Quick answerWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland, with 1,866,729 people inside the city limits in 2025. The wider metropolitan area had about 3.3 million people in 2025. It is best known for the Old Town (UNESCO), the Royal Castle and the Warsaw Rising Museum. Its official language is Polish, and its currency is the Polish złoty.
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland, with about 1.87 million people (1,866,729 at 31 December 2025). It stands on the Vistula River in central Poland and is the country's political, economic and cultural centre.
Key facts
| Country | Poland |
|---|---|
| Population (city) | 1,866,729 (2025) |
| Population (metro) | 3,269,510 (2025) · Warsaw metropolitan area |
| Time zone | Europe/Warsaw |
| Language | Polish |
| Currency | Polish złoty (PLN, zł) |
| Coordinates | 52.23° N, 21.01111° E |
Overview
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland, on the Vistula River in the Mazovia region of central Poland. The city proper had 1,866,729 residents at 31 December 2025, while the Warsaw metropolitan area held 3,269,510 people, and the city sits between 78 and 116 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Poland's government, parliament and president, and its main financial and business centre.
Warsaw's history stretches back to the 13th century, and it became Poland's capital in 1596, when King Sigismund III Vasa moved his court there from Kraków. Its Old Town, rebuilt brick by brick after the Second World War, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its landmarks include the Royal Castle, Sigismund's Column, St John's Cathedral and the Wilanów Palace. In the war the city was almost entirely destroyed, above all after the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, and its post-war rebuilding is one of the great reconstruction stories of Europe.
Today Warsaw is Poland's economic engine, home to the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the headquarters of most big Polish companies, and Chopin Airport, the country's busiest. It is known for its museums - the Warsaw Rising Museum and the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews - for its parks and the Vistula riverfront, and for a skyline that mixes reconstructed old streets with modern glass towers.
What Warsaw is known for
- Old Town (UNESCO)
- Royal Castle
- Warsaw Rising Museum
- POLIN Museum
- Wilanów Palace
- Vistula riverfront
Landmarks
- Old Town
- Royal Castle
- Sigismund's Column
- St John's Cathedral
- Wilanów Palace
- Warsaw Rising Museum
- POLIN Museum
Frequently asked questions
What is the population of Warsaw?
About 1.87 million people live in Warsaw (1,866,729 at 31 December 2025). The wider Warsaw metropolitan area had about 3.27 million people. That makes Warsaw the largest city in Poland and the capital, and one of the largest cities in Central Europe.
What is Warsaw famous for?
Warsaw is famous as Poland's capital, rebuilt after near-total destruction in the Second World War, and for its reconstructed Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is also known for the Royal Castle, the Warsaw Rising Museum, the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the Wilanów Palace.
Where is Warsaw located?
Warsaw is in central Poland, on the Vistula River, in the Mazovia region. It is the capital of Poland and of the Masovian Voivodeship. Its coordinates are 52.23° N, 21.01° E, and its time zone is Central European Time.
Quick quiz
Three questions from the facts on this page. No sign-up, no score is saved.
Keep exploring
- Poland — the country Warsaw is in
- Kraków — another city in Poland
- Wrocław — another city in Poland
- Łódź — another city in Poland
- All cities in Poland
- All countries — the full list
Sources & last updated
Last updated: . Figures are shown with their year; where sources disagree, the value is left out rather than estimated.