| Łódź Voivodeship Województwo łódzkie |
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| — Voivodeship — | |||
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| Location within Poland | |||
| Division into counties | |||
| Coordinates (Łódź): | |||
| Country | Poland | ||
| Capital | Łódź | ||
| Counties |
3 cities, 21 land counties *
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| Area | |||
| • Total | 18,219 km2 (7,034.4 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| • Total | 2,571,534 | ||
| • Density | 141.1/km2 (365.6/sq mi) | ||
| • Urban | 1,662,937 | ||
| • Rural | 908,597 | ||
| Car plates | E | ||
| Website | http://www.lodzkie.pl | ||
| * further divided into 177 gminas | |||
Łódź Voivodeship (also known as Łódź Province,[1] or by its Polish name of województwo łódzkie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ ˈwut͡skʲɛ] or simply Łódzkie) is a province (voivodeship) in central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Łódź Voivodeship (1975–1999) and the Sieradz, Piotrków Trybunalski and Skierniewice Voivodeships and part of Płock Voivodeship, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced [wut͡ɕ].
Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian to the north and east, Świętokrzyskie to the south-east, Silesian to the south, Opole to the south-west, Greater Poland to the west, and Kuyavian-Pomeranian for a short stretch to the north. Its territory belongs to three historical provinces of Poland – Masovia (in the east), Greater Poland (in the west) and Lesser Poland (in the southeast, around Opoczno).
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The voivodeship contains 44 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006):[2]
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Łódź Voivodeship is divided into 24 counties (powiats): 3 city counties and 21 land counties. These are further divided into 177 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 | |||||
| Łódź | 293 | 764,168 | 1 | ||
| Piotrków Trybunalski | 67 | 79,367 | 1 | ||
| Skierniewice | 33 | 48,761 | 1 | ||
| Land counties | |||||
| Zgierz County powiat zgierski |
854 | 160,805 | Zgierz | Ozorków, Aleksandrów Łódzki, Głowno, Stryków | 9 |
| Sieradz County powiat sieradzki |
1,491 | 121,013 | Sieradz | Złoczew, Warta, Błaszki | 11 |
| Tomaszów Mazowiecki County powiat tomaszowski |
1,026 | 120,973 | Tomaszów Mazowiecki | 11 | |
| Pabianice County powiat pabianicki |
491 | 119,008 | Pabianice | Konstantynów Łódzki | 7 |
| Radomsko County powiat radomszczański |
1,443 | 118,856 | Radomsko | Przedbórz, Kamieńsk | 14 |
| Bełchatów County powiat bełchatowski |
969 | 112,640 | Bełchatów | Zelów | 8 |
| Kutno County powiat kutnowski |
886 | 104,124 | Kutno | Żychlin, Krośniewice | 11 |
| Piotrków County powiat piotrkowski |
1,429 | 90,227 | Piotrków Trybunalski * | Sulejów, Wolbórz | 11 |
| Łowicz County powiat łowicki |
987 | 82,338 | Łowicz | 10 | |
| Opoczno County powiat opoczyński |
1,039 | 78,659 | Opoczno | Drzewica | 8 |
| Wieluń County powiat wieluński |
928 | 78,260 | Wieluń | 10 | |
| Zduńska Wola County powiat zduńskowolski |
369 | 67,704 | Zduńska Wola | Szadek | 4 |
| Łódź East County powiat łódzki wschodni |
499 | 64,574 | Łódź * | Koluszki, Tuszyn, Rzgów | 6 |
| Łęczyca County powiat łęczycki |
774 | 53,435 | Łęczyca | 8 | |
| Pajęczno County powiat pajęczański |
804 | 53,395 | Pajęczno | Działoszyn | 8 |
| Łask County powiat łaski |
617 | 50,874 | Łask | 5 | |
| Rawa County powiat rawski |
647 | 49,443 | Rawa Mazowiecka | Biała Rawska | 6 |
| Wieruszów County powiat wieruszowski |
576 | 42,336 | Wieruszów | 7 | |
| Poddębice County powiat poddębicki |
881 | 42,195 | Poddębice | Uniejów | 6 |
| Skierniewice County powiat skierniewicki |
756 | 37,779 | Skierniewice * | 9 | |
| Brzeziny County powiat brzeziński |
359 | 30,600 | Brzeziny | 5 | |
| * seat not part of the county | |||||
Protected areas in Łódź Voivodeship include seven Landscape Parks, as listed below.
The capital of the Łódź Voivodeship has always been Łódź, but the area of land which it comprises has changed several times. The first was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Second Polish Republic in the years 1921–1939. In 1938 some western counties were ceded to Greater Poland Voivodeship (see: Territorial changes of Polish Voivodeships on April 1, 1938).
After the change, Łódź Voivodeship's area was 20,446 km², and its population (as for 1931) was 2,650,100. It consisted of 15 powiats (counties):
The largest cities of the Voivodeship were (population according to the 1931 census):
Source: Maly rocznik statystyczny 1939, Nakladem Glownego Urzedu Statystycznego, Warszawa 1939 (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939).
The next incarnation existed from 1945 until 1975 (although the city of Łódź was excluded as a separate City Voivodeship). This Łódź Voivodeship was then broken up, superseded by Łódź (see below), Sieradz, Piotrków Trybunalski, Skierniewice and partly Płock Voivodeships.
Łódź Voivodeship, also known as Łódź Metropolitan Voivodeship (województwo miejskie łódzkie), existed from 1975 until 1998, after which it was incorporated into today's Łódź Voivodeship. In that period the mayor of the city of Łódź was also the voivodeship governor.
As of 1995, major cities and towns in Łódź Metropolitan Voivodeship included (with their 1995 populations):
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