Stanisławów Voivodeship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stanisławów Voivodeship

Województwo stanisławowskie

Capital city	Stanisławów
Area	16,900 km²
Population - Density	1,480,285 87.59 p/km²
Powiats	12
Major towns	Stanisławów, Kołomyja, Stryj.
Ethnical composition - Ukrainians and Ruthenians - Poles - Jews	1,018,878 (68.8%) 332,175 (22.4%) 109,378 (7.4%)
Dates of existence	1920 to 1939

Stanisławów Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo stanisławowskie; Ukrainian: Станіславське воєводство) was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918-1939). It ceased to exist in September of 1939, following German and Soviet aggression on Poland (see: Invasion of Poland).

1 Demographics
2 Geography
3 Administrative subdivisions
4 Railroads and industry
5 September 1939 and its aftermath
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Demographics

Its capital was Stanisławów (now Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine). In 1921 was inhabited by 1 339 191 people, and its population density was 72.9 persons per km². Majority of population (68%) were Ukrainians, especially in the countryside. Poles, scattered everywhere, made around 23%, Jews (mainly in towns) - around 7%. Also, there were smaller communities of Germans. In 1931 the population grew to 1 480 300 and the density - to 88 persons per sq. km.

[edit] Geography

The Stanisławów Voivodeship's area was 16,894 square kilometers. It was located in south-eastern corner of the country, bordering Tarnopol Voivodeship to the east, Lwów Voivodeship to the west, Czechoslovakia and Romania to the south. It was in large part covered by forests of the Carpathian Mountains, with numerous mountain spas (Worochta, Skole, Dolina, Zabie, Slawsko, Woronienka, Jaremcza, Kuty). Landscape was hilly (in the north) and mountainous (in the south), with Hoverla in the Chornohora range as the highest peak (2060 meters above sea level). The other significant mountain range was the Gorgany.

The main river was the Dniestr, which also marked border with the Tarnopol Voivodeship. Other rivers were: the Prut, the Stryj and the Czeremosz (the last one was at the same time bordering Poland from Romania).

[edit] Administrative subdivisions

The Stanisławów Voivodeship consisted of 15 powiats (counties), 29 towns and 904 villages. It's capital was the largest city, with population of some 60 000 (as for 1931). Other important municipal centers of the voivodeship were: Kołomyja (pop. 33,800), Stryj (pop. 30,500), Horodenka (pop. 12,200), Kalusz (pop. 12,100), Sniatyn (pop. 10,800) and Bolechow (pop. 10,700).

The Stanisławów Voivodeship consisted of 12 powiats (counties):

Dolina Powiat (2397 km²)

Horodenka Powiat (849 km²)

Kałusz Powiat (1137 km²)

Kołomyja Powiat (1339 km²)

Kosów Powiat (1839 km²)

Nadwórna Powiat (2472 km²)

Rohatyn Powiat (1147 km²)

Stanisławów Powiat (1249 km²)

Stryj Powiat (2081 km²),

Śniatyn Powiat (567 km²)

Tłumacz Powiat (934 km²)

Żydaczów Powiat (883 km²)

[edit] Railroads and industry

The Stanisławów Voivodeship was located in the so-called Poland “B”, which meant that it was underdeveloped, with scarce industry and huge part of population living in poverty. Agricultural production was low, due to hilly or mountainous landscape, which made farming very difficult. Since mid-1930s, the area was quickly gaining popularity as a popular tourist center, with number of visitors rising year by year. Railroad network was well-developed in the north, with such important junctions as Stanisławów, Kołomyja and Stryj. In the south, hovewer, rail connections were scarce.

On January 1, 1938, total length of railroads within Voivodeship's boundaries was 755 kilometers (4.5 km. per 100 sq. km.).

[edit] September 1939 and its aftermath

On September 17, 1939, following German aggression on Poland and Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland. As bulk of Polish Army was concentrated in the west, fighting Germans, the Soviets met with little resistance and their troops quickly moved westwards. Polish authorities originally were planning to organize anit-German resistance in the area of Stanisławów Voivodeship, where Polish Army units were supposed to stand ground until spring of 1940, with French attack on Germany expected by that time. However, Soviet aggression nipped these plans in the bud.

Later, Voivodeship’s area was incorporated into Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Now, it belongs to Ukraine, the region is now mostly covered by Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.