City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 793,217), central Poland.
Located southwest of Warsaw , it was a village in the 14th century and gained municipal rights in 1798. The Russian-ruled Congress Kingdom of Poland established it as a centre of the textile industry in 1820, and by the late 19th century it was Poland's leader in the production of cotton textiles. It was occupied by the Germans during World Wars I and II. It is now a cultural centre and Poland's second largest city.