Podlachian Voivodeship
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| Capital city | Białystok | ||||
| Area | 20 180 km² | ||||
| Population - Density |
1,221,000 60.5/km² |
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| Powiats - Urban counties - Land counties |
3 14 |
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| Communes | 118 | ||||
Administrative divisions: |
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Podlachian Voivodeship (also "Podlasie Province" — Polish: województwo podlaskie) is a voivodeship, or province, in northeastern Poland.
It was created January 1, 1999, out of the former Białystok and Łomża Voivodeships and half of the former Suwałki Voivodeship, pursuant to the 1998 Local Government Reorganization Act. The province's name recalls the region's traditional name, Podlasie (sometimes rendered in English as "Podlachia"), and Podlasie Voivodeship under the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795).
Located in Podlasie Province is the Polish part of the Białowieża Forest Biosphere Reserve.
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[edit] History
[edit] Historical Podlachia Voivodeship (1513-1795)
A Podlachia Voivodeship was formed in 1513 as a voivodeship in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With Lithuania's confederation with the Kingdom of Poland in 1569, the voivodeship was transferred to the Polish Crown.
The seat of the voivodeship was Drohiczyn. Voivods included Andrzej Chądzyński (1625-1633), Paweł Szczawinski (February 1633-1634), and Stanisław Niemira (1634-1646/1648).
[edit] Economy
According to the Polish National Official Business Register, REGON, 95,000 companies were registered in the Podlachia region in 2002.
[edit] Agriculture
Arable land constitutes around 60% of the total area of the region – most of which is ploughland (around 40%), forests, meadows and pastures. Over 120 thousand farms are registered, roughly half of which are small farms between 1–5 ha and medium-sized farms of 5–10 ha. The smaller farms prefer intensive production (gardening, orcharding), whereas the larger ones engage in cattle and crop production. The cattle-raising farms are mainly oriented at milk production.
The natural conditions of the region are conducive to the development of ecologic production, which at present is realised by around 100 farms. Over 600 farms in the region run agrotourist businesses.
[edit] Geography
[edit] Natural assets
Podlachia has the lowest population density of the sixteen Polish voivodeships, and its largely unspoilt nature is one of its chief assets. Around 30% of the area of the voivodeship is under legal protection. There are four national parks (Wigry, Biebrza, Bialowieża, and Narew), 3 landscape parks (Suwałki, Łomża – Narew Valley, and Knyszyn Forest), 88 nature reserves, and 15 protected landscape areas. The voivodeship constitutes a part of the ecologically clean area of "the Green Lungs of Poland".
[edit] Cities and towns
The voivodeship has 35 cities and towns, among them 3 cities which are city counties. The list below orders them by population and also gives the area (GUS data from December 31, 2005):
Białystok – 291.823 (102 km²)
Suwałki – 69.268 (65,50 km²)
Łomża – 63.819 (32,71 km²)
Augustów – 29.971 (80,93 km²)
Bielsk Podlaski – 26.893 (26,88 km²)
Zambrów – 22.782 (19,02 km²)
Grajewo – 22.718 (18,93 km²)
Hajnówka – 22.159 (21,29 km²)
Sokółka – 18.945 (18,61 km²)
Łapy – 16.611 (11,90 km²)
Siemiatycze – 15.178 (36,25 km²)
Kolno – 10.772 (25,08 km²)
Mońki – 10.461 (7,66 km²)
Czarna Białostocka – 9.611 (14,28 km²)
Wysokie Mazowieckie – 9.279 (15,24 km²)
Wasilków – 8.872 (28,15 km²)
Dąbrowa Białostocka – 6.165 (22,64 km²)
Sejny – 5.971 (4,49 km²)
Choroszcz – 5.424 (16,79 km²)
Ciechanowiec – 4.923 (26,01 km²)
Supraśl – 4.554 (5,68 km²)
Brańsk – 3.800 (32,43 km²)
Szczuczyn – 3.576 (13,23 km²)
Knyszyn – 2.851 (23,68 km²)
Lipsk – 2.500 (4,97 km²)
Stawiski – 2.455 (13,28 km²)
Zabłudów – 2.396 (14,30 km²)
Suchowola – 2.255 (25,95 km²)- Drohiczyn – 2.092 (15,68 km²)
Nowogród – 2.014 (20,55 km²)
Jedwabne – 1.908 (11,47 km²)
Tykocin – 1.906 (28,96 km²)
Goniądz – 1.903 (4,28 km²)
Rajgród – 1.677 (35,18 km²)
Kleszczele – 1.438 (46,71 km²)
Suraż – 980 (33,86 km²)
[edit] Administrative divisions
| Cities Powiats Communes Sołectwo Villages |
36 17 118 3307 3272 |
| Agriculture | 12 006 km² |
| Road density | 52,4 km/100 km² |
| Economy | |
| Unemployment | 14,1%/79 000 people (2003) |
| GDP | 1106 PLN per capita |
| Production: | |
| food and drinks | 46,2% |
| wood, wood products and furniture | 14,6% |
| electric energy, gas and water | 10,7% |
| machines and appliances | 4,8% |
| textiles | 4,4% |
| Economic units in private sector | |
| trade and commerce | 33,2% |
| services | 11,8% |
| construction | 10,5% |
| industrial processing | 9,7% |
| transport | 8,3% |
| agriculture, hunting and forestry | 4,5% |
| Administrative divisions | |
| Communes - Urban - Urban-Rural - Rural |
13 23 82 |
| Official webpage | |
The Podlachia Voivodeship is divided into 17 counties (powiat), three of them urban, and comprised of 118 gminas (13 urban, 23 urban-rural and 82 rural).
[edit] Podlachia Voivodeship counties
[edit] Most common surnames in the region
[edit] External links
| Counties of Podlasie Voivodeship |  |
|---|---|
| City counties: Białystok • Łomża • Suwałki
Land counties: Augustów • Białystok • Bielsk • Grajewo • Hajnówka • Kolno • Łomża • Mońki • Sejny • Siemiatycze • Sokółka • Suwałki • Wysokie Mazowieckie • Zambrów |
Greater Poland · Łódź · Masovian · Podlachian Świętokrzyskie · Lesser Poland · Subcarpathian · Lublin
Lubusz · Lower Silesian · Silesian · Opole West Pomeranian · Pomeranian · Kuyavian-Pomeranian · Warmian-Masurian
