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See also: Voivodeship
The voivodeship or province (Polish: województwo) has been a high-level administrative subdivision of Poland since the 14th century. Pursuant to the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998, which came into effect on January 1, 1999, sixteen new voivodeships were created. These replaced the 49 former voivodeships that had existed from July 1, 1975. Today's voivodeships are largely based on the country's historic regions, while those of 1975–1998 were centred on and named for individual cities. 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 voivodeship level is shared between a government-appointed governor called a voivode (Polish wojewoda), an elected assembly called a sejmik, and an executive chosen by that assembly. The leader of that executive is called the marszałek województwa (voivodeship marshal). Voivodeships are further divided into powiats (counties) and gminas (communes or municipalities): see Administrative division of Poland. [edit] Voivodeships since 1999[edit] Administrative powersCompetences and powers at voivodeship level are shared between the voivode (governor), the sejmik (regional assembly) and the executive. 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. 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. Its offices collectively are known as the urząd marszałkowski. [edit] Map and table of voivodeships
[edit] Former voivodeships[edit] Poland's voivodeships 1975-1998 (49 voivodeships)(since 1989, the Third Polish Republic) See also Administrative division of People's Republic of Poland)
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.
[edit] Poland's voivodeships 1945-1975 (14+2 voivodeships, then 17+5)Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of Poland After World War II, the new administrative division of the country was based on the prewar one. The areas 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 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 addition, three more cities were granted voivodeship status: Wrocław, Kraków and Poznań.
[edit] Poland's voivodeships 1921-1939 (15+1 voivodeships +1 Autonomous Silesian)Further information: Administrative division of Second Polish Republic
[edit] Voivodeships in Congress Poland 1816-1837Further information: Administrative division of Congress Poland From 1816 to 1837 there were 8 voivodeships in Congress Poland.
[edit] Voivodeships in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1569-1795Further information: Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Voivodes of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth   [edit] Greater Poland (Wielkopolska)
[edit] Lesser Poland (Małopolska)
[edit] Grand Duchy of LithuaniaHere the first name given is English, then in brackets – Lithuanian, and then Polish.
[edit] Duchy of Livonia
[edit] Etymology and use of "voivodeship"Some English-language sources, especially in historic contexts, speak of "palatinates" rather than "voivodeships"; the former term traces back to the Latin palatinus. More commonly used now is the term "voivodeship", a calque of the original Polish term województwo. Other sources refer instead to "provinces", though in pre-1795 contexts this may be misleading since the word "province" (in Polish, prowincja) was applied, until the third and last of the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, to the three main Regions (Greater Poland, Lesser Poland and Lithuania) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, each of which comprised a number of voivodeships. The Polish term województwo, designating a second-tier Polish or Polish–Lithuanian administrative unit, derives from wojewoda (etymologically, a "war leader", but now merely the governor of a województwo) and the suffix -stwo (a "state or condition"). The English word "voivodeship", which is a hybrid of voivode and -ship (a suffix likewise meaning a "state or condition") that calques (replicates) those two elements found in the Polish original, has never been much used and is absent from many dictionaries. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its first use dates from 1792, spelled woiwodship, in the sense of "the district or province governed by a voivode." The word subsequently also appeared, for the first time in 1886, in the sense of "the office or dignity of a voivode." An official Polish body, the Commission on Standardization of Geographic Names outside the Republic of Poland, recommends use of the spelling "voivodship", without the e. This is consistently reflected in publications[1][2][3] and in the international arena, e.g., at the United Nations.[4] [edit] See also[edit] Notes[edit] External links
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