Subcarpathian Voivodeship

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Województwo podkarpackie
—  Voivodeship  —
Palace of Lubomirski family in Rzeszów
Flag Coat of arms
Location within Poland
Division into counties
Coordinates (Rzeszów):
Country	Poland
Capital	Rzeszów
Counties	4 cities, 21 land counties * Krosno Przemyśl Rzeszów Tarnobrzeg Bieszczady County Brzozów County Dębica County Jarosław County Jasło County Kolbuszowa County Krosno County Łańcut County Lesko County Leżajsk County Lubaczów County Mielec County Nisko County Przemyśl County Przeworsk County Ropczyce-Sędziszów County Rzeszów County Sanok County Stalowa Wola County Strzyżów County Tarnobrzeg County
Area
- Total	17,844 km2 (6,889.6 sq mi)
Population (2006)
- Total	2,096,971
- Density	117.5/km2 (304.4/sq mi)
- Urban	850,022
- Rural	1,246,949
Car plates	R
Website	http://www.wrota.podkarpackie.pl/pl/um
* further divided into 160 gminas

Subcarpathian Voivodeship (also known as Podkarpacie Province, or by its Polish name of województwo podkarpackie [vɔjɛˈvut​͡stfɔ pɔtkarˈpat​͡skʲɛ] or simply Podkarpackie) is a voivodeship, or province, situated in the far south-east of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów (historically Lwów was the administrative centre of this part of Poland, but after 1945, when Lwów became part of the Soviet Union, its role was taken over by Rzeszów).

The voivodeship was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Krosno and (partially) Tarnów and Tarnobrzeg Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The name derives from the region's location close to the Carpathian Mountains, and the voivodeship is made of two historic regions of Eastern Europe - Lesser Poland (western and northwestern counties), and Red Ruthenia. In the interbellum period, Subcarpathian Voivodeship belonged to the so-called Poland B, less-developed and rural part of the country. To boost local economy, the government of the Second Polish Republic began in the mid-1930s a massive program of industrialisation, known as Central Industrial Region. The program resulted in construction of several major armament factories, such as PZL Mielec, PZL Rzeszów, Huta Stalowa Wola, also factories in other Subcarpathian towns, such as Dębica, Nowa Dęba, Sanok, Tarnobrzeg, and Nowa Sarzyna.

It is bordered by Lesser Poland Voivodeship to the west, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship to the north-west, Lublin Voivodeship to the north, Ukraine to the east and Slovakia to the south. It covers an area of 17,844 square kilometres (6,890 sq mi), and has a population of 2,096,971 (as at 2006). The voivodeship is mostly hilly or mountainous (see Bieszczady, Beskidy); its northwestern corner is flat. It is one of the most wooded Polish voivodeships (35.9% of total area), within its borders there is whole Bieszczady National Park, and parts of Magura National Park. Furthermore, the creation of Turnicki National Park is planned.

Cities and towns

The voivodeship contains 49 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures as of 30 June 2008)^[1]

Administrative division

Subcarpathian Voivodeship is divided into 25 counties (powiats): 4 city counties and 21 land counties. These are further divided into 160 gminas.

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

Protected areas

Protected areas in Subcarpathian Voivodeship include two national parks and 11 Landscape Parks. These are listed below.

• Bieszczady National Park (part of the East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve)
• Magura National Park (partly in Lesser Poland Voivodeship)
• Cisna-Wetlina Landscape Park
• Czarnorzeki-Strzyżów Landscape Park
• Jaśliska Landscape Park
• Janów Forests Landscape Park (partly in Lublin Voivodeship)
• Pasmo Brzanki Landscape Park (partly in Lesser Poland Voivodeship)
• Pogórze Przemyskie Landscape Park
• Puszcza Solska Landscape Park (partly in Lublin Voivodeship)
• San Valley Landscape Park
• Słonne Mountains Landscape Park
• South Roztocze Landscape Park (partly in Lublin Voivodeship)

History

Ethnic groups

Regional costumes of the Pogorzans

• Poles
  • Pogorzans
• Ukrainians
  • Lemkos

Most popular surnames in the region

1. Mazur:^[2] 9,530
2. Nowak: 9,301
3. Baran: 8,020

See also

• Second Polish Republic's Lwów Voivodeship

References

• "Central Statistical Office(GUS) - TERYT(National Register of Territorial Land Apportionment Journal)". (in Polish). 01.09.2008. http://www.stat.gov.pl/broker/access/prefile/listPreFiles.jspa. Retrieved 2008-10-23. 

Notes

External links

• Media related to Subcarpathian Voivodeship at Wikimedia Commons
• Subcarpathia photo gallery
• (Polish) Subcarpathian Voivodeship official website
• (Polish) Podkarpacki Urząd Wojewódzki Official website
• (English) The castles and palaces of Subcarpathian province

Subcarpathia landscape pictures

Counties of Subcarpathian Voivodeship City counties Rzeszów (capital) • Krosno • Przemyśl • Tarnobrzeg Land counties Bieszczady • Brzozów • Dębica • Jarosław • Jasło • Kolbuszowa • Krosno • Łańcut • Lesko • Leżajsk • Lubaczów • Mielec • Nisko • Przemyśl • Przeworsk • Ropczyce-Sędziszów • Rzeszów • Sanok • Stalowa Wola • Strzyżów • Tarnobrzeg

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