Lesser Poland Voivodeship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Województwo małopolskie


Flag	Coat of arms

Capital city

Kraków

Area

15,108 km²

Population (2006)
- Density

3,267,200
216.2/km²

Powiats
- Urban counties
- Land counties

3
19

Communes

182

Administrative divisions:

Lesser Poland Voivodeship (Polish: województwo małopolskie) is an administrative region or voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of 15,100 square kilometers, and a population of 3,253,000.

It was created on January 1, 1999 out of the former Kraków, Tarnów, Nowy Sącz and parts of Bielsko-Biała and Katowice voivodeships, pursuant to the Local Government Reorganization Act of 1998. The voivodeship's name recalls the region's traditional name, Małopolska.

It is bounded on the north by the Góry Świętokrzyskie (Świętokrzyskie Mountains), on the west by the Jura Krakówsko-Częstochowska (a broad range of hills stretching from Kraków to Częstochowa), and on the south by the Tatra, Pieniny and Beskidy Mountains.

It is an ancient region and, together with Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) and Silesia (Śląsk), formed the early medieval Polish state.

Almost all of Lesser Poland lies in the Vistula river catchment area. The city of Kraków was one of the European Cities of Culture of the year 2000. Kraków has railway and road connections with Katowice (expressway), Warsaw, Wrocław and Rzeszów. It lies at the crossroads of major international routes linking Dresden with Kiev, and Gdańsk with Budapest. The second largest international airport in Poland (after Warsaw), the John Paul II International Airport, is located here.

1 Economy
2 Universities
3 Tourism
4 Administrative division
5 Major cities and towns
6 Most popular surnames in the region
7 References

[edit] Economy

The region's economy includes high technology, banking, chemical and metallurgical industries, coal, ore, food processing, and spirit and tobacco industries. The most industrialised city of the voivodeship is Kraków. The largest regional enterprise operates here, the Tadeusz Sendzimir Steelworks in Nowa Huta, employing 17,000 people. Another major industrial center is located in the west, in the neighbourhood of Chrzanów (chiefly the production of railway engines) and Oświęcim (chemical works). Kraków Park Technologiczny, a Special Economic Zone, has been established within the voivodeship. There are almost 210,000 registered economic entities operating in the voivodeship, mostly small and medium-sized, of which 234 belong to the state-owned sector. Foreign investment, growing in the region, reached approximately USD 1.5 billion by the end of 1997.

[edit] Universities

102,000 students attend fifteen Kraków institutions of higher learning. The Jagiellonian University, the largest university in the city (27,000 students), was founded in 1364 as Cracow Academy. Nicolaus Copernicus and Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II) graduated from it. The AGH University of Science and Technology (18,700 students) is considered to be the best technical university in Poland. The Academy of Economics, the Pedagogical University, the Kraków Technical University and the Agricultural Academy are also very highly regarded. There are also the Fine Arts Academy, the State Theatre University and the Musical Academy. Nowy Sącz has become a major educational center in the region thanks to its Higher School of Business and Administration, with an American curriculum, founded in 1992. The school has 2,200 students. There are also two private higher schools in Tarnów.

[edit] Tourism

Four national parks and numerous reserves have been established in the voivodeship to protect the environment of Lesser Poland. The region has areas for tourism and recreation, including Zakopane (Poland's most popular winter resort) and the Tatra, Pieniny and Beskidy Mountains. The natural landscape features many historic sites. The salt mine at Wieliczka, the pilgrimage town of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, and Kraków's Old Town are ranked by UNESCO among the most precious sites of world heritage. At Wadowice, birthplace of John Paul II (50 kilometers southwest of Kraków) is a museum dedicated to the late Pope's childhood. The area of Oświęcim, with the former Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz-I and Auschwitz-II-Birkenau, is visited annually by half a million people. Another tourist destination is the town of Bochnia with its salt mine, Europe's oldest.

[edit] Administrative division

Kraków City County
Nowy Sącz City County
Tarnów City County
Bochnia County, powiat bocheński, Bochnia
Brzesko County, powiat brzeski, Brzesko
Chrzanów County, powiat chrzanowski, Chrzanów
Dąbrowa Tarnowska County, powiat dąbrowski, Dąbrowa Tarnowska
Gorlice County, powiat gorlicki, Gorlice
Kraków County, powiat krakowski, Kraków
Limanowa County, powiat limanowski, Limanowa
Miechów County, powiat miechowski, Miechów
Myślenice County, powiat myślenicki, Myślenice
Nowy Sącz County, powiat nowosądecki, Nowy Sącz
Nowy Targ County, powiat nowotarski, Nowy Targ
Olkusz County, powiat olkuski, Olkusz
Oświęcim County, powiat oświęcimski, Oświęcim
Proszowice County, powiat proszowicki, Proszowice
Sucha County, powiat suski, Sucha Beskidzka
Tarnów County, powiat tarnowski, Tarnów
Tatra County, powiat tatrzański, Zakopane
Wadowice County, powiat wadowicki, Wadowice
Wieliczka County, powiat wielicki, Wieliczka

[edit] Major cities and towns

Capital city: Kraków

Major cities and towns: (population in 1995):

Kraków (745,400);
Tarnów (121,500);
Nowy Sącz (82,100);
Oświęcim (44,400);
Chrzanów (43,100);
Olkusz (40,500);
Nowy Targ (34,000);
Gorlice (30,200);
Zakopane (30,000);
Bochnia (29,600).
Skawina (24,100);
Andrychów (23,100);

[edit] Most popular surnames in the region

Nowak : 23,671
Wójcik : 13,347
Zając : 10,206

[edit] References

	Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Lesser Poland Voivodeship counties
City counties: Kraków \| Nowy Sącz \| Tarnów
Land counties: Bochnia \| Brzesko \| Chrzanów \| Dąbrowa \| Gorlice \| Kraków \| Limanowa \| Miechów \| Myślenice \| Nowy Sącz \| Nowy Targ \| Olkusz \| Oświęcim \| Proszowice \| Sucha \| Tarnów \| Tatra \| Wadowice \| Wieliczka