Podlaskie Voivodeship: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 05:44, 7 July 2006
| Podlachia Voivodship | |
|
Flag of Podlachia Voivodship |
| Location | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Administrative divisions | |
| |
| General information | |
| Capital city | Białystok |
| Area | 20 180 km² |
| Population - density - % of population of Poland |
1 mln 221 000 60,5 people/km² 3,2 % |
| 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 | |
| Powiats - Urban counties - Land counties |
3 14 |
| Communes - Urban - Urban-Rural - Rural |
13 23 82 |
| Official webpage | |
Podlachia Voivodship or Podlasie Voivodship (Polish: województwo podlaskie) is an administrative region, or voivodship, in northeastern Poland.
It was created January 1, 1999, out of the former Białystok and Łomża Voivodships and half of the former Suwałki Voivodship, pursuant to the Local Government Reorganization Act of 1998. The voivodship's name recalls the region's traditional name, Podlachia and the Podlachia Voivodship in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795).
The Polish part of the Białowieża Forest Biosphere Reserve is located in Podlachia Voivodship.
History
Historical Podlachia Voivodship (1513-1795)
A Podlachia Voivodship was formed in 1513 as a voivodship in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With Lithuania's confederation with the Kingdom of Poland in 1569, the voivodship was transferred to the Polish Crown.
The seat of the voivodship was Drohiczyn. Voivods included Andrzej Chądzyński (1625-1633), Paweł Szczawinski (February 1633-1634), and Stanisław Niemira (1634-1646/1648).
Economy
According to the Polish National Official Business Register, REGON, there were around 95,000 companies registered in Podlachia region in 2002.
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, the majority of which – around 50% - are small farms of the size of 1–5 ha and medium-sized farms of 5–10 ha. The small ones prefer intensive production (gardening, orcharding), whereas the large ones – cattle and crop production. The cattle-raising farms are mainly oriented at milk production.
Natural conditions of the region are conducive to the development of ecologic production, which is at present realised by around 100 farms. Over 600 farms in the region run agrotourist businesses.
Geography
Natural assets
Podlachia has the lowest population density of the sixteen Polish voivodships and an important asset is its largely unspoilt nature. Around 30% of the area of the voivodship 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 voivodship constitutes a part of the ecologically clean area of "the Green Lungs of Poland".
Major cities and towns
(populations as of 2003):
- Białystok (1 January 2006 - 295,000)
- Suwałki (70,000);
- Łomża (65,600);
- Augustów (30,600);
- Bielsk Podlaski (28,400);
- Zambrów (24,300);
- Hajnówka (23,900);
- Grajewo (23,100).
Administrative divisions
Podlachia Voivodship is divided into 17 counties (powiat), three of them urban, and comprises 118 gminas (13 urban, 23 urban-rural and 82 rural).
