Bytom (German Beuthen), city in southwestern Poland, in Katowice Province. Lying in the rich coal-mining and metal-mining region of Silesia, the city is an important industrial center, with plants producing furniture and metal products. Chartered as a city in 1254, Bytom was part of the Prussian province of Upper Silesia from 1742 until 1945. After World War II (1939-1945), under the terms of a decision of the Potsdam Conference, it was incorporated into Poland. Population (1997 estimate) 225,800.
