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2339 - Kraków, Lesser Poland, Poland

Kraków has an interesting story to how it got it's name. The name is traditionally derived from Krakus, the legendary founder of Kraków. He was a ruler of a tribe of Lechitians, who were certain Western Slavic tribes who inhabited modern day Poland. In Polish, Kraków is an archaic possessive form of Krak and Kraków essentially means "Krak's." The first mention of Prince Krakus, however, is in 1190, but the town has been in existence since the 600s, when it was inhabited by a tribe of Vistulans. It is also possible that Kraków is a derivative of the word "kruk," which means crow or raven.

Kraków's official name is Stołeczne Królewskie Miasto Kraków, or Royal Capital of Kraków.

Because of my love for hockey, Kraków does have a men's professional hockey team - KS Cracovia. They play in the Polska Hokej Liga. They have been Polish champs twelve times - 1937, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 - then they went 57 years without a championship - 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016, and 2017. 

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