The Szczecin metropolitan area is the urban agglomeration of the city of Szczecin and surrounding towns in the Polish-German border area.
The Larger Urban Zone defined by Eurostat includes 777,806 people living on 5249 km<sup>2</sup> in the area (2012). It includes the cities and towns of Stargard, à Âwinoujà Âcie, Police, Schwedt, Goleniów, Gryfino, Prenzlau, Pasewalk, Ueckermünde, Eggesin, Gartz, Stepnica, Penkun, Brüssow and Nowe Warpno. There are a group of villages situated between Szczecin and towns of the agglomeration. The villages of Mierzyn, Löcknitz, Przecà Âaw, Dobra, Trzebieà ¼ and Kobylanka are parts of the urban system.
It is the second largest metropolitan area in Pomerania after the Tricity metropolitan area.
Since 2012, the agglomeration is actively developed as the core of a wider European metropolitan area, likely including the German districts of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, Vorpommern-Greifswald, Uckermark and the West Pomeranian districts neighbouring Szczecin in Poland.
The German part of the Szczecin metropolitan area contains municipalities with some of the highest percentages of Polish residents in Germany, such as Gartz, Löcknitz and Mescherin.
The ports of Szczecin, à Âwinoujà Âcie and Police are located within the metropolitan area.
The local airport is the Solidarity SzczecinâÂÂGoleniów Airport near Goleniów, whereas the main railway station is the Szczecin Gà Âówny railway station, with direct connections to other major cities in Poland, such as Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocà Âaw, à Âódà º, Poznaà Â, Tricity, Bydgoszcz, Lublin, Biaà Âystok and Katowice.
The à Âwinoujà Âcie LNG terminal is located in à Âwinoujà Âcie.
Historic landmarks of the Szczecin metropolitan area include the Ducal Castle and National Museum in Szczecin, the Gothic Collegiate church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Stargard and the Koà Âbacz Abbey, with the latter two listed as Historic Monuments of Poland.
à Âwinoujà Âcie, the third largest city of the metropolitan area, is a spa town. The à Âwinoujà Âcie Lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the world. The War Cemetery in Stargard is the burial place of over 5,000 Allied soldiers and prisoners of war from both world wars, including Polish, French, Serbian/Yugoslav, Russian/Soviet, Italian, Romanian, Belgian, British, Moroccan, Portuguese and Dutch. There is a memorial to British pilots of the No. 617 Squadron RAF shot down by Germany in Karsibór, à Âwinoujà Âcie.
A notable phenomenon on a worldly scale is the Crooked Forest outside the town of Gryfino.