Koszalin, city in northwestern Poland, capital of Koszalin province. Koszalin is located near the Baltic Sea about 140 km (about 90 mi) northeast of Szczecin, in central Pomerania, a historic region in northwestern Poland. Koszalin is an industrial center and its products include agricultural machinery, automobile parts, precision instruments, paper, matches, lamps, and chemicals. The city also processes food products from the surrounding agricultural area. Koszalin serves as the transportation and tourism hub for the resorts of Poland's central Baltic coast. A polytechnic institute and a military technical academy are located in the city. Attractions include the Gothic 14th-century Saint Mary's Basilica, the original medieval town fortifications, the Museum of Central Pomerania, and a theater.
Koszalin became the seat of local Pomeranian prince-bishops in 1248 and was chartered as a city in 1266. At the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 it came under the control of the German state of Brandenburg, which became a part of the new kingdom of Prussia in 1701. Toward the end of World War II (1939-1945) the city was occupied by Soviet troops and was almost completely destroyed in fighting between Soviet and German forces. The postwar Potsdam Agreement assigned Koszalin to Poland in 1945. Population (1997 estimate) 111,900.
