Katowice (pronounce: , also known as "Kattowitz" in German) is a city in Poland. It is in the south of Poland in the historical region called Silesia on Kłodnica and Rawa river. It received city rights in 1865. Between 1954 and 1956 Katowice had the name Stalinogród - "Stalin City". It was given by the polish communists. There are about 315,123 people living there. The mayor of the city is Marcin Krupa. For a long period of time the city was ruled by Germans, as it was a part of Germany until 1918. There is a little airport called "Airport Muchowiec". There are both modern and old buildings in Katowice. It was the center of the coal mining and metallurgy.