Poniatowa is a town in southeastern Poland, in Opole Lubelskie County, in Lublin Voivodship, with 10,500 inhabitants (2006). It belongs to the historic province of Lesser Poland. During the existence of the 17th-century Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Poniatowa was part of the Lublin Voivodeship also. For most of its history Poniatowa was a village; it did not receive town charter until July 18, 1962. The town has a sports club Stal, established in 1951. History Exact date of establishment of Poniatowa is not known, however, it must have existed before the year 1382, because on September 2, 1382, the Starosta of Lublin issued a document co-signed by a man named Gotard, who was the owner of a village named Poniatowa. In the late Middle Ages, the Land of Lublin was located in eastern part of the Kingdom of Poland, near the border with Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Eastern Slavic lands. After King Kazimierz Wielki annexed Red Ruthenia into Poland (1340s), the region became populated with settlers from other parts of Lesser Poland. In the 15th century, some 178 new villages were founded in the Land of Lublin. They were owned by the szlachta noble families, who were supposed to answer royal call in case of an armed conflict (see Pospolite ruszenie). By the early 16th century, Poniatowa was under the authority of a Castellan from nearby Wąwolnica. In the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Poniatowa remained a village, which was part of Lublin Voivodeship. It belonged to the aristocratic Poniatowski family, which gave Poland its last king – Stanisław August Poniatowski. The family gave its name to the settlement, although by the time Poniatowskis got to prominence its members were living elsewhere. The village was in private hands until the mid-19th century, when, after the Partitions of Poland, it became part of the Russian-controlled Congress Poland. The Bull ("Ciołek" in Polish) which appears on the town's coat of arms is borrowed from one of the Poniatowskis heraldic designs. 20th century The present town of Poniatowa was founded in the late 1930s, to house arriving workers of the new telecommunications equipment factory PZT (Zaklady Tele i Radiotechniczne - Filia nr 2), construction of which began in 1937. The factory was part of the Central Industrial Region, and was to supply radio equipment to the Polish Army. First buildings of the new town were put up in 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II