Szczecin is situated in the north-west corner of Poland, on both banks of the Oder River, close to Baltic Sea and the German border. The city is situated to the south of and around the greater bay into which the Oder river flows. The Western side is commonly called the Left Bank, and the Eastern side the Right Bank. Between them is an archipelago with many islands (mainly industrial areas with shipyards and sea-port infrastructure).
For centuries this location has been the junction for major European transit routes, from the west to the east and from the north, through the Baltic, to the south of Europe. Szczecin is also the capital of a new province, the Western Pomeranian Province. This is the result of the recent reform of the national administration.
Szczecin is the 7th largest city in Poland and the second largest Polish seaport on the Baltic. It is also the capital of the West Pomeranian Voivodship. There are 419,000 inhabitants in Szczecin (as of 2004).