Voivodeships of Poland Województwa Polski (Polish)
West Pomeranian Pomeranian Warmian-Masurian Podlaskie Lubusz Greater Poland Kuyavian- Pomeranian Lower Silesian Opole Silesian Świętokrzyskie Łódź Masovian Lublin Lesser Poland Subcarpathian
Category	Unitary state
Location	Republic of Poland
Number	16 Voivodeships
Populations	1,044,346 (Opole) – 5,164,612 (Masovian)
Areas	9,413 km2 (3,634.2 sq mi) (Opole) - 35,580 km2 (13,737 sq mi) (Masovian)
Government	Voivodeship government, National government
Subdivisions	Powiat

A województwo ([vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ]; plural: województwa) is the highest-level administrative subdivision of Poland, corresponding to a "province" in many other countries. The term "województwo" has been in use since the 14th century, and is commonly translated in English as "province".^[1]Województwo is also rendered in English by "voivodeship" (/ˈvɔɪvoʊdʃɪp/) or a variant spelling.^[2]

The Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998, which went into effect on 1 January 1999, created sixteen new voivodeships. These replaced the 49 former voivodeships that had existed from 1 July 1975, and bear greater resemblance (in territory but not in name) to the voivodeships that existed between 1950 and 1975.

Today's voivodeships are mostly named after historical and geographical regions, while those prior to 1998 generally took their names from the cities on which they were centered. The new units range in area from under 10,000 km² (3,900 sq mi) (Opole Voivodeship) to over 35,000 km² (14,000 sq mi) (Masovian Voivodeship), and in population from one million (Lubusz Voivodeship) to over five million (Masovian Voivodeship).

Administrative authority at the voivodeship level is shared between a government-appointed governor called a voivode (wojewoda), an elected assembly called a sejmik, and an executive board (zarząd województwa) chosen by that assembly, headed by a voivodeship marshal (marszałek województwa). Voivodeships are further divided into powiats (counties) and gminas (communes or municipalities): see Administrative divisions of Poland.

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Voivodeships by gross domestic product (GDP)[edit]

GRP per capita of Polish voivodeships based on purchasing power standards (PPS) in 2015

Polish voivodeships as European countries with similar GDP PPP per capita

This is a list of Polish voivodeships by gross regional product (GRP) per capita, based on purchasing power standards (PPS) and shown in euros. Statistics shown are for 2016 levels.

Rank	Province (Voivodeship)	2016 (in EUR)	European countries with similar GDP PPS per capita[3]
1	Masovia	31,700	Finland
2	Lower Silesia	22,100	Lithuania
3	Greater Poland	21,700	Estonia
4	Silesia	20,700	Hungary
5	Pomerania	19,300	Greece
6	Łódź	18,600	Latvia
7	Lesser Poland	18,100	Croatia
8	West Pomerania	16,700	Romania
9	Lubusz	16,700	Romania
10	Kujawy-Pomerania	16,300	Romania
11	Opole	15,900	Romania
12	Świętokrzyskie	14,300	Bulgaria
13	Warmia-Masuria	14,200	Bulgaria
14	Podlaskie	14,100	Bulgaria
15	Podkarpackie	14,000	Bulgaria
16	Lublin	13,700	Bulgaria
—	Poland	19,900	Hungary

This is a list of Polish voivodeships by Nominal gross regional product (GRP) shown in billion euros. Statistics shown are for 2016 levels.

Polish Voivodeships(Provinces) as countries with similar Nominal GDP

Rank	Province (Voivodeship)	2016 (in billions EUR)	Countries with similar GDP (Nominal)[4]
1	Masovia	94.5	Venezuela
2	Silesia	52.5	Luxembourg
3	Greater Poland	42.1	Lithuania
4	Lower Silesia	35.7	Serbia
5	Lesser Poland	34.0	Serbia
6	Łódź	25.8	Latvia
7	Pomerania	24.8	Latvia
8	Kujawy-Pomerania	19.0	Estonia
9	Podkarpackie	16.6	Iceland
10	Lublin	16.3	Iceland
11	West Pomerania	15.9	Iceland
12	Warmia-Masuria	11.4	Albania
13	Świętokrzyskie	10.0	Albania
14	Lubusz	9.5	Albania
15	Podlaskie	9.3	Albania
16	Opole	8.8	Albania
—	Poland	425.6	Sweden

Voivodeships since 1999[edit]

Map of Polish voivodeships since 1999 (abbreviations)

Administrative powers[edit]

Competences and powers at voivodeship level are shared between the voivode (governor), the sejmik (regional assembly) and the marshal. In most cases these institutions are all based in one city, but in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Lubusz Voivodeship the voivode's offices are in a different city from those of the executive and the sejmik. Voivodeship capitals are listed in the table below.

The voivode is appointed by the Prime Minister and is the regional representative of the central government. The voivode acts as the head of central government institutions at regional level (such as the police and fire services, passport offices, and various inspectorates), manages central government property in the region, oversees the functioning of local government, coordinates actions in the field of public safety and environment protection, and exercises special powers in emergencies. The voivode's offices collectively are known as the urząd wojewódzki.^{[citation needed]}

The sejmik is elected every four years, at the same time as the local authorities at powiat and gmina level. It passes bylaws, including the voivodeship's development strategies and budget. It also elects the marszałek and other members of the executive, and holds them to account.

The executive (zarząd województwa), headed by the marszałek drafts the budget and development strategies, implements the resolutions of the sejmik, manages the voivodeship's property, and deals with many aspects of regional policy, including management of European Union funding. The marshal's offices are collectively known as the urząd marszałkowski.

List of voivodeships[edit]

Polish voivodeships since 1999

Abbr.	Flag	Coat of arms	Teryt. code	Car plates	Voivodeship	Polish name	Capital cities	Area (km²)	Population (December 31, 2017)	Pop. per km²
DS			02	D	Lower Silesian	dolnośląskie	Wrocław	19,947	2,914,362	146
KP			04	C	Kuyavian-Pomeranian	kujawsko-pomorskie	Bydgoszcz1, Toruń2	17,972	2,096,404	117
LU			06	L	Lublin	lubelskie	Lublin	25,122	2,165,651	86
LB			08	F	Lubusz	lubuskie	Gorzów Wielkopolski1, Zielona Góra2	13,988	1,023,317	73
LD			10	E	Łódź	łódzkie	Łódź	18,219	2,524,651	139
MA			12	K	Lesser Poland	małopolskie	Kraków	15,183	3,354,077	221
MZ			14	W	Masovian	mazowieckie	Warsaw	35,558	5,301,760	149
OP			16	O	Opole	opolskie	Opole	9,412	1,010,203	107
PK			18	R	Subcarpathian	podkarpackie	Rzeszów	17,846	2,129,951	119
PD			20	B	Podlaskie	podlaskie	Białystok	20,187	1,198,690	59
PM			22	G	Pomeranian	pomorskie	Gdańsk	18,310	2,290,070	125
SL			24	S	Silesian	śląskie	Katowice	12,333	4,615,870	374
SK			26	T	Holy Cross	świętokrzyskie	Kielce	11,711	1,273,995	109
WN			28	N	Warmian-Masurian	warmińsko-mazurskie	Olsztyn	24,173	1,450,697	60
WP			30	P	Greater Poland	wielkopolskie	Poznań	29,826	3,462,196	116
ZP			32	Z	West Pomeranian	zachodniopomorskie	Szczecin	22,892	1,721,405	75
1 Seat of voivode. 2 Seat of sejmik and marszałek.

Economies of Voivodeships[edit]

(See: List of Polish voivodeships by GDP per capita)

According to 2014 Eurostat data, the GDP per capita of Polish voivodeships varies notably and there is a large gap between the richest per capita voivodeship (being the Masovian Voivodeship at 29,800 EUR) and the poorest per capita (being the Lublin Voivodeship at 13,000 EUR).^[5]

Outline of Poland

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1619, around the time of Commonwealth's greatest extent

Voivodeships of Congress Poland

Poland's prewar and postwar borders, 1939–1945

Map of Polish voivodeships (1921–1939)

Map of Polish voivodeships (1957–1975)

Map of Polish voivodeships (1975–1998)

Historical development[edit]

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth[edit]

Greater Poland (Wielkopolska)[edit]

• 
  Poznań Voivodeship (województwo poznańskie, Poznań)


• 
  Kalisz Voivodeship (województwo kaliskie, Kalisz)


• 
  Gniezno Voivodeship (województwo gnieźnieńskie, Gniezno) from 1768


• 
  Sieradz Voivodeship (województwo sieradzkie, Sieradz)


• 
  Łęczyca Voivodeship (województwo łęczyckie, Łęczyca)


• 
  Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship (województwo brzesko-kujawskie, Brześć Kujawski)


• 
  Inowrocław Voivodeship (województwo inowrocławskie, Inowrocław)


• 
  Chełmno Voivodeship (województwo chełmińskie, Chełmno)


• 
  Malbork Voivodeship (województwo malborskie, Malbork)


• 
  Pomeranian Voivodeship (województwo pomorskie, Gdańsk)


• 
  Duchy of Warmia (Księstwo Warmińskie, Lidzbark Warmiński)


• 
  Duchy of Prussia (Księstwo Pruskie, Królewiec)


• 
  Płock Voivodeship (województwo płockie, Płock)


• 
  Rawa Voivodeship (województwo rawskie, Rawa Mazowiecka)


• 
  Masovian Voivodeship (województwo mazowieckie, Warszawa)

Lesser Poland (Małopolska)[edit]

• 
  Kraków Voivodeship (województwo krakowskie, Kraków)


• 
  Sandomierz Voivodeship (województwo sandomierskie, Sandomierz)


• 
  Lublin Voivodeship (województwo lubelskie, Lublin)


• 
  Podlaskie Voivodeship (województwo podlaskie, Drohiczyn)


• 
  Ruthenian Voivodeship (województwo ruskie, Lwów)


• 
  Bełz Voivodeship (województwo belzkie, Bełz)


• 
  Volhynian Voivodeship (województwo wołyńskie, Łuck)


• 
  Podole Voivodeship (województwo podolskie, Kamieniec Podolski)


• 
  Bracław Voivodeship (województwo bracławskie, Bracław)


• 
  Kijów Voivodeship (województwo kijowskie, Kijów)


• 
  Czernihów Voivodeship (województwo czernichowskie, Czernihów)

Grand Duchy of Lithuania[edit]

• 
  Wilno Voivodship (województwo wileńskie, Wilno)


• 
  Troki Voivodship (województwo trockie, Troki)


• 
  Nowogrodek Voivodship (województwo nowogrodzkie, Nowogródek)


• 
  Brest-Litovsk Voivodship (województwo brzesko-litewskie, Brześć Litewski)


• 
  Minsk Voivodship (województwo mińskie, Mińsk)


• 
  Mscislaw Voivodship (województwo mścisławskie, Mścisław)


• 
  Smolensk Voivodship (województwo smoleńskie, Smoleńsk)


• 
  Vitebsk Voivodship (województwo witebskie, Witebsk)


• 
  Polock Voivodship (województwo połockie, Połock)


• 
  Duchy of Samogita (księstwo żmudzkie, Miedniki-Wornie)

Duchy of Livonia[edit]

• 
  Wenden Voivodship (województwo wendeńskie, Wenden) since 1598 till the 1620s


• 
  Dorpat Voivodship (województwo dorpackie, Dorpat) since 1598 till the 1620s


• 
  Parnawa Voivodship (województwo parnawskie, Parnava) since 1598 till the 1620s


• 
  Inflanty Voivodeship (województwo inflanckie Dyneburg) since the 1620s


• 
  Duchy of Courland and Semigalia (księstwo Kurlandii i Semigalii), Mitawa)

Congress Poland[edit]

From 1816 to 1837 there were 8 voivodeships in Congress Poland.

• Augustów Voivodeship


• Kalisz Voivodeship


• Kraków Voivodeship


• Lublin Voivodeship


• Mazowsze Voivodeship


• Płock Voivodeship


• Podlaskie Voivodeship


• Sandomierz Voivodeship

Second Polish Republic[edit]

The administrative division of Poland in the interwar period included 16 voivodeships and Warsaw (with voivodeship rights). The voivodeships that remained in Poland after World War II as a result of Polish–Soviet border agreement of August 1945 were very similar to the current voivodeships.

Collapsed list of car plates since 1937, please use table-sort buttons.

Polish People's Republic[edit]

After World War II, the new administrative division of the country within the new national borders was based on the prewar one and included 14 (+2) voivodeships, then 17 (+5). The voivodeships in the east that had not been annexed by the Soviet Union had their borders left almost unchanged. The newly acquired territories in the west and north were organized into the new voivodeships of Szczecin, Wrocław and Olsztyn, and partly joined to Gdańsk, Katowice and Poznań voivodeships. Two cities were granted voivodeship status: Warsaw and Łódź.

In 1950, new voivodeships were created: Koszalin (previously part of Szczecin), Opole (previously part of Katowice), and Zielona Góra (previously part of Poznań, Wrocław and Szczecin voivodeships). In 1957, three more cities were granted voivodeship status: Wrocław, Kraków and Poznań.

Collapsed list of car plates since 1956, please use table-sort buttons.

Poland's voivodeships 1975–1998

Administrative division of Poland between 1979 and 1998 included 49 voivodeships upheld after the establishment of the Third Polish Republic in 1989 for another decade. This reorganization of administrative division of Poland was mainly a result of local government reform acts of 1973–1975. In place of the three-level administrative division (voivodeship, county, commune), a new two-level administrative division was introduced (49 small voivodeships, and communes). The three smallest voivodeships – Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź – had the special status of municipal voivodeship; the city president (mayor) was also provincial governor.

Collapsed list of Voivodeships: 1975–1998, please use table-sort buttons.

Etymology and use of "voivodeship"[edit]

Some English-language sources, in historic contexts, speak of "palatinates" rather than "voivodeships". The term "palatinate" traces back to the Latin palatinus ("palatine").

More commonly used now is "province" or "voivodeship". The latter is a loanword-calque hybrid formed on the Polish "województwo".

Some writers argue against rendering "województwo" in English as "province" on historic grounds. Before the Third and last Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which occurred in 1795, each of the main constituent Regions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Lithuania, and Royal Prussia—was sometimes idiosyncratically referred to as a "Province" ("prowincyja"). According to the argument, a "Province" (such as Greater Poland) cannot consist of a number of subdivisions ("województwa", the plural of "województwo") that are likewise called "provinces". However, this is an antiquarian consideration, since "province" has not been used in this sense in Poland for over two centuries, and in any case the former larger political units—all now obsolete—can be referred to in English as "Regions" (which, in English parlance, is what they were).

The Polish "województwo", designating a second-tier Polish or Polish–Lithuanian administrative unit, derives from "wojewoda" (etymologically, a "warlord", "war leader" or "leader of warriors", but now simply the governor of a województwo) and the suffix "-ztwo" (a "state or condition").

The English "voivodeship", which is a hybrid of the loanword "voivode" and "-ship" (the latter a suffix that calques the Polish suffix "-ztwo"), has never been much used and is absent from many dictionaries. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it first appeared in 1792, spelled "woiwodship", in the sense of "the district or province governed by a voivode." The word subsequently appeared in 1886 also in the sense of "the office or dignity of a voivode."^[7]

Poland's Commission on Standardization of Geographic Names outside the Republic of Poland, recommends the spelling "voivodship", without the e.[1] [2] [3]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• "Poland", Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, 2010, Macropaedia, volume 25, p. 937.


• "Poland", The Columbia Encyclopedia, sixth edition, edited by Paul Lagassé, Columbia University Press, 2000, p. 2256.


• "Poland", The Encyclopedia Americana, 1986, volume 22, p. 312.


• "Poland," in Central Intelligence Agency, The CIA World Factbook 2010, New York, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., 2009, ISBN 9781602397279, p. 546.


• "Voivodeship," The Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, volume XIX, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1989, p. 739.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Voivodeships of Poland.

• Map of Polish Regions


• Administrative division of Poland (from Commission on Standardization of Geographical Names Outside Poland website, in English)


• Official map by Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography


• Regions of Poland


• 
  Toponymic Guidelines Of Poland for Map Editors and Other Users Head Office Of Geodesy And Cartography, 2002


• 
  CIA World Factbook --> "Poland --> Administrative divisions"

See also[edit]

• Coats of arms of Polish voivodeships


• Flags of Polish voivodeships


• ISO 3166-2:PL


• Prowincja


• Regions of Poland


• Voivodeship