Zabrze

Zabrze, city, Śląskie województwo (province), southern Poland. It is situated in the Upper Silesian industrial district.

Zabrze became Prussian in 1742, and in 1921, when Upper Silesia was partitioned between Poland and Germany, it remained in German hands. Badly damaged in World War II, it was transferred to Poland in 1945. A major industrial and cultural centre, Zabrze is also one of Poland’s oldest mining settlements, the first mine having opened there in 1790. It is economically dependent upon the coal and coke industry, metalworks, chemical plants, and plants producing electrical power. Pop. (2011) 181,128.