The Upper Silesian metropolitan area is the metropolitan area in southern Poland and northeast Czech Republic, centered on the cities of Katowice and Ostrava in Silesia. Located in the three administrative units (NUTS-2 class): mainly Silesian Voivodeship, small western part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship and small east part of Moravian-Silesian Region.

The area lies within the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. Silesian metropolitan area (5.3 million people) with nearby Kraków metropolitan area (1.3 million people) and Częstochowa metropolitan area (0.4 million people) create a great metropolian area covering 7 million people.

Upper Silesian metropolitan area has a population of 5,3 mln, with 3,9 mln (75.38%) in Poland (the Upper Silesian polycentric metropolitan area) and almost one million in the Czech Republic (Ostrava Functional Urban Area). According to Polish Scientific Publishers (PWN) area is 5,400 km², with 4,500 km² (83.33%) in Poland and 900 km² (16.67%) in the Czech Republic.

The area consists of several Functional Urban Areas (FUA), each of which is defined as a core Morphological Urban Area (MUA) based on population density plus the surrounding labour pool, i.e. a metropolitan area. This area contains the following FUAs:

The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually comprises multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships, cities, exurbs, counties, and even states. As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions.

A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration (the contiguous, built-up area) with zones not necessarily urban in character, but closely bound to the center by employment or other commerce. These outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles' metro area.

In practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Sometimes they are little different from an urban area, and in other cases they cover broad regions that have little relation to a single urban settlement; comparative statistics for metropolitan area should take this into account. Population figures given for one metro area can vary by millions, and there is a tendency for people to promote the highest figure available for their own "city". However the most ambitious metropolitan area population figures are often better seen as the population of a "metropolitan region" than of a "city".^{[citation needed]}

Georg Daniel Speer (2 July 1636 – 5 October 1707 ) was a German composer and writer of the Baroque.

Speer was born in Wroclaw, Poland.

As a writer he wrote a musical treatise, political tracts, and fiction. In 1687 he published a treatise on music that is considered useful in understanding Middle Baroque music. His writing on music would influence German Baroque trombone works for over a century. In non-musical writing his political tracts led to his being imprisoned for a year and a half. In literature he is known for three or four autobiographical novels that give a feel of the musical scene of his era and make use of humor. In them the narrator is referred to as Daniel Simplex. His novels had largely became obscure until rediscovery in the 1930s.

As a composer, Speer for example produced music for trombones. Keyboard miniatures have also survived. He might be best known for his Sonata No. 29 from Die Bänkelsängerlieder for brass quintet, which is often played at weddings and formal occasions.

Per Gade (born August 24, 1977) is a Danish football (soccer) player, who plays as a defender. His preferred field position is as a right defender. He started his career with youth football in Nibe Boldklub, before he joined the Superliga team Aalborg BK, but never broke into the first team due to injuries. He moved to lower-league team FC Nordjylland in 2000, and when the club went bankrupt, he joined AC Horsens in the summer of 2004. He now plays for the ambitious 2. division club Blokhus FC.