Ełk (Polish pronunciation: [ɛwk] ; German: Lyck) is a city in northeastern Poland with 61,677 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of Ełk County in the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship. It lies on the shore of Ełk Lake, which was formed by a glacier, and is surrounded by extensive forests. It is the largest city and unofficial capital of Masuria region.
The town began as a settlement of the Teutonic Order in the late 14th century and received town rights in 1445. In 1525 it became part of Ducal Prussia, a fief of the Polish Crown. In the 16th century the town developed into a regional printing and publishing centre and home to the leading Polish school in Masuria. In 1657, it passed fully under the control of Brandenburg-Prussia, which later developed into the Kingdom of Prussia. In the 1920 East Prussian plebiscite, the population voted to remain in Germany, and the town stayed part of the German state until the end of the World War II. After the war, the town and the surrounding region were incorporated into Poland.
