Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa [var'?ava] is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly 370 kilometers (230 mi) from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2007 was estimated at 1,706,624, with a metropolitan area of approximately 3,350,000. The city area is 516.9 square kilometers (199.6 sq mi).

On November 9, 1940 City of Warsaw was awarded with the highest military decoration for courage in the face of the enemy - Order Virtuti Militari for the heroic defence in 1939.

An older spelling of Warsaw in Polish is Warszewa or Warszowa, meaning "owned by Warsz". Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman Wars and his wife Sawa. Actually, Warsz was a 12th/13th century nobleman who owned a village located at the site of today's Mariensztat neighbourhood.

The official city name in full is Miasto Stoleczne Warszawa (English: "The Capital City of Warsaw"). Warsaw has been known in Latin as Varsovia. A native or resident of Warsaw is called Varsovian. See wiktionary:Warsaw for the name in other languages.