Masovian Voivodeship

Masovian Voivodeship Województwo mazowieckie
—  Voivodeship  —
Flag Coat of arms
Location within Poland
Division into counties
Coordinates (Warsaw):
Country	Poland
Capital	Warsaw
Counties	5 cities, 37 land counties * Ostrołęka Płock Radom Siedlce Warsaw Białobrzegi County Ciechanów County Garwolin County Gostynin County Grodzisk Mazowiecki County Grójec County Kozienice County Legionowo County Lipsko County Łosice County Maków County Mińsk County Mława County Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki County Ostrołęka County Ostrów Mazowiecka County Otwock County Piaseczno County Płock County Płońsk County Pruszków County Przasnysz County Przysucha County Pułtusk County Radom County Siedlce County Sierpc County Sochaczew County Sokołów County Szydłowiec County Warsaw West County Węgrów County Wołomin County Wyszków County Żuromin County Zwoleń County Żyrardów County
Area
- Total	35,579 km2 (13,737.1 sq mi)
Population (2006)
- Total	5,164,612
- Density	145.2/km2 (376/sq mi)
- Urban	3,343,231
- Rural	1,821,381
Car plates	W
Website	http://www.mazovia.pl/
* further divided into 314 gminas

Rural population density by gmina (at 2007-01-01)

Masovian Voivodeship (also known as Masovia Province, or by its Polish name of województwo mazowieckie [vɔjɛˈvut​͡stfɔ mazɔˈvjɛt​͡skʲɛ] or simply Mazowieckie) is the largest and most populous of the sixteen Polish provinces, or voivodeships, created in 1999. It occupies 35,579 square kilometres (13,737 sq mi) of east-central Poland, and has 5.16 million inhabitants. Its principal cities are Warsaw (1.7 million) in the centre of the Warsaw metropolitan area, Radom (226,000) in the south, Płock (127,000) in the west, Siedlce (77,000) in the east, and Ostrołęka (55,000) in the north. The capital of the voivodeship is the national capital, Warsaw.

The province was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Warsaw, Płock, Ciechanów, Ostrołęka, Siedlce and Radom Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province's name recalls the traditional name of the region, Mazowsze (sometimes rendered in English as "Masovia"), with which it is roughly coterminous. However, it must be noted that southern part of the voivodeship, with Radom, historically belongs to Małopolska, while Łomża and its surroundings, even though historically part of Masovia, now is part of Podlasie Voivodeship.

It is bordered by six other voivodeships: Warmian-Masurian to the north, Podlaskie to the north-east, Lublin to the south-east, Świętokrzyskie to the south, Łódź to the south-west, and Kuyavian-Pomeranian to the north-west.

Cities and towns

The voivodeship contains 85 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006^[1] ):

Administrative division

Masovian Voivodeship is divided into 42 counties (powiats): 5 city counties (miasto na prawach powiatu) and 37 "land counties" (powiat ziemski). These are subdivided into 314 gminas, which include 85 "urban gminas".

The counties are shown on the numbered map and are listed in the table below.

Protected areas

Protected areas in Masovian Voivodeship include one National Park and nine Landscape Parks. These are listed below.

• Kampinos National Park (a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve)
• Bolimów Landscape Park (partly in Łódź Voivodeship)
• Brudzeń Landscape Park
• Bug Landscape Park
• Chojnów Landscape Park
• Górzno-Lidzbark Landscape Park (partly in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeships)
• Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park (partly in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship)
• Kozienice Landscape Park
• Masovian Landscape Park
• Podlaskie Bug Gorge Landscape Park (partly in Lublin Voivodeship)

Most popular surnames in the region

1. Kowalski: 26,270
2. Wiśniewski: 21,940
3. Kowalczyk: 21,586
4. Mazurkiewicz: Founding of Masovia Name.

Historical

Masovian Voivodeship (1526–1795)

Masovia Voivodeship, 1526–1795 (Polish: Województwo Mazowieckie) was an administrative region of the Kingdom of Poland, and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, from the 15th century until the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1795). Together with Płock and Rawa Voivodeships, it formed the province (prowincja) of Masovia.

Masovian Voivodeship (1816–1837)

Masovian Voivodeship was one of the voivodeships of Congress Poland. It was formed from Warsaw Department, and transformed into Masovia Governorate.

Transport

There are 3 main routes Cork-Berlin-Poznań-Warszawa-Minsk-Moscow-Omsk, Prague-Wrocław-Warsaw-Białystok-Helsinki and Pskov-Gdańsk-Warsaw-Kraków-Budapest through voivodship. There are neither freeway in area.

Railroad system is based on Koleje Mazowieckie and PKP Intercity.

Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport is international airport.

Economy

The Masovian Voivodeship ranks first in terms of GDP per capita in Poland. In 2007 it stood at 13,100 Euro or 21,700 in PPS, which is 87.1% of EU27 average.

See also

• Second Polish Republic's Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939)

References

External links

• Mazowiecki Urząd Marszałkowski Official website

Counties of Masovian Voivodeship City counties Warsaw (capital) • Ostrołęka • Płock • Radom • Siedlce Land counties Białobrzegi • Ciechanów • Garwolin • Gostynin • Grodzisk Mazowiecki • Grójec • Kozienice • Legionowo • Lipsko • Łosice • Maków • Mińsk • Mława • Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki • Ostrołęka • Ostrów Mazowiecka • Otwock • Piaseczno • Płock • Płońsk • Pruszków • Przasnysz • Przysucha • Pułtusk • Radom • Siedlce • Sierpc • Sochaczew • Sokołów • Szydłowiec • Warsaw West • Węgrów • Wołomin • Wyszków • Żuromin • Zwoleń • Żyrardów

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