Silesian Voivodeship

Silesian Voivodeship Województwo śląskie
—  Voivodeship  —
Flag Coat of arms
Location within Poland
Division into counties
Coordinates(Katowice):
Country	Poland
Capital	Katowice
Counties	19 cities, 17 land counties * Bielsko-Biała Bytom Chorzów Częstochowa Dąbrowa Górnicza Gliwice Jastrzębie-Zdrój Jaworzno Katowice Mysłowice Piekary Śląskie Ruda Śląska Rybnik Siemianowice Śląskie Sosnowiec Świętochłowice Tychy Zabrze Żory Będzin County Bielsko County Bieruń-Lędziny County Cieszyn County Częstochowa County Gliwice County Kłobuck County Lubliniec County Mikołów County Myszków County Pszczyna County Racibórz County Rybnik County Tarnowskie Góry County Wodzisław County Zawiercie County Żywiec County
Area
- Total	12,334 km² (4,762.2 sq mi)
Population (2006)
- Total	4,676,983
- Density	379.2/km² (982.1/sq mi)
- Urban	3,675,602
- Rural	1,001,381
Car plates	S
* further divided into 167 gminas
Website: http://www.silesia-region.pl

Silesian Voivodeship (also known as Silesian Province, or by its Polish name of województwo śląskie [vɔjɛˈvut​͡stfɔ ˈɕlɔ̃skʲjɛ] or simply Śląskie) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centring on the region known as Upper Silesia (Górny Śląsk). Its capital is Katowice.

It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Katowice, Częstochowa and Bielsko-Biała Voivodeships, pursuant to the 1998 Local Government Reorganization Act.

Geography

Silesian Voivodeship borders both the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south. It is also bordered by four other Polish voivodeships: those of Opole (to the west), Łódź (to the north), Świętokrzyskie (to the north-east), and Lesser Poland (to the east).

The region includes the Silesian Upland (Wyżyna Śląska) in the centre and north-west, and the Krakowsko-Częstochowska Upland (Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska) in the north-east. The southern border is formed by the Beskidy Mountains (Beskid Śląski and Beskid Żywiecki).

The strong links between Upper Silesia and the regions now contained in Opole and Lower Silesian Voivodeships reach back to the medieval history of the Duchy of Silesia (Księstwo Śląskie), which was divided in the 13th century into Upper and Lower Silesia. However, it should be noted that around half of the territory of today's Silesian Voivodeship is not part of historical Silesia. Such cities as Częstochowa, Zawiercie, Myszków, Jaworzno, Sosnowiec, Żywiec, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Będzin and east part of Bielsko-Biała, and their surrounding counties, belong historically to Lesser Poland.

Population

Silesian Voivodeship has the highest population density in the country (379 people per square kilometre, compared to the national average of 124). The region's considerable industrialisation gives it the lowest unemployment rate nationally (6.2%). The Silesian region is the most industrialized and the most urbanized region in Poland: 78% of its population live in towns and cities.

Cities and towns

Due to its industrial and urban nature, the voivodeship has many cities and large towns. Of Poland's 40 largest towns, 12 are in Silesian Voivodeship. In all it has 71 towns, listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006^[1]):

Administrative division

Silesian Voivodeship is divided into 36 counties (powiats). These include 19 city counties (far more than any other voivodeship) and 17 land counties. The counties are further divided into 167 gminas.

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

Economy

The Silesian voivodship is predominantly an industrial region. Most of the mining is derived from one of the world's largest bituminous coalfields of the Upper Silesian Industrial District (Gornoslaski Okreg Przemyslowy) and the Rybnik Coal District (Rybnicki Okreg Weglowy) with its major cities Rybnik, Jastrzębie Zdrój, Żory and Wodzisław Śląski. Lead and zinc can be found near Bytom, Zawiercie and Tarnowskie Góry; iron ore and raw materials for building - near Częstochowa. The most important regional industries are: mining, iron, lead and zinc metallurgy, power industry, engineering, automobile, chemical, building materials and textile. In the past, the Silesian economy was determined by coal mining. Now, considering the investment volume, car manufacturing is becoming more and more important. The most profitable company in the region is Fiat Auto-Poland S.A. in Bielsko-Biała with a revenue of PLN 6.2 billion in 1997. Recently a new car factory has been opened by GM Opel in Gliwice. There are two Special Economic Zones in the area: Katowice and Częstochowa. The voivodship's economy consists of about 323,000, mostly small and medium-sized, enterprises employing over 3 million people. The biggest Polish steel-works "Huta Katowice" is situated in Dąbrowa Górnicza.

Silesian Voivodship is also one of the richiest regions in Poland. Average salary is about 3 800 zlotychs (over 1 200 EUR).

Transport

Katowice International Airport is used for domestic and international flights and the Silesian agglomeration railway network has the largest concentration in the country. The voivodship capital enjoys good railway and road connections with Kraków (highway), Wrocław (highway), Łódź and Warsaw. It is also the crossing point for many international routes like the one connecting Berlin, Dresden, Wrocław, Kraków and Kiev and the other from Gdańsk to the Balkans. A relatively short distance to Vienna facilitates cross-border co-operation and may positively influence the process of European integration.

Universities

There are eleven public universities in the voivodship. The biggest university is the University of Silesia in Katowice, with 43,000 students. The region's capital boasts the Medical University, the Economic Academy, the Musical Academy, the Physical Education Academy and the Academy of Fine Arts. Częstochowa is the seat of the Częstochowa University of Technology and Pedagogic University. The Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice is nationally renowned. Bielsko-Biała is home of the Technical-Humanistic Academy. In addition, 17 new private schools have been established in the region.

In voivodship are studying more than 300,000 people.

Protected areas

Protected areas in Silesian Voivodeship include eight areas designated as Landscape Parks:

• Eagle Nests Landscape Park (partly in Lesser Poland Voivodeship)
• Little Beskids Landscape Park (partly in Lesser Poland Voivodeship)
• Rudy Landscape Park
• Silesian Beskids Landscape Park
• Stawki Landscape Park
• Upper Liswarta Forests Landscape Park
• Załęcze Landscape Park (partly in Łódź Voivodeship)
• Żywiec Landscape Park

Tourism

Both northern and southern Silesia is surrounded by a green belt. Bielsko-Biała is enveloped by the magnificent Beskidy Mountains which are particularly popular with winter sports fans. This genuine skier's paradise offers over 150 ski lifts and 200 kilometres of ski routes. More and more slopes are illuminated and equipped with artificial snow generators. Szczyrk, Brenna, Wisła and Ustroń are the most popular winter mountain resorts. Rock climbing sites can be found in admirable corners of Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska. The ruins of castles forming the Eagle Nests Trail are a famous attraction of the region. While in Silesia, one cannot miss the Black Madonna's Jasna Góra Sanctuary in Częstochowa - the annual destination of over 4 million pilgrims from all over the world.

With its more than two centuries of industrialisation history, region has a number of technical heritage memorials. These include narrow and standard gauge railways, coal and silver mines, shafts and its equipment from 19th and 20th century.

Most popular surnames in the region

1. Nowak: 31,838
2. Kowalski: 11,811
3. Wójcik: 11,440

See also

• Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship
• History of Silesia
• Silesian Uprisings

External links

• The Website of Silesia
• Województwo Śląskie Official website

Counties of Silesian Voivodeship City counties Katowice (capital) • Bielsko-Biała • Bytom • Chorzów • Częstochowa • Dąbrowa Górnicza • Gliwice • Jastrzębie-Zdrój • Jaworzno • Mysłowice • Piekary Śląskie • Ruda Śląska • Rybnik • Siemianowice Śląskie • Sosnowiec • Świętochłowice • Tychy • Zabrze • Żory Land counties Będzin • Bielsko • Bieruń-Lędziny • Cieszyn • Częstochowa • Gliwice • Kłobuck • Lubliniec • Mikołów • Myszków • Pszczyna • Racibórz • Rybnik • Tarnowskie Góry • Wodzisław • Zawiercie • Żywiec

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