Voivodeships of Poland (1975–1998)

The voivodeships of Poland from 1975–1998 were created as part of a two-tier method for administering the country and its regions. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998, pursuant to a law proclaimed on 28 May 1975, Poland was administratively divided into 49 voivodeships, consolidating and eliminating the intermediate administrative level of powiats (counties).

The scheme meant that most voivodeships had fewer than 1 million inhabitants. Each voivodeship took its name from a small- or medium-sized town situated near its centre, which would become its capital.

Contents 1 History 2 Cities 3 List of voivodeships 4 See also 5 Notes

History

An unstated reason for the reform was the desire of the Polish Central Committee to strengthen control over lower layers of the state apparatus. After Edward Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as first secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party, his clique maintained power by dividing the Politburo.

Through administrative reorganization and the new territorial division, Gierek was able to nominate his supporters to provincial committees and break the hold of older elements of the party.^[1]

On the date the system took effect (1 June 1975), the 49 voivodeships were further subdivided into 2,343 municipalities plus 814 cities, including four cities with special status — Warsaw, Łódź, Kraków and Wrocław — for a total of 3,157 municipal governments serving as secondary administrative units.

Warszawa Voivodeship had the status of a metropolitan voivodeship, and the Łódź and Kraków Voivodeships were called urban voivodeships. The appointed mayor of each voivodeship's capital city also served as the provincial governor. Initially, the city of Wrocław was a separate administrative division within the Wrocław Voivodeship.

During 1991 and 1992 the large municipalities were restructured, significantly changing the division of powers between the provincial cities and the surrounding rural communities (Laws of 1991, chapter 2, section 9; chapter 3, section 12; and chapter 87, section 397).

In the Polish administrative reform of 1999 Poland introduced a further reform of local government administration, establishing the present 16 voivodeships with new districts.

Cities

In 1975 many towns that had previously been large communal villages were incorporated as cities.

During the second half of the 1970s eight towns lost their civic rights and were merged into neighbouring cities, while several cities that had previously lost their identity and absorbed into metropolitan conurbations regained their independence: Poręba, Sławków, Międzyzdroje, Bieruń, Lędziny, Wojkowice, Rydułtowy, Pszów, Miasteczko Śląskie, Imielin, Radlin, Radzionków and Zagórz.

List of voivodeships

From 1975–1998 Poland was divided into the following voivodeships:

Map location	Voivodeship	Provincial capital	Area km² (1998)	Population (1998)	Cities	Commu- nities
	Biała Podlaska Voivodeship	Biała Podlaska	5348	309,900	6	35
	Białystok Voivodeship	Białystok	10,055	701,400	17	49
	Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship	Bielsko-Biała	3704	927,500	18	59
	Bydgoszcz Voivodeship	Bydgoszcz	10,349	1,136,900	27	55
	Chełm Voivodeship	Chełm	3866	248,800	4	25
	Ciechanów Voivodeship	Ciechanów	6362	437,400	9	45
	Częstochowa Voivodeship	Częstochowa	6182	779,600	17	49
	Elbląg Voivodeship	Elbląg	6103	495,100	15	37
	Gdańsk Voivodeship	Gdańsk	7394	1,469,400	19	43
	Gorzów Wielkopolski Voivodeship	Gorzów, Wielkopolski	8484	514,300	21	38
	Jelenia Góra Voivodeship	Jelenia Góra	4379	523,700	24	28
	Kalisz Voivodeship	Kalisz	6512	724,800	20	53
	Katowice Voivodeship	Katowice	6650	3,894,900	43	46
	Kielce Voivodeship	Kielce	9211	1,131,700	17	69
	Konin Voivodeship	Konin	5139	480,800	18	45
	Koszalin Voivodeship	Koszalin	8470	527,600	17	35
	Kraków Voivodeship	Cracow	3254	1,245,000	10	38
	Krosno Voivodeship	Krosno	5702	510,100	12	37
	Legnica Voivodeship	Legnica	4037	525,600	11	31
	Leszno Voivodeship	Leszno	4154	399,500	19	28
	Lublin Voivodeship	Lublin	6792	1,027,300	16	62
	Łomża Voivodeship	Łomża	6684	352,900	12	39
	Łódź Voivodeship	Łódź	1524	1,099,700	8	11
	Nowy Sącz Voivodeship	Nowy Sącz	5576	747,500	14	41
	Olsztyn Voivodeship	Olsztyn	12,327	778,200	21	48
	Opole Voivodeship	Opole	8535	1,022,100	29	61
	Ostrołęka Voivodeship	Ostrołęka	6498	411,600	9	38
	Piła Voivodeship	Piła	8205	496,900	24	35
	Piotrków Voivodeship	Piotrków	6266	642,200	10	51
	Płock Voivodeship	Płock	5117	520,900	9	44
	Poznań Voivodeship	Poznań	8151	1,363,600	33	57
	Przemyśl Voivodeship	Przemyśl	4437	415,600	9	35
	Radom Voivodeship	Radom	7294	763,300	15	61
	Rzeszów Voivodeship	Rzeszów	4397	648,900	13	41
	Siedlce Voivodeship	Siedlce	8499	661,400	12	66
	Sieradz Voivodeship	Sieradz	4868	411,500	9	40
	Skierniewice Voivodeship	Skierniewice	3960	423,700	8	36
	Słupsk Voivodeship	Słupsk	7453	429,700	11	31
	Suwałki Voivodeship	Suwałki	10,490	489,200	14	42
	Szczecin Voivodeship	Szczecin	9982	995,200	29	50
	Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship	Tarnobrzeg	6283	609,100	14	46
	Tarnów Voivodeship	Tarnów	4151	700,800	9	41
	Toruń Voivodeship	Toruń	5348	674,800	13	41
	Wałbrzych Voivodeship	Wałbrzych	4168	733,000	31	30
	Warszawa Voivodeship	Warsaw	3788	2,419,800	27	32
	Włocławek Voivodeship	Włocławek	4402	434,700	14	30
	Wrocław Voivodeship	Wrocław	6287	1,136,700	16	33
	Zamość Voivodeship	Zamość	6980	489,300	5	47
	Zielona Góra Voivodeship	Zielona Góra	8868	679,300	26	50

See also

• Voivodeships of Poland

Notes

This article incorporates information from the revision as of 12 March 2011 of the equivalent article on the Polish Wikipedia.