Siedlce [ˈɕɛdlt͡sɛ] (
listen) (Yiddish: שעדליץ Shedlits, Russian: Sedlets (Latinized)) is a town in eastern Poland with 77,092 inhabitants (as of 2005[update]). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously the town was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship (1975-1998).
Towns such as Siedlce in the depressed east have now been emptied by large-scale emigration to the West. Statistics show that 14 per cent of employers recently reported labour shortages, compared with 8 per cent in the first quarter of 2004.
The town was most probably founded some time before 15th century and was first mentioned under the name of Siedlecz in a document of 1448. In 1503 Daniel Siedlecki erected a new village of the same name nearby and a church in the middle. In 1547 the town, created out of a merger of the two villages, was granted Magdeburg rights by King Sigismund the Old. Until 1807, when it was confiscated by the Russian authorities, it remained a private property of several notable magnate families, among them Czartoryski and Ogiński. During the World War II more than 50% of all buildings in the city, including a historical town hall, were destroyed.
Education
Higher education
Notable secondary schools
People from Siedlce
Sister cities
Gallery
See also
External links
|
Siedlce County |
|
| Seat (not part of the county): Siedlce |
|
| Urban-rural gmina |
|
 |
|
| Rural gminas |
|
|
Coordinates: 52°09′N 22°16′E / 52.15, 22.267