The Polish administrative regions from 1975 to 1998

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

The scheme meant that most voivodeships had fewer than 1,000,000 inhabitants. Each voivodeship took its name from a small- or medium-sized town situated near its centre, which would become its capital.

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.

Warsaw 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, ch. 2, sec. 9, ch. 3, sec. 12 and ch. 87, sec. 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 until 1998 Poland was divided into the following voivodeships:

Map
location
Voivodeship Provincial
capital
Area, km2
(1998)
Population
(1998)
Cities Gmina
Biała Podlaska
Voivodeship
Biała Podlaska 5,348 309,900 6 35
Białystok
Voivodeship
Białystok 10,055 701,400 17 49
Bielsko-Biała
Voivodeship
Bielsko-Biała 3,704 927,500 18 59
Bydgoszcz
Voivodeship
Bydgoszcz 10,349 1,136,900 27 55
Chełm
Voivodeship
Chełm 3,866 248,800 4 25
Ciechanów
Voivodeship
Ciechanów 6,362 437,400 9 45
Częstochowa
Voivodeship
Częstochowa 6,182 779,600 17 49
Elbląg
Voivodeship
Elbląg 6,103 495,100 15 37
Gdańsk
Voivodeship
Gdańsk 7,394 1,469,400 19 43
Gorzów Wielkopolski
Voivodeship
Gorzów,
Wielkopolski
8,484 514,300 21 38
Jelenia Góra
Voivodeship
Jelenia Góra 4,379 523,700 24 28
Kalisz
Voivodeship
Kalisz 6,512 724,800 20 53
Katowice
Voivodeship
Katowice 6,650 3,894,900 43 46
Kielce
Voivodeship
Kielce 9,211 1,131,700 17 69
Konin
Voivodeship
Konin 5,139 480,800 18 45
Koszalin
Voivodeship
Koszalin 8,470 527,600 17 35
Kraków
Voivodeship
Kraków 3,254 1,245,000 10 38
Krosno
Voivodeship
Krosno 5,702 510,100 12 37
Legnica
Voivodeship
Legnica 4,037 525,600 11 31
Leszno
Voivodeship
Leszno 4,154 399,500 19 28
Lublin
Voivodeship
Lublin 6,792 1,027,300 16 62
Łomża
Voivodeship
Łomża 6,684 352,900 12 39
Łódź
Voivodeship
Łódź 1,524 1,099,700 8 11
Nowy Sącz
Voivodeship
Nowy Sącz 5,576 747,500 14 41
Olsztyn
Voivodeship
Olsztyn 12,327 778,200 21 48
Opole
Voivodeship
Opole 8,535 1,022,100 29 61
Ostrołęka
Voivodeship
Ostrołęka 6,498 411,600 9 38
Piła
Voivodeship
Piła 8,205 496,900 24 35
Piotrków
Voivodeship
Piotrków Trybunalski 6,266 642,200 10 51
Płock
Voivodeship
Płock 5,117 520,900 9 44
Poznań
Voivodeship
Poznań 8,151 1,363,600 33 57
Przemyśl
Voivodeship
Przemyśl 4,437 415,600 9 35
Radom
Voivodeship
Radom 7,294 763,300 15 61
Rzeszów
Voivodeship
Rzeszów 4,397 648,900 13 41
Siedlce
Voivodeship
Siedlce 8,499 661,400 12 66
Sieradz
Voivodeship
Sieradz 4,868 411,500 9 40
Skierniewice
Voivodeship
Skierniewice 3,960 423,700 8 36
Słupsk
Voivodeship
Słupsk 7,453 429,700 11 31
Suwałki
Voivodeship
Suwałki 10,490 489,200 14 42
Szczecin
Voivodeship
Szczecin 9,982 995,200 29 50
Tarnobrzeg
Voivodeship
Tarnobrzeg 6,283 609,100 14 46
Tarnów
Voivodeship
Tarnów 4,151 700,800 9 41
Toruń
Voivodeship
Toruń 5,348 674,800 13 41
Wałbrzych
Voivodeship
Wałbrzych 4,168 733,000 31 30
Warszawa
Voivodeship
Warsaw 3,788 2,419,800 27 32
Włocławek
Voivodeship
Włocławek 4,402 434,700 14 30
Wrocław
Voivodeship
Wrocław 6,287 1,136,700 16 33
Zamość
Voivodeship
Zamość 6,980 489,300 5 47
Zielona Góra
Voivodeship
Zielona Góra 8,868 679,300 26 50

See also

Notes

  1. Wojciech Roszkowski, Historia Polski 1914-1998 ("Polish History 1914-1998, 7th Edition"), Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1999, p. 330. ISBN 83-01-12921-2
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