[gdahynsk; Eng. guh-dahnsk, -dansk] 
| a seaport in N Poland, on the Gulf of Danzig. 402,200. |
| Gdańsk (gə-dänsk', -dānsk', -dīnsk') A city of northern Poland near the mouth of the Vistula River on the Gulf of Gdańsk, an inlet of the Baltic Sea. An old Slavic settlement, Gdańsk was a part of the Hanseatic League after the 13th century and was later ruled by Poland and Prussia before it was made a free city again by the Treaty of Versailles (1919). Hitler's demand that Gdańsk be returned to Germany led to his invasion of Poland and the beginning of World War II (September 1939). The city was liberated by the Russians in 1945 and subsequently restored to Poland. It is a major port and shipbuilding center. Population: 458,000. |
