Editing Bytom (section)

{{short description|City in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Bytom
| settlement_type = [[City with powiat rights|City county]]
| native_name = {{nativename|szl|Bytōm / Bytōń}}
| image_skyline = Bytom collage 123.jpg
| imagesize = 250px
| image_caption = '''From top, left to right''': [[Silesian Opera]]; Historic tram (in background Main Post Office); Dworcowa Street; [[Bytom market square|Market square]]; [[Szombierki Heat Power Station]]; View of Władysław Sikorski Square; Church of St. Margaret
| image_flag = POL Bytom flag.svg
| image_shield = Bytom herb.svg
| pushpin_map = Poland
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name = {{POL}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[Voivodeships of Poland|Voivodeship]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Silesian Voivodeship|Silesian]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[Powiat|County]]
| subdivision_name2 = ''city county''
| leader_title = City mayor
| leader_name = Mariusz Wołosz ([[Civic Coalition (Poland)|KO]])
| established_title = Established
| established_date = 12th century
| established_title3 = City rights
| established_date3 = 1254
| elevation_min_m = 249
| elevation_max_m = 330
| area_total_km2 = 69.44
| population_as_of = 31 December 2021
| population_total = 161139 {{decrease}} ([[List of cities and towns in Poland|23rd]])<ref name="population">{{cite web|url=https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/bdl/dane/teryt/jednostka|title=Local Data Bank|access-date=2022-06-02|publisher=Statistics Poland}} Data for territorial unit 2462011.</ref>
| population_density_km2 = 2321
| population_urban = 2,710,397
| population_metro = 5,294,000
| timezone = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset = +1
| timezone_DST = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset_DST = +2
| coordinates = {{coord|50|20|54|N|18|54|56|E|region:PL|display=title,inline}}
| postal_code_type = Postal code
| postal_code = 41-900–41-936
| area_code = +48 32
| blank_name = [[Polish car number plates|Car plates]]
| blank_info = SY
| blank_name_sec2 = Primary airport
| blank_info_sec2 = [[Katowice Airport]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.bytom.pl/}}
}}
'''Bytom''' (<small>Polish pronunciation:</small> {{IPAc-pl|AUD|Pl-Bytom.ogg|'|b|y|t|o|m}}; [[Silesian language|Silesian]]: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', {{langx|de|Beuthen O.S.}}) is a city in [[Upper Silesia]], in southern [[Poland]]. Located in the [[Silesian Voivodeship]], the city is 7&nbsp;km northwest of [[Katowice]], the regional capital.

It is one of the oldest cities in the [[Upper Silesia]], and the former seat of the [[Silesian Piasts|Piast dukes]] of the [[Duchy of Bytom]]. Until 1532, it was in the hands of the [[Piast dynasty]], then it belonged to the [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern dynasty]]. After 1623 it was a [[state country]] in the hands of [[Henckel von Donnersmarck|the Donnersmarck family]]. From 1742 to 1945 the town was within the borders of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] and [[Germany]], and played an important role as an economic and administrative centre of the [[Katowice urban area|local industrial region]]. Until the outbreak of [[World War II]], it was the main centre of national, social, cultural and publishing organisations fighting to preserve Polish identity in [[Upper Silesia]]. In the interbellum and during World War II, local Poles and Jews faced persecution by Germany.

{{Historical populations|1950|173955|1960|182578|1970|187500|1978|230844|1988|228306|2002|193546|2011|176902|2021|153274|footnote=source<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.polskawliczbach.pl/Bytom | title=Bytom (śląskie) » mapy, nieruchomości, GUS, noclegi, szkoły, regon, atrakcje, kody pocztowe, wypadki drogowe, bezrobocie, wynagrodzenie, zarobki, tabele, edukacja, demografia }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Demographic and occupational structure and housing conditions of the urban population in 1978-1988|url=https://statlibr.stat.gov.pl/exlibris/aleph/a22_1/apache_media/RQ1U9XAX48KJJDQ54QSAFQKQ6AK6GS.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Statistics Poland - National Censuses|url=https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/bdl/dane/podgrup/temat/}}</ref>}}

After the war, decades of the [[Polish People's Republic]] were characterized by a constant emphasis on the development of [[heavy industry]], which deeply polluted and degraded Bytom. After 1989, the city experienced a socio-economic decline. The population has also been rapidly declining since 1999. However, it is an important place in the cultural, entertainment, and industrial map of the region.