It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe , roughly 40 kilometres 25 mi from the Sudeten Mountains to the south. Today, it is the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. The history of the city dates back over 1, years; [ 6 ] at various times, it has been part of the Kingdom of Poland , the Kingdom of Bohemia , the Kingdom of Hungary , the Habsburg monarchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Prussia and Germany , until it became again part of Poland in as the result of territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II.
The origin of the city's name is disputed. They suggest that the founder of the city might have simply been a local prince who only shared the popular West Slavic name with the Bohemian Duke. The Old Czech language version of the name was used in Latin documents, as Vratislavia or Wratislavia.
The city's first municipal seal was inscribed with Sigillum civitatis Wratislavie. Despite the noticeable differences in spelling, the numerous German forms were still based on the original West Slavic name of the city, with the -Vr- sound being replaced over time by -Br- , [ 18 ] and the suffix -slav- replaced with -slau-. The now little-used German equivalent is " Breslauer.
It was already mapped on Claudius Ptolemy 's map of AD — Archeological research conducted in the city indicates that it was founded around The city became a commercial centre and expanded to Wyspa Piasek Sand Island , and then onto the left bank of the River Oder.
Around , the town had about 1, inhabitants. After the Mongol invasion, the town was partly populated by German settlers who, in the ensuing centuries, gradually became its dominant population.
