Gromada

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This article concerns the administrative division of Poland. For its usage in Ukraine, see Hromada. For its usage in Belarus, see Hramada.

Gromada is a Polish word meaning a gathering or group. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the term referred to a village organization which embraced all the inhabitants of a village and acted as a local authority, as well as overseeing tax payments. In this sense the gromada developed between the 16th and 18th centuries, and continued to function in Congress Poland. Their chiefs took the title of sołtys and were elected by the local population.

The gromada continued to function in inter-war Poland, as a subdivision of a gmina.

In communist Poland between 1954 and 1972, gromadas consitituted the lowest tier of local government, taking over the role previously played by gminas. A gromada would generally consist of several villages, but they were smaller units than the gminas had been. In 1973 gminas were reintroduced and gromadas abolished. At present the smallest unit of local government in rural Poland (subordinate to the gmina) is the sołectwo.


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