Siemianowice Śląskie also known as Siemianowice (Siemianowitz-Laurahütte; Siymianowice) is a city in Upper Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice, in its central district in the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a population of 2 million people and is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river (tributary of the Vistula).
It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999, previously in Katowice Voivodeship, and before then in the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship. Siemianowice is one of the cities of the 2.7 million conurbation, the Katowice urban area, at the heart of the greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 65,684 (2021). Siemianowice Śląskie borders four cities: Piekary Śląskie, Chorzów, Czeladź and the voivodeship capital Katowice.
There are three hypothetical explanations for the origins of the name Siemianowice: either it comes from seven huts which were called Siedminowice/Siedmionowice in Old Polish; from the old legend about Siemion (Siemian), Michał and Maciej, or Siemion, Michał and Jakub; or it comes from ziemia nawa which means earth taken away from water.
