SANDOMIERZ BASIN

Polish Kotlina Sandomierska lowland region, southeastern Poland, located south of the Lublin Uplands and north of the Western Carpathian foothills. It is drained by the Vistula River and its tributary the San River. The Sandomierz Basin is a structural depression with natural transportation routes connecting the basin in an easterly direction with the upper Dniester valley (in Ukraine) and in a westerly direction with the Oswiecim Basin on the upper Vistula near Krakw. Sandy tracts are widespread in the northern part of the depression, while marshy conditions exist in the area of the Vistula-San confluence. The region contains rich deposits of coal, natural gas, and petroleum. The basin's energy resources made possible the rise of the Upper Silesian industrial agglomeration, Poland's most important industrial region. Krakw, Rzeszw, and Tarnw are principal industrial and commercial centres in the basin.