Gliwice, Ger. Gleiwitz, city (1993 est. pop. 216,000), Śląskie prov., SW Poland. A coal-mining and steel-making center of the Katowice region, it also produces machinery and chemicals. Its busy port on the Gliwice Canal gives it access to the Baltic Sea via the Oder River. Chartered in 1276, Gliwice was ceded by Austria to Prussia in 1742 and returned to Poland after World War II.