Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
| Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Województwo warmińsko-mazurskie |
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| — Voivodeship — | |||
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| Coordinates (Olsztyn): | |||
| Country |  Poland |
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| Capital | Olsztyn | ||
| Counties |
2 cities, 19 land counties *
Elbląg
Olsztyn Bartoszyce County Braniewo County Działdowo County Elbląg County Ełk County Giżycko County Gołdap County Iława County Kętrzyn County Lidzbark County Mrągowo County Nidzica County Nowe Miasto County Olecko County Olsztyn County Ostróda County Pisz County Szczytno County Węgorzewo County |
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| Area | |||
| - Total | 24,191.8 km2 (9,340.5 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| - Total | 1,427,091 | ||
| - Density | 59/km2 (152.8/sq mi) | ||
| - Urban | 856,559 | ||
| - Rural | 570,532 | ||
| Car plates | N | ||
| Website | Official Voivodeship's website | ||
| * further divided into 116 gminas | |||
The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (also known as Warmian-Masurian Province, or by its Polish name województwo warmińsko-mazurskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ varˈmiɲskɔ maˈzurskʲɛ] or simply Warmińsko-Mazurskie) is a voivodeship (province) in north-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn. The voivodeship has an area of 24,192 km2 (9,341 sq mi) and a population of 1,427,091 (as of 2006).
The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Olsztyn Voivodeship and parts of Suwałki and Elbląg Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province's name derives from two historic regions, Warmia and Masuria.
The province borders the Podlaskie Voivodeship to the east, the Masovian Voivodeship to the south, the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship to the south-west, the Pomeranian Voivodeship to the west, the Vistula Lagoon to the north-west, and the Kaliningrad Oblast (an exclave of Russia) to the north. The region closely corresponds to the southern part of the former East Prussia (part of Germany), which was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union in 1945.
The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship has the largest number of ethnic Ukrainians living in Poland[1] due to forced relocations (such as Operation Vistula) caried out by the Soviet and Polish Communist authorities.
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Cities and towns
The voivodeship contains 49 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006[2] ):
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Administrative division
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship is divided into 21 counties (powiats): 2 city counties and 19 land counties. These are further divided into 116 gminas.
The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).
| English and Polish names |
Area (km²) |
Population (2006) |
Seat | Other towns | Total gminas |
| City counties | |||||
| Olsztyn | 88 | 174,693 | 1 | ||
| Elbląg | 80 | 127,055 | 1 | ||
| Land counties | |||||
| Olsztyn County powiat olsztyński |
2,840 | 113,529 | Olsztyn * | Dobre Miasto, Biskupiec, Olsztynek, Barczewo, Jeziorany | 12 |
| Ostróda County powiat ostródzki |
1,765 | 105,286 | Ostróda | Morąg, Miłakowo, Miłomłyn | 9 |
| Iława County powiat iławski |
1,385 | 89,960 | Iława | Lubawa, Susz, Kisielice, Zalewo | 7 |
| Ełk County powiat ełcki |
1,112 | 84,760 | Ełk | 5 | |
| Szczytno County powiat szczycieński |
1,933 | 69,289 | Szczytno | Pasym | 8 |
| Kętrzyn County powiat kętrzyński |
1,213 | 66,165 | Kętrzyn | Reszel, Korsze | 6 |
| Działdowo County powiat działdowski |
953 | 65,110 | Działdowo | Lidzbark | 6 |
| Bartoszyce County powiat bartoszycki |
1,309 | 61,354 | Bartoszyce | Górowo Iławeckie, Bisztynek, Sępopol | 6 |
| Pisz County powiat piski |
1,776 | 57,553 | Pisz | Orzysz, Ruciane-Nida, Biała Piska | 4 |
| Giżycko County powiat giżycki |
1,119 | 56,863 | Giżycko | Ryn | 6 |
| Elbląg County powiat elbląski |
1,431 | 56,412 | Elbląg * | Pasłęk, Tolkmicko, Młynary | 9 |
| Mrągowo County powiat mrągowski |
1,065 | 50,087 | Mrągowo | Mikołajki | 5 |
| Braniewo County powiat braniewski |
1,205 | 43,781 | Braniewo | Pieniężno, Frombork | 7 |
| Nowe Miasto County powiat nowomiejski |
695 | 43,388 | Nowe Miasto Lubawskie | 5 | |
| Lidzbark County powiat lidzbarski |
924 | 43,006 | Lidzbark Warmiński | Orneta | 5 |
| Olecko County powiat olecki |
874 | 34,215 | Olecko | 4 | |
| Nidzica County powiat nidzicki |
961 | 33,955 | Nidzica | 4 | |
| Gołdap County powiat gołdapski |
772 | 26,989 | Gołdap | 3 | |
| Węgorzewo County powiat węgorzewski |
693 | 23,641 | Węgorzewo | 3 | |
| * seat not part of the county | |||||
Protected areas
Protected areas in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship include eight areas designated as Landscape Parks, as listed below:
- Brodnica Landscape Park (partly in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship)
- Dylewo Hills Landscape Park
- Elbląg Upland Landscape Park
- Górzno-Lidzbark Landscape Park (partly in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Masovian Voivodeships)
- Iława Lake District Landscape Park (partly in Pomeranian Voivodeship)
- Masurian Landscape Park
- Puszcza Romincka Landscape Park
- Wel Landscape Park
The Łuknajno Lake nature reserve (part of Masurian Landscape Park) is a protected wetland site under the Ramsar convention, as well as being designated by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve.
References
- ↑ (Polish) Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne w Polsce on the pages of Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration. Retrieved on 9 September 2007
- ↑ http://www.stat.gov.pl/gus/45_655_PLK_HTML.htm
External links
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