Lublin Voivodeship

Lublin Voivodeship
Województwo lubelskie
Voivodeship

Flag
Coat of arms

Location within Poland

Division into counties
Coordinates (Lublin): 51°14′53″N 22°34′13″E / 51.24806°N 22.57028°E
Country  Poland
Capital Lublin
Counties
Area
 • Total 25,155 km2 (9,712 sq mi)
Population (2006)
 • Total 2,175,251
 • Density 86/km2 (220/sq mi)
 • Urban 1,014,548
 • Rural 1,160,703
Car plates L
Website http://www.lubelskie.pl/
  • further divided into 213 gminas

Lublin Voivodeship, or Lublin Province[1] (in Polish, województwo lubelskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ luˈbɛlskʲɛ]; Ukrainian: Люблінське воєводство; Belarusian: Люблінскае ваяводства), is a voivodeship, or province, located in southeastern Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, Chełm, Zamość, Biała Podlaska and (partially) Tarnobrzeg and Siedlce Voivodeships, pursuant to Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lublin, and its territory is made of four historical lands: the western part of the voivodeship, with Lublin itself, belongs to Lesser Poland, the eastern part belongs to Red Ruthenia, and the northeast belongs to Polesie and Podlasie.

Lublin Voivodeship is bordered by Subcarpathian Voivodeship to the south, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship to the south-west, Masovian Voivodeship to the west and north, Podlaskie Voivodeship along a short boundary to the north, and Belarus and Ukraine to the east. The province's population as of 2006 was 2,175,251. It covers an area of 25,155 square kilometres (9,712 sq mi).

History

The Polish historical region that encompasses Lublin, and approximates Lublin Voivodeship as it was before the Partitions of Poland, is known as Lubelszczyzna. Provinces centred on Lublin have existed throughout much of Poland's history; for details see the section below on Previous Lublin Voivodeships.

The region was, before World War II, one of the world's leading centres of Judaism. Before the middle of the 16th century, there were few Jews in the area, concentrated in Lublin, Kazimierz Dolny, and perhaps Chełm; but the founding of new private towns led to a large movement of Jews into the region to develop trade and services. Since these new towns competed with the existing towns for business, there followed a low-intensity, long-lasting feeling of resentment, with failed attempts to limit the Jewish immigration. The Jews tended to settle mostly in the cities and towns, with only individual families setting up businesses in the rural regions; this urban/rural division became another factor feeding resentment of the newly arrived economic competitors. By the middle of the 18th century, Jews were a significant part of the population in Kraśnik, Lubartów and Łęczna.

By the 20th century, Jews represented greater than 70% of the population in eleven towns and close to 100% of the population of Laszczów and Izbica. From this region came both religious figures such as Mordechai Josef Leiner of Izbica, Chaim Israel Morgenstern of Puławy, and Motele Rokeach of Biłgoraj, as well as famous secular authors Israel Joshua Singer. Israel's brother, the Nobel prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer, was not born in Biłgoraj but lived part of his life in the city. The "Old Town" of the city of Lublin contained a famous yeshiva, Jewish hospital, synagogue, cemetery, and kahal, as well as the Grodzka Gate (known as the Jewish Gate).

Before the war, there were 300,000 Jews living in the region, which became the site of the Majdanek and Belzec concentration camps as well as several labour camps (Trawniki, Poniatowa, Budzyn, Puławy, Zamość, Biała Podlaska, and the Lublin work camps Lindenstraße 7 (Lipowa Street), Flugplatz, and Sportplatz) which produced military supplies for the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe). This was once one of the biggest forced labour centres in occupied Europe, with approximately 45,000 Jewish prisoners. As well, the Sobibór extermination camp was located in the Lublin Voivodeship. After the war, the few surviving Jews largely left the area; today there is some restoration of areas of Jewish historical interest, and a surge of tourism by Jews seeking to view their families' historical roots.

Cities and towns

Historic centre of Lublin
Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary in Chełm
The Zamość Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Radziwiłł Castle Complex in Biała Podlaska
Czartoryski Palace in Puławy
The Potocki Family Palace in Międzyrzec Podlaski
The town of Kazimierz Dolny is Poland's official national Historic Monument

The voivodeship contains 42 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006:[2]

  1. Lublin (354,272)
  2. Chełm (67,989)
  3. Zamość (66,613)
  4. Biała Podlaska (58,010)
  5. Puławy (49,839)
  6. Świdnik (40,037)
  7. Kraśnik (36,072)
  8. Łuków (30,564)
  9. Biłgoraj (27,225)
  10. Lubartów (22,950)
  11. Łęczna (21,689)
  12. Tomaszów Lubelski (20,118)
  13. Krasnystaw (19,434)
  14. Hrubieszów (18,617)
  15. Dęblin (17,933)
  16. Międzyrzec Podlaski (17,162)
  17. Radzyń Podlaski (16,133)
  18. Włodawa (13,630)
  19. Janów Lubelski (11,938)
  20. Parczew (10,281)
  21. Poniatowa (9,911)
  22. Ryki (9,716)
  23. Opole Lubelskie (8,832)
  24. Bełżyce (7,054)
  25. Terespol (5,969)
  26. Szczebrzeszyn (5,299)
  27. Bychawa (5,285)
  28. Rejowiec Fabryczny (4,533)
  29. Nałęczów (4,243)
  30. Kazimierz Dolny (3,572)
  31. Kock (3,478)
  32. Tarnogród (3,372)
  33. Zwierzyniec (3,344)
  34. Krasnobród (3,047)
  35. Stoczek Łukowski (2,719)
  36. Annopol (2,690)
  37. Piaski (2,626)
  38. Józefów (2,450)
  39. Łaszczów (c. 2,300)
  40. Ostrów Lubelski (2,245)
  41. Tyszowce (2,242)
  42. Frampol (1,415)

Administrative division

Lublin Voivodeship is divided into 24 counties (powiats): 4 city counties and 20 land counties. These are further divided into 213 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
Lublin 147 354,272 1
Chełm 35 67,989 1
Zamość 30 66,613 1
Biała Podlaska 49 58,010 1
Land counties
Lublin County
powiat lubelski		 1,679 140,562 Lublin * Bełżyce, Bychawa 16
Puławy County
powiat puławski		 933 116,829 Puławy Nałęczów, Kazimierz Dolny 11
Biała Podlaska County
powiat bialski		 2,754 113,764 Biała Podlaska * Międzyrzec Podlaski, Terespol 19
Zamość County
powiat zamojski		 1,872 110,225 Zamość * Szczebrzeszyn, Zwierzyniec, Krasnobród 15
Łuków County
powiat łukowski		 1,394 108,393 Łuków Stoczek Łukowski 11
Biłgoraj County
powiat biłgorajski		 1,678 104,267 Biłgoraj Tarnogród, Józefów, Frampol 14
Kraśnik County
powiat kraśnicki		 1,005 99,770 Kraśnik Annopol 10
Lubartów County
powiat lubartowski		 1,290 90,484 Lubartów Kock, Ostrów Lubelski 13
Tomaszów Lubelski County
powiat tomaszowski (lubelski)		 1,487 88,343 Tomaszów Lubelski Tyszowce, Łaszczów 13
Chełm County
powiat chełmski		 1,780 79,991 Chełm * Rejowiec Fabryczny 15
Świdnik County
powiat świdnicki (lubelski)		 469 72,290 Świdnik Piaski 5
Krasnystaw County
powiat krasnostawski		 1,067 69,274 Krasnystaw 10
Hrubieszów County
powiat hrubieszowski		 1,269 68,822 Hrubieszów 8
Opole Lubelskie County
powiat opolski (lubelski)		 804 63,026 Opole Lubelskie Poniatowa 7
Radzyń Podlaski County
powiat radzyński		 965 61,445 Radzyń Podlaski 8
Ryki County
powiat rycki		 616 59,129 Ryki Dęblin 6
Łęczna County
powiat łęczyński		 634 57,314 Łęczna 6
Janów Lubelski County
powiat janowski		 875 47,875 Janów Lubelski 7
Włodawa County
powiat włodawski		 1,256 40,052 Włodawa 8
Parczew County
powiat parczewski		 953 36,512 Parczew 7
* seat not part of the county

Protected areas

Łukie Lake in the Polesie National Park
Echo artificial lake in the Roztocze National Park

Protected areas in Lublin Voivodeship include two National Parks and 17 Landscape Parks. These are listed below.

Most common surnames in the region

  1. Wójcik: 12,937
  2. Mazurek: 9,644
  3. Mazur: 8,019

Previous Lublin Voivodeships

Lublin Voivodeship 1474–1795

For more details on this topic, see Lublin Voivodeship (1474–1795).
Map of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Lublin Voivodeship (Latin: Palatinatus Lublinensis; Polish: Województwo Lubelskie) was an administrative region of the Kingdom of Poland created in 1474 out of parts of Sandomierz Voivodeship and lasting until the Partitions of Poland in 1795. It was part of the prowincja of Lesser Poland.

Lublin Voivodeship 1816–1837

Lublin Voivodeship was one of the voivodeships of Congress Poland. It was formed in 1816 from Lublin Department, and in 1837 was transformed into Lublin Governorate.

Lublin Voivodeship 1919–1939

Lublin Voivodeship (Województwo Lubelskie) was one of the administrative regions of the interwar Second Polish Republic. In early 1939 its area was 26,555 square kilometres (10,253 sq mi) and its population was 2,116,200.[3] According to the 1931 census, 85.1% of its population was Polish, 10.5% Jewish, and 3% Ukrainian.

Lublin Voivodeship 1945–1975

Lublin Voivodeship (województwo lubelskie) was an administrative region of Poland between 1945 and 1975. In 1975 it was transformed into Chełm, Zamość, Biała Podlaska, Tarnobrzeg and Siedlce Voivodeships and a smaller Lublin Voivodeship.

Lublin Voivodeship 1975–1998

Lublin Voivodeship 1975–1998

Lublin Voivodeship (województwo lubelskie) existed as one of Poland's 49 voivodeships from 1975 until 1998, when it was incorporated into the current (larger) Lublin Voivodeship.

References

  1. ↑ Arkadiusz Belczyk,Tłumaczenie polskich nazw geograficznych na język angielski [Translation of Polish Geographical Names into English], 2002-2006.
  2. ↑ "Polish government statistical report, 2006".
  3. ↑ Mały Rocznik Statystyczny (Concise Statistical Year-Book), Warsaw, 1939

External links

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Coordinates: 51°13′22″N 22°54′10″E / 51.22278°N 22.90278°E