Greater Poland Voivodeship Województwo wielkopolskie
—  Voivodeship  —
Flag Coat of arms
Location within Poland
Division into counties
Coordinates (Poznań): 52°17′34″N 16°44′8″E / 52.29278°N 16.73556°E / 52.29278; 16.73556
Country	Poland
Capital	Poznań
Counties	4 cities, 31 land counties * Kalisz Konin Leszno Poznań Chodzież County Czarnków-Trzcianka County Gniezno County Gostyń County Grodzisk Wielkopolski County Jarocin County Kalisz County Kępno County Koło County Konin County Kościan County Krotoszyn County Leszno County Międzychód County Nowy Tomyśl County Oborniki County Ostrów Wielkopolski County Ostrzeszów County Piła County Pleszew County Poznań County Rawicz County Słupca County Szamotuły County Środa Wielkopolska County Śrem County Turek County Wągrowiec County Wolsztyn County Września County Złotów County
Area
- Total	29,826 km2 (11,515.9 sq mi)
Population (2006)
- Total	3,374,653
- Density	113.1/km2 (293/sq mi)
- Urban	1,923,582
- Rural	1,451,071
Car plates	P
Website	http://www.en.poznan.uw.gov.pl/
* further divided into 226 gminas.

Greater Poland Voivodeship (also known as Wielkopolska Province, or by its Polish name of województwo wielkopolskie [vɔjɛˈvut​͡stfɔ vjɛlkɔˈpɔlsk^jɛ] or simply Wielkopolskie) is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Poznań, Kalisz, Konin, Piła and Leszno Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province is named after the region called Greater Poland or Wielkopolska [vjɛlkɔˈpɔlska] ( listen). The modern province includes most of this historic region, except for some south-western parts.

Greater Poland Voivodeship is second in area and third in population among Poland's sixteen voivodeships, with an area of 29,826 square kilometres (11,516 sq mi) and a population of close to 3.4 million. Its capital city is Poznań; other important cities include Kalisz, Konin, Piła, Ostrów Wielkopolski and Gniezno (an early capital of Poland). It is bordered by seven other voivodeships: West Pomeranian to the north-west, Pomeranian to the north, Kuyavian-Pomeranian to the north-east, Łódź to the south-east, Opole to the south, Lower Silesian to the south-west and Lubusz to the west.

Greater Poland Voivodeship and the city of Poznań have international twinning arrangements with the English county of Nottinghamshire.^[1]

[edit] Cities and towns

The voivodeship contains 109 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006^[2] ):

[edit] Administrative division

Greater Poland Voivodeship is divided into 35 counties (powiats): 4 city counties and 31 land counties. These are further divided into 226 gminas.

The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).

[edit] Protected areas

Protected areas in Greater Poland Voivodeship include two National Parks and 12 Landscape Parks. These are listed below.

• Drawno National Park (partly in Lubusz and West Pomeranian Voivodeships)
• Wielkopolska National Park
• Barycz Valley Landscape Park (partly in Lower Silesian Voivodeship)
• Chłapowski Landscape Park
• Lednica Landscape Park
• Powidz Landscape Park
• Promno Landscape Park
• Przemęt Landscape Park (partly in Lubusz Voivodeship)
• Pszczew Landscape Park (partly in Lubusz Voivodeship)
• Puszcza Zielonka Landscape Park
• Rogalin Landscape Park
• Sieraków Landscape Park
• Warta Landscape Park
• Żerków-Czeszewo Landscape Park

[edit] Most popular surnames in the region

1. Nowak: 35,011
2. Kaczmarek: 24,185
3. Wojciechowski: 12,928

[edit] See also

• Prussia’s Province of Posen (1818–1919)
• Second Polish Republic’s Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Zygmunt Boras, Książęta Piastowscy Wielkopolski (Piast Princes of Wielkopolska), Poznań, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, 1983.

[edit] External links

• wielkopolska-region.pl Information about Great Poland; Multilingual.

• greatpoland.eu Data base about: Business, Culture, Sport, Motorization, Tourism, Agrotourism, Medicine, Health by CyberWielkopolska

• Greater Poland Local Government Office
• ChefMoz Dining Guide Greater Poland
• Wielkopolska at the Open Directory Project

v • d • e Counties of Greater Poland Voivodeship City counties Poznań (capital) • Kalisz • Konin • Leszno Land counties Chodzież • Czarnków-Trzcianka • Gniezno • Gostyń • Grodzisk Wielkopolski • Jarocin • Kalisz • Kępno • Koło • Konin • Kościan • Krotoszyn • Leszno • Międzychód • Nowy Tomyśl • Oborniki • Ostrów Wielkopolski • Ostrzeszów • Piła • Pleszew • Poznań • Rawicz • Słupca • Śrem • Środa Wielkopolska • Szamotuły • Turek • Wągrowiec • Wolsztyn • Września • Złotów

v • d • e Voivodeships of Poland Greater Poland · Kuyavian-Pomeranian · Lesser Poland · Łódź · Lower Silesian · Lublin · Lubusz · Masovian · Opole · Podlaskie · Pomeranian · Silesian · Subcarpathian · Świętokrzyskie · Warmian-Masurian · West Pomeranian

Coordinates: 52°20′02″N 17°14′50″E / 52.33389°N 17.24722°E / 52.33389; 17.24722