Podlaskie Voivodeship

Podlaskie Voivodeship
Województwo podlaskie
—  Voivodeship  —
Flag of Podlaskie Voivodeship
Flag		 Coat of arms of Podlaskie Voivodeship
Coat of arms
Location within Poland
Location within Poland
Coordinates(Białystok):
Country Flag of Poland.svg Poland
Capital Białystok
Counties
3 cities, 14 land counties *
Area
 - Total 20,180 km² (7,791.5 sq mi)
Population (2006)
 - Total 1,197,610
 - Density 59.3/km² (153.7/sq mi)
 - Urban 712,675
 - Rural 484,935
Car plates B
* further divided into 118 gminas
Website: http://www.bialystok.uw.gov.pl

Podlaskie Voivodeship (also known as Podlasie Province, Polish: województwo podlaskie [vɔjɛˈvut​͡stfɔ pɔdˈlaskʲɛ] or simply Podlaskie) is a voivodeship (province) in north-eastern Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Białystok and Łomża Voivodeships and the eastern half of the former Suwałki Voivodeship, pursuant to the Local Government Reorganization Act of 1998.

Contents

Etymology

The voivodeship takes its name from the historical region of Podlasie. This name originates from the period when the territory was within the Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, along the borderline with the Mazovia province, primarily a fief of the Poland of the Piasts and later on part of the Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons. Hence pod Lachem would mean "near the Poles", "along the border with Poland". The historical Lithuanian name of the region, Palenkė, has exactly this meaning.

Geography

Natural assets

Podlaskie has the lowest population density of the sixteen Polish voivodeships, and its largely unspoilt nature is one of its chief assets. Around 30% of the area of the voivodeship is under legal protection. The Polish part of the Białowieża Forest biosphere reserve (also a World Heritage Site) is in Podlaskie. There are four National Parks (Białowieża, Biebrza, Narew and Wigry), three Landscape Parks (Knyszyn Forest, Łomża and Suwałki), 88 nature reserves, and 15 protected landscape areas. The voivodeship constitutes a part of the ecologically clean area known as "the Green Lungs of Poland".

Climate

Podlaskie is the coldest region of Poland, located in the very northeast of the country near the border with Belarus and Lithuania. The region has a continental climate which is characterized by high temperatures during summer and long and frosty winters . The climate is affected by the cold fronts which come from Scandinavia and Siberia. The average temperature in the winter ranges from -15°C (5°F) to -4°C (24.8°F).

Nuvola apps kweather.svg Weather averages for Białystok Weather-rain-thunderstorm.svg
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) -3
(29)		 -3
(31)		 4
(40)		 11
(52)		 17
(63)		 20
(68)		 21
(70)		 21
(70)		 16
(61)		 11
(51)		 4
(39)		 1
(33)		 11
(51)
Average low °C (°F) -6
(21)		 -6
(21)		 -2
(28)		 2
(35)		 7
(45)		 10
(50)		 12
(54)		 11
(52)		 8
(46)		 4
(39)		 0
(32)		 -4
(25)		 3
(37)
Source: Weatherbase[1] 2008-07-05

Historical units

For details about the history of the region, see Podlachia.

The following is a partial list of political subdivisions in which part or all of current day Podlaskie Voivodeship was wholly or partially contained within:

20th century

People's Republic of Poland / Third Polish Republic

WW II

Second Polish Republic

WW I

19th Century

Russian Empire

Kingdom of Poland (Congress Poland) Kingdom of Prussia

16th-18th Century

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

12th-15th century

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Kingdom of Poland

Galicia-Volhynia

Early Middle Ages

Culture

Podlaskie is the most diverse of all Polish voivodships. The area has been inhabited for centuries by members of different nations and religions: Belarussians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Russyns, Gypsies, Tatars, Jews and Filipons).

Many places of religious worship remain:

Sites of Historical Significance

Major monuments of the administrative region:

Economy

According to REGON register in the year 2002 there were around 95 thousand companies registered in Podlasie region (97 % of them in private sector), dealing with;

Agriculture

Arable land constitutes around 60% of the total area of the region – most of which is ploughland (around 40%), forests, meadows and pastures. Over 120 000 farms are registered, roughly half of which are small farms of 1–5 ha and medium-sized farms of 5–10 ha. The smaller farms prefer intensive production (gardening, orcharding), whereas the larger ones engage in cattle and crop production. The cattle-raising farms are mainly oriented towards milk production.

The natural conditions of the region are conducive to the development of organic growing, which at present is practised by around 100 farms. Over 600 farms in the region offer agritourist services. [2]

Government

The voivodeship's seat is the city of Białystok. Like all voivodeships, it has a government-appointed Provincial Governor[3] (Polish: wojewoda), as well as an elected Regional Assembly (sejmik) and of the executive elected by that assembly, headed by the voivodeship marshal (marszałek województwa). Administrative powers and competences are statutorily divided between these authorities.

Cities and Towns

The voivodeship contains 36 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006 [4]):

1. Białystok (295,210)
2. Suwałki (69,234)
3. Łomża (63,572)
4. Augustów (30,054)
5. Bielsk Podlaski (26,876)
6. Zambrów (22,700)
7. Grajewo (22,651)
8. Hajnówka (22,072)
9. Sokółka (18,888)
10. Łapy (16,583)
11. Siemiatycze (15,169)
12. Kolno (10,751)

13. Mońki (10,455)
14. Czarna Białostocka (9,596)
15. Wysokie Mazowieckie (9,257)
16. Wasilków (8,967)
17. Dąbrowa Białostocka (6,147)
18. Sejny (5,934)
19. Choroszcz (5,416)
20. Ciechanowiec (4,898)
21. Supraśl (4,578)
22. Brańsk (3,794)
23. Szczuczyn (3,564)
24. Knyszyn (2,835)

25. Lipsk (2,498)
26. Stawiski (2,442)
27. Zabłudów (2,400)
28. Suchowola (2,243)
29. Drohiczyn (2,086)
30. Nowogród (2,014)
31. Goniądz (1,910)
32. Jedwabne (1,901)
33. Tykocin (1,893)
34. Rajgród (1,673)
35. Kleszczele (1,432)
36. Suraż (982)

Administrative division

Podlaskie Voivodeship is divided into 17 counties (powiats): 3 city counties and 14 land counties. These are further divided into 118 gminas.

The counties are shown on the numbered map and detailed in the table beside it.

1. Białystok 2. Łomża 3. Suwałki 4. Augustów County 5. Białystok County 6. Bielsk County 7. Grajewo County 8. Hajnówka County 9. Kolno County 10. Łomża County 11. Mońki County 12. Sejny County 13. Siemiatycze County 14. Sokółka County 15. Suwałki County 16. Wysokie Mazowieckie County 17. Zambrów County
English and
Polish names		 Area
(km²)		 Population
(2006)[4]		 Seat Other towns Total
gminas
City counties
POL Białystok formal COA.svg Białystok 102 295,210   1
POL Suwałki COA.svg Suwałki 65 69,234   1
POL Łomża COA.svg Łomża 33 63,572   1
Land counties
Białystok County
powiat białostocki		 2,985 136,797 Białystok * Łapy, Czarna Białostocka, Wasilków, Choroszcz, Supraśl, Zabłudów, Tykocin, Suraż 15
Sokółka County
powiat sokólski		 2,054 72,424 Sokółka Dąbrowa Białostocka, Suchowola 10
Bielsk County
powiat bielski		 1,385 60,047 Bielsk Podlaski Brańsk 8
Wysokie Mazowieckie County
powiat wysokomazowiecki		 1,288 59,719 Wysokie Mazowieckie Ciechanowiec 10
Augustów County
powiat augustowski		 1,658 58,966 Augustów Lipsk 7
Łomża County
powiat łomżyński		 1,354 50,887 Łomża * Nowogród, Jedwabne 9
Grajewo County
powiat grajewski		 967 50,120 Grajewo Szczuczyn, Rajgród 6
Siemiatycze County
powiat siemiatycki		 1,460 48,603 Siemiatycze Drohiczyn 9
Hajnówka County
powiat hajnowski		 1,624 48,130 Hajnówka Kleszczele 9
Zambrów County
powiat zambrowski		 733 44,798 Zambrów   5
Mońki County
powiat moniecki		 1,382 42,960 Mońki Knyszyn, Goniądz 7
Kolno County
powiat kolneński		 940 39,676 Kolno Stawiski 6
Suwałki County
powiat suwalski		 1,307 35,136 Suwałki *   9
Sejny County
powiat sejneński		 856 21,331 Sejny   5
* seat not part of the county

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Białystok, Poland" (in English). Retrieved on July, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Podlaski Urząd Wojewódzki - Podlasie Voivodship Office" (in Polish) (2007).
  3. ↑ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Agreement Article XI, Coordination with Polish Authorities" (in Polish) (2007-12-31).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Central Statistical Office (GUS) Population: Size and Structure by Administrative Division" (in Polish) (2007-12-31).
Counties of Podlaskie Voivodeship
City counties
Białystok (capital) • Łomża • Suwałki
 POL województwo podlaskie COA.svg
Land counties
Augustów • Białystok • Bielsk • Grajewo • Hajnówka • Kolno • Łomża • Mońki • Sejny • Siemiatycze • Sokółka • Suwałki • Wysokie Mazowieckie • Zambrów
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