Sister cities of Poznań

Poznań [ˈpɔznaɲ] (Latin: Posnania; German: Posen) is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, the region called Greater Poland. The population stood at 551,627 in 2010, while the continuous conurbation with Poznan County among others is inhabited by 1 million people. The city forms the largest metropolitan area in western Poland and fourth largest in Poland including towns such as Gniezno and Wrzesnia (approximately 1.35 million inhabitants).

Poznań is among the oldest cities in Poland and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The Kingdom of Poland began in Poznan, namely on the natural island on the Warta river—very similar to the Île de la Cité in Paris. The first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral on the island. It was the first Capital City of the Kingdom of Poland and also served as the capital in the 13th century, hence the official name: The capital city of Poznan.

Poznań is now Poland's fifth largest city. It is the historical capital of the Wielkopolska ("Greater Poland") region and is currently the administrative capital of the province called Greater Poland Voivodeship. Poznań is today one of the largest Polish centers of trade, industry, sports, education, technology, tourism and culture.

The city hosts regular international trade fairs and was the host city for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2008, a key stage in the creation of a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. Poznań was one of the host cities for the association football tournament UEFA Euro 2012. The city also hosts a number of rowing world cup events by the Malta lake (for example "ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships" in 1990, 2001, and again in 2010). Also, a great number of various international festivals takes place in the city - Transatlantyk – Poznań International Film and Music Festival, "Malta International Theater Festival", "ANIMATOR (festival)" and Maski Festival to name just a few. In addition, the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition, the oldest violin competition in the world, is held in Poznań every five years.

In 2012 the Poznań's Art and Business Center "Stary Browar" won a competition organized by National Geographic Traveller and was given the first prize as one of the seven "New Polish Wonders". Poznań has been rated highly, often coming first for Poland, as a city with a very high quality of life. The city has also won many times a prize awarded by "Superbrands" for a very high quality brand of city of Poznań. Poznań was classified in 2010 as high sufficiency city by Globalization and World Cities Research Network.