Toruń is a city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River, with population over 207,190 as of 2006, making it the second largest city of the Kujawy-Pomerania Province, after Bydgoszcz. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus. It was inscribed onto the World Heritage List of UNESCO as World Heritage Site in 1997.
Previously, it was a capital of Toruń Voivodeship (1975-98) and Pomeranian Voivodeship (1921-45). Since 1999, Toruń has been a seat of the self-government of Kujawy-Pomerania Province and, as such, one of its two capitals (together with Bydgoszcz). The cities and neighbouring poviats form the Bydgoszcz-Toruń bipolar metropolitan area. In September 2004, Bydgoszcz Medical School joined Toruń's Nicolaus Copernicus University as its Collegium Medicum. |