Sandomierz Basin

Sandomierz Basin is a lowland, located in southeastern Poland, between the Lesser Poland Upland, Lublin Upland and the Western Carpathians. Its name comes from the historical city of Sandomierz, and the basin has a triangular shape with the size of around. It is drained by the Vistula River, as well as its eastern tributary, the San. Among major cities located in the Sandomierz Basin are Dębica, Jarosław, Mielec, Przemyśl, Przeworsk, Rzeszów, Stalowa Wola, Sandomierz, Tarnobrzeg, and Tarnów.

Geography

Sandomierz Basin lies mostly on the territory of three Polish provinces – Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Podkarpacie Voivodeship, and Lublin Voivodeship. Easternmost part of it is also in Lviv Oblast in Ukraine. It is densely inhabited, with the exception of the Niepołomice Forest and the Sandomierz Forest. The basin is divided into the following geographical subregions:

The basin is rich with natural resources, such as salt, gypsum, sulphur, natural gas and petroleum. It is crossed by European route E40, along which goes a main west–east rail line from Kraków to Lwów. Average annual temperature in the Vistula river valley is 8 °C, and annually, there are 90 to 100 days with temperatures below freezing. In the winter, there are approximately 2 hours of sunshine a day, while in the summer approximately 5 hours. In the valleys of the Vistula and the Raba there are frequent fogs. Annual precipitation is 800 mm, with snow staying on the ground for 50 to 60 days annually. The climate of Sandomierz Basin is marked by frequent changes.