Biała Podlaska

Biała Podlaska
Liberty Square
Castle complex
Biała Podlaska
Coordinates: 52°2′N 23°7′E / 52.033°N 23.117°E / 52.033; 23.117
Country Poland
Voivodeship Lublin
Countycity county
First mentioned1481
City rights1670
Government
  City mayorMichał Litwiniuk (PO)
Area
  Total
49.40 km2 (19.07 sq mi)
Highest elevation
150 m (490 ft)
Lowest elevation
137 m (449 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2021)
  Total
56,498
  Density1,144/km2 (2,960/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
21-500 to 21-502, 21-506, 21-527
Area code+48 83
Car platesLB
National roads
Voivodeship roads
Websitehttp://bialapodlaska.pl/

Biała Podlaska (Polish: [ˈbjawa pɔdˈlaska] ; Latin: Alba Ducalis) is a city in the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 56,498 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Biała Podlaska County, although the city is not part of the county (it constitutes a separate city county). The city lies on the Krzna river.

First recorded in the medieval period, Biała Podlaska is a former residential city of the once influential magnate Radziwiłł family, whose landmarks include a Palace and Park ensemble and Renaissance and Baroque churches. It is the location of one of the oldest high schools in Poland, whose student was the most prolific Polish 19th-century writer Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, the birthplace of virtuoso violinist George Bridgetower, and a former aircraft manufacturing centre. It was a place of Nazi German-perpetrated atrocities against Jews, Poles and Italians during the German occupation of Poland in World War II with over 4,000 victims. In 1975–1998, it was the capital of the Biała Podlaska Voivodeship.