Residents/Population:	2 786
Area:	23 km2
Expenditure per capita:	10 489,14 zł
Website:	www.gohel.pl
Rulers/Leaders:
Mirosław WądołowskiMayor of the Town	Marek ChrońChair of the City Council

The most maritime town in Poland - located at the tip of the Hel Peninsula and surrounded on three sides by the waters of the Baltic Sea - attracts thousands of tourists every year with its recreational and leisure qualities. Hel is the oldest town in Puck County, as it was granted town rights around 1260 by Duke Świętopełk II of Pomerania.

Hel quickly became a popular seaside resort. Its unique climatic, natural, and landscape qualities attracted holidaymakers from all over Poland in search of rest and recreation. Its exceptional location in the central part of the Gulf of Gdańsk also made Hel an ideal research centre. In 1923, on the initiative of the University of Poznań, the Marine Fisheries Laboratory was established - the first Polish scientific institution dedicated to marine biology research. It became the foundation of today’s Marine Station of the Institute of Oceanography at the University of Gdańsk, famous for the only seal rehabilitation centre in Poland. During the interwar period, Hel also gained strategic importance as it was chosen as a naval base for the Polish fleet, with an extensive system of coastal artillery defence positions.

Today, the main tourist attractions of Hel include the former Evangelical Church of Saints Peter and Paul, the Fisheries Museum, the Marine Station, a beautiful sandy beach, the lighthouse, and the Polish Navy port.