 Białystok is situated in the Białystok Uplands ( Polish : Wysoczyzna Białostocka ) of the Podlaskie Plain ( Polish : Nizina Północnopodlaska ) , part of what is known collectively as the Green Lungs of Poland . The Biała River , a left tributary of the Supraśl River , passes through the city . The landscape of the Białystok Upland is diverse , with high moraine hills and kame in excess of 200 m ( 660 ft ) above sea level . Vast areas of outwash , a glacial plain formed of sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a glacier , are covered by forests . 
