Lódz

Lódz (pop. 838,400), city in central Poland, the country's second largest. Chartered in 1423, the city was taken over by Prussia in 1793 and by Russia in 1815. Only in 1919 did it revert to Poland. German troops occupied and severely damaged Lódz during World War II; it has since been rebuilt. Today it is Poland's leading textile manufacturing city, as well as the center of its motion picture industry.

See also: Poland.