Узедом: Балтық теңізінің екі елге бөлінген аралы

Island in the southern Baltic Sea divided between Germany and Poland
the island

Usedom (Usedom , Uznam ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It lies north of the Szczecin Lagoon estuary of the Oder river. About 80% of the island belongs to the German district of Vorpommern Greifswald in the state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern. The eastern part and the largest city on the island, Świnoujście, are part of the Polish West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The island's total area is – in the German part and in the Polish part. Its population is 76,500 (German part 31,500; Polish part 45,000). With an annual average of 1,906 hours of sunshine, Usedom is the sunniest region of both Germany and Poland, and it is also one of the sunniest islands in the Baltic Sea, hence its nickname "Sun Island" (Sonneninsel, Wyspa Słońca). The island has been a tourist destination since the Gründerzeit in the 19th century, and features resort architecture. Seaside resorts include Zinnowitz and the Amber Spas in the west, the Kaiserbad and Świnoujście in the east.

Settled since the Stone Age, the area was probably inhabited by Germanic Rugians, before the Polabian Slavs moved in during the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. Around the island, Wendish/Scandinavian trade centres such as Vineta/Jomsborg and Menzlin were established. In the 1110s, the town of Uznam was destroyed by the Danes. In the 1120s, the island along with Western Pomerania came under Polish suzerainty under Bolesław III Wrymouth, and became part of a newly formed vassal state of Poland, the Duchy of Pomerania. The Polish ruler initiated Christianization, entrusting this task to Otto of Bamberg, and in 1128 the Slavic Pomeranian Duke Wartislaw I was converted to Christianity through the efforts of Otto. In 1155 the Premonstratensians established a monastery in Grobe, generally known as Usedom Abbey, which in 1309 was moved to the village of Pudagla. In the meantime, a Cistercian nunnery was founded in Krummin and soon almost the whole island was in the possession of one or the other of the ecclesiastical orders. In the 1170s, the island was ravaged by King Valdemar I of Denmark. During the Reformation, ownership passed to the Slavic dukes of Pomerania, who took over the island. During the Thirty Years' War, on June 26, 1630, the Swedish Army under King Gustavus Adolphus landed in the village of Peenemünde, located on the Peenestrom strait. In 1637 the last duke of Pomerania Bogislaw XIV died, the House of Griffin became extinct and the duchy ceased to exist. Usedom was annexed by Sweden after the war for almost a century, until in 1720 it was sold for 2 million thalers to Prussian King Frederick William I. In 1740 Frederick the Great of Prussia developed a seaport in Świnoujście (then Swinemünde). With the Kingdom of Prussia the island became part of the German Empire in 1871. The small village of Peenemünde came to prominence again during World War II. The Luftwaffe tested missiles and rockets, including the V 1 and V 2 nearby. Germany used thousands of slave laborers on Usedom during World War II. During the war, a subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was located in the town of Usedom. In the final stages of the war, in 1945, German perpetrated death marches of Allied prisoners of war from the Stalag XX B and Stalag Luft IV POW camps passed through the island. In 1945 the eastern part of the island, together with the city and port of Swinemünde (now Świnoujście), was assigned to Poland under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference, and the surviving German inhabitants of the town were expelled to the west. The territory was repopulated with Poles, most of whom had been expelled by the Soviets from what had been eastern Poland.

The Polish Naval Base Świnoujście is located on the island.