Wałbrzych

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Wałbrzych (väl´bzhĬkh), Ger. Waldenburg, city (1992 est. pop. 141,300), Dolnośląskie prov., SW Poland. Coal mining, chemical production, metallurgy, and textile milling are the chief economic activity. The city's importance dates from the 19th-century industrialization of the Lower Silesian coal basin. Wałbrzych sustained great damage during World War II, after which it passed from Germany to Poland.