city, Śląskie województwo (province), southern Poland, on the Olza River in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. Situated on the Polish-Czech border, the city is essentially divided by the Olza; the newer Czech side is known as Český Těšín.

A primary Polish Silesian stronghold in the 12th century, Cieszyn, with the other Silesian Piast principalities, was attached to Bohemia in the 14th century. Bohemia, in turn, passed to the Austrian Habsburg dynasty in 1526; the last Piast prince of Cieszyn died in 1625. The settlement of territorial disputes after World War I awarded Cieszyn to Poland. The whole region was annexed by Germany in 1939, but at the end of World War II Cieszyn was returned to Poland. The city manufactures metallurgical and electrotechnical products as well as dyes and varnishes. It has a regional museum containing a fine collection of ethnic costumes. Pop. (2002) 36,640.