The coastal typology is applied to NUTS level 3 regions (subregions in Poland) and is used to classify them into one of two groups: coastal regions or non-coastal regions.

Coastal regions are defined as NUTS level 3 regions that meet one of the following criteria:

• border with the sea (have a coastline);
• at least 50% of the population lives within 50 km of the coastline (the calculation of the population percentage of a NUTS level 3 region living at this distance from the coastline is based on population data for 1 km² grid cells);
• have a strong maritime influence (this criterion currently applies to Hamburg only).

The remaining NUTS level 3 regions are referred to as non-coastal regions.

The coastal typology is being updated with the results of censuses, i.e. after obtaining new data on population density in the 1 km² grid, as well as each time after the introduction of a NUTS revision.

The coastal typology in Poland according to the NUTS 2016 revision