Editing Silesia (section)

===Natural resources===
Silesia is a resource-rich and populous region. Since the middle of the 18th century, coal has been mined. The industry had grown while Silesia was part of Germany, and peaked in the 1970s under the [[History of Poland (1945–1989)|People's Republic of Poland]]. During this period, Silesia became one of the world's largest producers of coal, with a record tonnage in 1979.<ref name="en.poland.gov.pl">{{cite web|url=http://en.poland.gov.pl/Natural,Resources,310.html |title=Natural Resources &#124; poland.gov.pl |publisher=En.poland.gov.pl |access-date=19 November 2013}}</ref> Coal mining declined during the next two decades, but has increased again following the end of Communist rule.

[[File:KWK Bolesław Śmiały 01.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Bolesław Śmiały Coal Mine]], [[Łaziska Górne]]]]

The 41 coal mines in Silesia are mostly part of the [[Upper Silesian Coal Basin]], which lies in the Silesian Upland. The coalfield has an area of about {{Convert|4,500|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}.<ref name="en.poland.gov.pl"/> Deposits in Lower Silesia have proven to be difficult to exploit and the area's unprofitable mines were closed in 2000.<ref name="en.poland.gov.pl"/> In 2008, an estimated 35&nbsp;billion tonnes of [[lignite]] reserves were found near Legnica, making them some of the largest in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,82244,4820533.html |title=Mamy największe złoża węgla brunatnego na świecie |language=pl |publisher=Gazetawyborcza.pl |access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref>

From the fourth century BC, iron ore has been mined in the upland areas of Silesia.<ref name="en.poland.gov.pl"/> The same period had lead, copper, silver, and gold mining. Zinc, cadmium, arsenic,<ref>S.Z. Mikulski, "Late-Hercynian gold-bearing arsenic-polymetallic mineralization within Saxothuringian zone in the Polish Sudetes, Northeast Bohemian Massif". In: "Mineral Deposit at the Beginning of the 21st Century", A. Piestrzyński et al. (eds). Swets & Zeitinger Publishers [https://books.google.com/books?id=DcUk9rlWHuEC&pg=PA787&lpg=PA787 (Google books)]</ref> and [[uranium]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/index.html?http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/439-440/poland.html |title=Wise International &#124; World Information Service on Energy |publisher=0.antenna.nl |access-date=20 November 2013 |archive-date=10 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010053346/http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/index.html?http%3A%2F%2Fwww10.antenna.nl%2Fwise%2F439-440%2Fpoland.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> have also been mined in the region. Lower Silesia features large copper mining and processing between the cities of [[Legnica]], [[Głogów]], [[Lubin]], and [[Polkowice]]. In the Middle Ages, gold ({{langx|pl|link=no|złoto}}) and silver ({{langx|pl|link=no|srebro}}) were mined in the region, which is reflected in the names of the former mining towns of [[Złotoryja]], [[Złoty Stok]] and [[Srebrna Góra, Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Srebrna Góra]].

The region is known for stone quarrying to produce limestone, [[marl]], marble, and basalt.<ref name="en.poland.gov.pl"/>

{{Table alignment}}
{|class="wikitable col2right"
|+'''Annual production of minerals in Silesia'''
|-
!Mineral Name
!Production (tonnes)
!Reference
|-
|Bituminous coal
|95,000,000
|
|-
|Copper
|571,000
|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/minerals/copper/copper_t21.html |title=Copper: World Smelter Production, By Country |publisher=Indexmundi.com |date=28 July 2011 |access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref>
|-
|Zinc
|160,000
|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/minerals/zinc/zinc_table18.html |title=Zinc: World Smelter Production, By Country |publisher=Indexmundi.com |date=1 July 2004 |access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref>
|-
|Silver
|1,200
|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/minerals/silver/silver_table08.html |title=Silver: World Mine Production, By Country |publisher=Indexmundi.com |date=13 August 2004 |access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref>
|-
|Cadmium
|500
|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/minerals/cadmium/cadmium_t5.html |title=Cadmium: World Refinery Production, By Country |publisher=Indexmundi.com |date=18 May 2012 |access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref>
|-
|Lead
|70,000
|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/minerals/lead/lead_t16.html |title=Lead: World Refinery Production, By Country |publisher=Indexmundi.com |date=24 June 2005 |access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref>
|}

The region also has a thriving agricultural sector, which produces cereals (wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn), potatoes, rapeseed, sugar beets and others. Milk production is well developed. The Opole Silesia has for decades occupied the top spot in Poland for their indices of effectiveness of agricultural land use.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://umwo.opole.pl/serwis/index.php?id=2009 |title=Samorząd Województwa Opolskiego |publisher=Umwo.opole.pl |access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref>

Mountainous parts of southern Silesia feature many significant and attractive tourism destinations (e.g., [[Karpacz]], [[Szczyrk]], [[Wisła]]). Silesia is generally well forested. This is because greenness is generally highly desirable by the local population, particularly in the highly industrialized parts of Silesia.