:Bełchatów
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Bełchatów
| image_skyline = Plac Narutowicza w Bełchatowie.jpg
| imagesize = 250px
| image_caption = Gabriel Narutowicz square
| image_flag = POL Bełchatów flag.svg
| image_shield = POL Bełchatów COA.svg
| pushpin_map = Poland
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{POL}}
| subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship
| subdivision_type2 = County
| subdivision_type3 = Gmina
| subdivision_name1 = Łódź
| subdivision_name2 = Bełchatów
| subdivision_name3 = Bełchatów (urban gmina)
| established_title = Established
| established_date = 14th century
| established_title2 = City rights
| established_date2 = 1743-1870, 1925
| leader_party = NN
| leader_title = City mayor
| leader_name = Patryk Marjan
| government_footnotes = {{cite web|title=Prezydent Miasta Bełchatowa|url=https://belchatow.bip.gov.pl/wladze-miasta/prezydent-miasta-belchatowa.html|website=belchatow.bip.gov.pl|publisher=Bełchatów City Council|language=pl|access-date=2022-08-30}}
| area_total_km2 = 34.64
| population_as_of = 31 December 2021
| population_total = 55583 {{decrease}}
| population_density_km2 = 1605
| population_footnotes = {{cite web|url=https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/bdl/dane/teryt/jednostka|title=Local Data Bank|access-date=2022-08-30|publisher=Statistics Poland}} Category K3, group G7, subgroup P1336. Data for territorial unit 1001011.{{cite web|url=https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/bdl/dane/teryt/jednostka|title=Local Data Bank|access-date=2022-08-30|publisher=Statistics Poland}} Category K3, group G7, subgroup P2425. Data for territorial unit 1001011.
| coordinates = {{coord|51|22|N|19|22|E|region:PL_type:city|display=title,inline}}
| timezone = CET
| utc_offset = +1
| timezone_DST = CEST
| utc_offset_DST = +2
| postal_code_type = Postal code
| postal_code = 97-400
| area_code = +48 44
| registration_plate = EBE
| blank_name_sec2 = National roads
| blank_info_sec2 = 32px
| blank1_name_sec2 = Voivodeship roads
| blank1_info_sec2 = 32px 32px 32px
| website = http://www.belchatow.pl
}}
Bełchatów ({{IPAc-pl|AUD|Pl-Bełchatów.ogg|b|e|U|'|ch|a|t|u|f}}) is a city in central Poland with a population of 55,583, as of December 2021. It is located in Łódź Voivodeship, {{convert|160|km|0|abbr=off}} southwest of Warsaw.
The Elektrownia Bełchatów, located in Bełchatów, is the largest coal fueled power plant in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. It produces 27–28 TWh of electricity per year, or 20% of the total power generation in Poland.{{Cite journal|last1=Colgan|first1=Jeff D.|last2=Green|first2=Jessica F.|last3=Hale|first3=Thomas N.|date=2021|title=Asset Revaluation and the Existential Politics of Climate Change|journal=International Organization|language=en|volume=75|issue=2|pages=586–610|doi=10.1017/S0020818320000296|s2cid=225704002 |issn=0020-8183|doi-access=free}} 8,000 people work directly for the company that runs the coal mine and electricity plants.
The city is also known for the successful volleyball club Skra Bełchatów and local krówki (traditional Polish candy).
Districts
One municipal division of Bełchatów comprises numerous housing estates, including the Budowlanych housing estate located in the central part of the town (close to the "Kultura" cinema, the Municipal Cultural Center, the Town Hall and the church). The estate is also close to the "Rakówka" river and Olszewski Park.
Other municipal divisions of Bełchatów include Dobrzelów District, Grocholice, and the following housing estates:
valign=top |
| {{multiple image | direction = vertical | width = 180 | image1 = Osiedle 1 Maja bloki 1,2,3 (Bełchatów).JPG | caption1 = Osiedle 1 Maja | image2 = Osiedle Binków (Bełchatów).JPG | caption2 = Osiedle Binków in Bełchatów.}} |
History
Grocholice was a private church town, whereas Bełchatów, Dobrzelów and Zdzieszulice were private villages of Polish nobility, administratively located in the Piotrków County in the Sieradz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland.{{cite book|author= |title=Atlas historyczny Polski. Województwo sieradzkie i województwo łęczyckie w drugiej połowie XVI wieku. Część I. Mapy, plany|year=1998|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk|page=4}}
Cuisine
The officially protected traditional food of Bełchatów (as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland) is wyborowa krówka bełchatowska, a local type of krówka (traditional Polish candy).{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.pl/web/rolnictwo/wyborowa-krowka-belchatowska|title=Wyborowa krówka bełchatowska|website=Ministerstwo Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi - Portal Gov.pl|accessdate=3 July 2021|language=pl}}
Sports
- Skra Bełchatów – men's volleyball team playing in PlusLiga (Polish top division), 9–time Polish Champions, 7–time Polish Cup winners.
- GKS Bełchatów – men's football team playing in the lower divisions, which has also played in Ekstraklasa (top division) in the past.
International relations
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland}}
=Twin towns - sister cities=
Bełchatów is twinned with:{{cite web |url= http://www.belchatow.pl/portal.php?aid=1158607934450ef43e80428|title=Portal Bełchatów|work=Miasto Bełchatów [Bełchatów town council] belchatow.pl|year=2010|access-date=22 June 2011|language=pl|trans-title=Bełchatów - Partnership Cities|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613131345/http://www.belchatow.pl/portal.php?aid=1158607934450ef43e80428|archive-date=13 June 2011}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
- {{flagicon|FRA}} Aubergenville, France
- {{flagicon|POL}} Myślenice in Poland
- {{flagicon|HUN}} Csongrád in Hungary
- {{flagicon|POR}} Alcobaça in Portugal
- {{flagicon|LTU}} Tauragė in Lithuania
{{div col end}}
=Former twin towns=
- {{flagicon|RUS}} Sovetsk, Russia
In February 2022, Bełchatów suspended its partnership with the Russian city of Sovetsk as a reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite web| url = https://www.eska.pl/belchatow/belchatow-zawiesza-wspolprace-z-miastem-partnerskim-w-rosji-samorzad-deklaruje-pomoc-ukraincom-aa-miS5-Zfr1-QCxd.html |language=pl |title=Bełchatów zawiesza współpracę z miastem partnerskim w Rosji. Samorząd deklaruje pomoc Ukraińcom | access-date =13 March 2022}}
Notable people
- Harry Haft (1925–2007), survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp and a professional boxer in the United States during 1948–1949
Gallery
File:Bełchatów -siedziba PGE 4.JPG|PGE headquarters
File:Stadion GKS Bełchatów (Poland).JPG|GKS Bełchatów Stadium
File:Dworek Olszewskich.jpg|Olszewski Manor
File:MiPBP Bełchatów.JPG|Library
File:Rogowiec, Elektrownia Bełchatów - fotopolska.eu (262558).jpg|A view of the Power Plants and the Brown Coal Mine
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
{{Commons category|Bełchatów}}
- [http://www.belchatow.pl/ Official website] {{in lang|pl}}
- [https://ddbelchatow.pl/ Local News Portal] (in Polish)
- [http://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/b/464-belchatow Jewish community of Bełchatów] on Virtual Shtetl
{{Bełchatów County}}
{{Gmina Bełchatów}}
{{Cities of Poland}}
{{Authority control}}