Bydgoszcz [ˈbɨdɡɔʂt​͡ʂ] (German: Bromberg , Russian: Быдгощ, Latin: Bydgostia) is a city located in northern Poland, on the Brda and Vistula rivers, with a population of 358,029 (June 2009), agglomeration more than 460 000, which makes it the 8th largest city in Poland. It has been the co-capital with Toruń of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of the Bydgoszcz Voivodeship (1947–1998) and before that, of the Pomeranian Voivodeship (1945–1947). Since 1999 it is also the seat of Bydgoszcz County. Bydgoszcz is part of the metroplex Bydgoszcz-Toruń with Toruń, only 45 km away, and over 850,000 inhabitants. Bydgoszcz is the seat of Casimir the Great University, University of Technology and Life Sciences and a conservatory as well as a Collegium Medicum of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Bydgoszcz has a famous Concert Hall (Filharmonia Pomorska), opera house Opera Nova, From the Bydgoszcz Ignacy Jan Paderewski Airport there are flights to Warsaw, London, Dublin, Berlin, Kraków, Vienna, Copenhagen, Birmingham and Weeze as well charter flights to Antalya, Crete and Tunis. Thanks to its location between Vistula and Odra water system on the Bydgoszcz Canal, the city is an important link in a water system connected via Noteć, Warta, Odra, Elbe with the Rhine and Rotterdam. Bydgoszcz was a candidate for the title of European Capital of Culture in 2016.