dynamic capital with a rich and turbulent history. As Poland's principal capital after Krakow, Warsaw became the setting for royal elections and sessions of the Polish parliament.
The city's history is inseparable from the tragedy of the Second World War. Under Nazi German occupation, Europe's largest ghetto was established here, confining around 450,000 Jews. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 made the city a symbol of courageous resistance to oppression and genocide. The German occupiers subsequently destroyed almost the entire city. Around half of Warsaw's pre-war population, approximately 700,000 people, were killed or displaced, and in January 1945 only about 1,000 people remained among the ruins.
After the war, Warsaw began an extraordinary process of reconstruction. The historic centre was rebuilt with such care that it is now included on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an outstanding example of the restoration of an entire historic district.
Since the 1990s Warsaw has experienced a major construction boom. Modern skyscrapers have transformed its skyline and given the capital a cosmopolitan character. One landmark remains unmistakable: the Palace of Culture and Science, built in the 1950s in the socialist-realist style. The building remains a powerful symbol of Poland's communist period and of Warsaw's complex past.
