Voivodeships of Poland


A voivodeship is the highest-level administrative subdivision of Poland, corresponding to a "province" in many other countries. The term has been in use since the 14th century, and is commonly translated in English as "province" or "state".
The Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998, which went into effect on 1 January 1999, created 16 new voivodeships. These replaced the 49 former voivodeships that had existed from 1 July 1975, and bear greater resemblance 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 to over , and in population from one million to over five million.
Administrative authority at the voivodeship level is shared between a government-appointed governor called a voivode, an elected assembly called a sejmik, and an executive board chosen by that assembly, headed by a voivodeship marshal. Voivodeships are further divided into powiats and gminas : see Administrative divisions of Poland.

Etymology and use of "voivodeship"

Some English-language sources, in historic contexts, speak of "palatinates" rather than "voivodeships". The term "palatinate" traces back to the Latin palatinus.
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". According to the argument, a "Province" cannot consist of a number of subdivisions 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".
The Polish "województwo", designating a second-tier Polish or Polish–Lithuanian administrative unit, derives from "wojewoda" and the suffix "-ztwo".
The English "voivodeship", which is a hybrid of the loanword "voivode" and "-ship", 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."
Poland's Commission on Standardization of Geographic Names outside the Republic of Poland, recommends the spelling "voivodship", without the e.

Voivodeships since 1999

Administrative powers

Competences and powers at voivodeship level are shared between the voivode, the sejmik 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, 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.
The sejmik is elected every five 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, 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

Economies of Voivodeships

According to 2017 Eurostat data, the GDP per capita of Polish voivodeships varies notably and there is a large gap between the richest per capita voivodeship and the poorest per capita.

Historical development

[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]

[Greater Poland] (''Wielkopolska'')

From 1816 to 1837 there were 8 voivodeships in Congress Poland.
The administrative division of Poland in the interwar period included 16 voivodeships and Warsaw. 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.
Car plates
VoivodeshipPolish nameCapital city
modern name in parentheses		Area in km² Population
20–24BiałystokbiałostockieBiałystok26,0001,263,300
25–29KielcekieleckieKielce22,2002,671,000
30–34KrakówkrakowskieKraków17,6002,300,100
35–39LublinlubelskieLublin26,6002,116,200
40–44LwówlwowskieLwów 28,4003,126,300
45–49ŁódźłódzkieŁódź20,4002,650,100
50–54NowogródeknowogródzkieNowogródek 23,0001,057,200
55–59PolesiepoleskieBrześć nad Bugiem 36,7001,132,200
60–64PomeranianpomorskieToruń25,7001,884,400
65–69PoznańpoznańskiePoznań28,1002,339,600
70–74StanisławówstanisławowskieStanisławów 16,9001,480,300
75–79?SilesianśląskieKatowice5,1001,533,500
80–84TarnopoltarnopolskieTarnopol 16,5001,600,400
85–89Warsaw warszawskieWarsaw31,7002,460,900
00–19Warsaw WarszawaWarsaw1401,179,500
90–94WilnowileńskieWilno 29,0001,276,000
95–99WołyńwołyńskieŁuck 35,7002,085,600

Polish People's Republic

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 voivodeships, then 17. 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, Opole, and Zielona Góra. 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, a new two-level administrative division was introduced. The three smallest voivodeships – Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź – had the special status of municipal voivodeship; the city president was also provincial governor.
Collapsed list of Voivodeships: 1975–1998, please use table-sort buttons.
VoivodeshipPolish nameCapitalArea km² Population No. of citiesNo. of communes
bpBiała Podlaska VoivodeshipbialskopodlaskieBiała Podlaska5,348286,400635
bkBiałystok VoivodeshipbiałostockieBiałystok10,055641,1001749
bbBielsko-Biała VoivodeshipbielskieBielsko-Biała3,704829,9001847
byBydgoszcz VoivodeshipbydgoskieBydgoszcz10,3491,036,0002755
chChełm VoivodeshipchełmskieChełm3,865230,900425
ciCiechanów VoivodeshipciechanowskieCiechanów6,362405,400945
czCzęstochowa VoivodeshipczęstochowskieCzęstochowa6,182747,9001749
elElbląg VoivodeshipelbląskieElbląg6,103441,5001537
gdGdańsk VoivodeshipgdańskieGdańsk7,3941,333,8001943
goGorzów VoivodeshipgorzowskieGorzów Wielkopolski8,484455,4002138
jgJelenia Góra VoivodeshipjeleniogórskieJelenia Góra4,378492,6002428
klKalisz VoivodeshipkaliskieKalisz6,512668,0002053
kaKatowice VoivodeshipkatowickieKatowice6,6503,733,9004346
kiKielce VoivodeshipkieleckieKielce9,2111,068,7001769
knKonin VoivodeshipkonińskieKonin5,139441,2001843
koKoszalin VoivodeshipkoszalińskieKoszalin8,470462,2001735
krKraków VoivodeshipkrakowskieKraków3,2541,167,5001038
ksKrosno VoivodeshipkrośnieńskieKrosno5,702448,2001237
lgLegnica VoivodeshiplegnickieLegnica4,037458,9001131
leLeszno VoivodeshipleszczyńskieLeszno4,254357,6001928
luLublin VoivodeshiplubelskieLublin6,793935,2001662
loŁomża VoivodeshipłomżyńskieŁomża6,684325,8001239
ldŁódź VoivodeshipłódzkieŁódź15231,127,800811
nsNowy Sącz VoivodeshipnowosądeckieNowy Sącz5,576628,8001441
olOlsztyn VoivodeshipolsztyńskieOlsztyn12,327681,4002148
opOpole VoivodeshipopolskieOpole8,535975,0002961
osOstrołęka VoivodeshipostrołęckieOstrołęka6,498371,400938
piPiła VoivodeshippilskiePiła8,205437,1002435
ptPiotrków VoivodeshippiotrkowskiePiotrków Trybunalski6,266604,2001051
plPłock VoivodeshippłockiePłock5,117496,100944
poPoznań VoivodeshippoznańskiePoznań8,1511,237,8003357
prPrzemyśl VoivodeshipprzemyskiePrzemyśl4,437380,000935
raRadom VoivodeshipradomskieRadom7,295702,3001561
rzRzeszów VoivodeshiprzeszowskieRzeszów4,397648,9001341
seSiedlce VoivodeshipsiedleckieSiedlce8,499616,3001266
siSieradz VoivodeshipsieradzkieSieradz4,869392,300940
skSkierniewice VoivodeshipskierniewickieSkierniewice3,959396,900836
slSłupsk VoivodeshipsłupskieSłupsk7,453369,8001131
suSuwałki VoivodeshipsuwalskieSuwałki10,490422,6001442
szSzczecin VoivodeshipszczecińskieSzczecin9,981897,9002950
tgTarnobrzeg VoivodeshiptarnobrzeskieTarnobrzeg6,283556,3001446
taTarnów VoivodeshiptarnowskieTarnów4,151607,000941
toToruń VoivodeshiptoruńskieToruń5,348610,8001341
wbWałbrzych VoivodeshipwałbrzyskieWałbrzych4,168716,1003130
waWarsaw VoivodeshipwarszawskieWarsaw
3,7882,319,1002732
wlWłocławek VoivodeshipwłocławskieWłocławek4,402413,4001430
wrWrocław VoivodeshipwrocławskieWrocław6,2871,076,2001633
zaZamość VoivodeshipzamojskieZamość6,980472,100547
zgZielona Góra VoivodeshipzielonogórskieZielona Góra8,868609,2002650