Vistula River in the context of "Grudziądz"

The Sarmatians (/sɑːrˈmeɪʃiənz/; Ancient Greek: Σαρμάται, romanized: Sarmátai; Latin: Sarmatae [ˈsarmatae̯]) were a large confederation of ancient Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD.

The earliest known reference to the Sarmatians occurs in the Avesta, where they appear as Sairima-, which in later Iranian sources becomes Sarm and Salm. Originating in the central parts of the Eurasian Steppe, the Sarmatians formed part of the wider Scythian cultures. They started migrating westward around the fourth and third centuries BC, coming to dominate the closely related Scythians by 200 BC. At their greatest reported extent, around 100 BC, these tribes ranged from the Vistula River to the mouth of the Danube and eastward to the Volga, bordering the shores of the Black and Caspian seas and the Caucasus to the south.

Kraków, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 (2023), with approximately 8 million additional people living within a 100 km (62 mi) radius. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status.

The city began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. In 1038, it became the seat of Polish monarchs from the Piast dynasty, and subsequently served as the centre of administration under Jagiellonian kings and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the late 16th century, when Sigismund III transferred his royal court to Warsaw. With the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918, Kraków reaffirmed its role as the nucleus of a national spirit. After the invasion of Poland, at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau became the seat of Nazi Germany's General Government. The Jewish population was forced into the Kraków Ghetto, a walled zone from where they were sent to Nazi extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz, and Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów. However, the city was spared from destruction. In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.

Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea that ranges from the Vistula delta in the west to the end of the Curonian Spit in the east and extends inland as far as Masuria, divided between Poland (Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship), Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) and Lithuania (Lithuania Minor). This region is often also referred to as Old Prussia.

Tacitus's Germania (98 AD) is the oldest known record of an eyewitness account on the territory and its inhabitants. Suiones, Sitones, Goths and other Germanic people had temporarily settled to the east and west of the Vistula River during the Migration Period, adjacent to the Aesti, who lived further to the east.

Sandomierz (pronounced: [sanˈdɔmjɛʂ] ; Latin: Sandomiria, Yiddish: צויזמר, צוזמיר, romanized: Tsouzmer, Tsoyzmer) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Province) since its transfer from the Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship in 1999. It is the capital of Sandomierz County. Sandomierz is known for its preserved Old Town, a major cultural and tourist attraction which the President of Poland declared a National Monument of Poland in 2017.

In the past, Sandomierz was one of the most important urban centers not only of Lesser Poland, but also of the whole country. It was a royal city of the Polish Crown and functioned as a regional administrative centre from the High Middle Ages to the 19th century.

Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its left-bank tributary, the Brda, the strategic location of Bydgoszcz has made it an inland port and a vital centre for trade and transportation. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021, Bydgoszcz is the eighth-largest city in Poland. Today, it is the seat of Bydgoszcz County and one of the two capitals of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship as a seat of its centrally appointed governor, a voivode.

Bydgoszcz metropolitan area comprising the city and several adjacent communities is inhabited by half a million people, and forms a part of an extended polycentric Bydgoszcz-Toruń metropolitan area with a population of approximately 0.8 million inhabitants. Since the Middle Ages, Bydgoszcz served as a royal city of the Kingdom of Poland until partitions and experienced the industrialisation period bolstered by the construction of the Bydgoszcz Canal in the late 18th century. Its academic and cultural landscape is shaped by Casimir the Great University, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, the Medical College of Nicolaus Copernicus University, Feliks Nowowiejski Music Academy, the Pomeranian Philharmonic, and the Opera Nova. Bydgoszcz also plays a role of the biggest centre of NATO headquarters in Poland. The city is served by an international airport and is a member of Eurocities.

The Nogat is a 62 kilometres (39 mi) long delta branch of the Vistula River in northern Poland. Unlike the main river, it does not empty into Gdańsk Bay, but rather into the Vistula Lagoon.

The Nogat has its origin near the village of Biała Góra as a distributary of the Vistula River. Shortly afterwards, the river Liwa flows into the Nogat. The river then passes Malbork and flows north-east towards Elbląg (but does not reach the city). North-west of Elbląg, the Nogat flows into the south-western part of the Vistula Lagoon.

Wyszogród [vɨˈʂɔɡrut] is a town in central Poland, in Masovian Voivodeship, in Płock County, by the Vistula River. The population of Wyszogród was 2,793 in 2004.