Tricity (also called the Treble City, in Polish Trójmiasto) is the metropolitan area consisting of the three Polish cities Gdańsk (German:Danzig), Gdynia and Sopot. They are situated very close to each other on the coast of the Gdansk Bay on the Baltic Sea, in Eastern Pomerania (Pomeranian Voivodship), northern Poland. The Tricity metropolitan area has population of over 1 million people.

Population

The total population of 3 cities making up Tricity (Gdańsk + Gdynia + Sopot):

• 1960: 481,100 inhabitants (286,900 + 150,200 + 44,000)
• 1970: 604,800 inhabitants (365,600 + 191,500 + 47,700)
• 1975: 693,800 inhabitants (421,000 + 221,100 + 51,700)
• 1980: 744,400 inhabitants (456,700 + 236,400 + 51,300)
• 2004: 754,960 inhabitants (460,524 + 253,650 + 40,785)

The Tricity metropolitan area also includes Wejherowo, Reda, Rumia, Tczew, Pruszcz Gdański and several other communities. The total population in 2004 was 1,041,066, in an area of 1332.5 km².

Education

The Tricity is an important center of education.

• Gdańsk: Number of universities: 10 (2001) Number of students: 60,436 (2001) Number of graduates: 10,439 (2001)
• Gdynia: Number of universities: 7 (2003) Number of students: 13,362

Transport

Tricity has a well-developed transport system. In addition, each city has its own transport system. Here is described only the common part of the system.

Development of the Tricity was smoothed by the construction of the city train (SKM) 1951, binding the whole area from Tczew by Gdańsk, Sopot 1953, Gdynia 1956, Reda, Rumia to Wejherowo 1957.

The backbone of the Tricity is the Inner Highway. It starts in Gdańsk and goes through Sopot, Gdynia, Reda and Rumia to Wejherowo. It consists from 2-4 lanes in each direction. Despite the fact that the traffic is stopped on the lights, it remains the main traffic route in the agglomeration.

In 1975 the Circle Highway was constructed. It starts in Pruszcz Gdański and goes through Gdańsk to Gdynia-Chylonia . The Circle has 2 (and in parts 3) lanes in each direction. Recently the highway was upgraded to the standard of the non-collision highway. The extension of the Circle is planned in the northern part, since it is obvious that the existing highway to Wejherowo will be overcrowded by 2005.

External links

• Gdańsk Transport system
• SKM train map of connections
• Map and Guide to aglomeration
• Map of population density in the urban area