Silesian Voivodeship

Silesian Voivodeship
Województwo śląskie
Voivodeship

Flag
Coat of arms

Location within Poland

Division into counties
Coordinates (Katowice): 50°15′N 19°0′E / 50.250°N 19.000°E / 50.250; 19.000
Country  Poland
Capital Katowice
Counties
Area
 • Total 12,333.09 km2 (4,761.83 sq mi)
Population (30-06-2014)
 • Total 4,593,358
 • Density 370/km2 (960/sq mi)
 • Urban 3,675,602
 • Rural 1,001,381
Car plates S
Website http://www.silesia-region.pl
  • further divided into 167 gminas

The Silesian Voivodeship or Silesia Province[1] (Polish: województwo śląskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ ˈɕlɔ̃skʲɛ]), is a voivodeship or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia (Górny Śląsk), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite its name, most of the historical Silesia region lies outside of the voivodeship (spread between the Lubusz, Lower Silesian, Opole Voivodeships) while the eastern half of the voivodeship (and, notably, Częstochowa in the north) was not historically part of Silesia but rather Lesser Poland.

The Voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Katowice, Częstochowa and Bielsko-Biała Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998.

History

For the first time Silesian Voivodeship was appointed in Second Polish Republic. It had much wider range of power autonomy, than other contemporary Polish voivodeships and it covered all historical lands of Upper Silesia, which ended up in the Interwar period Poland (among them: Katowice (Kattowitz), Rybnik (Rybnik), Pszczyna (Pleß), Wodzisław (Loslau), Żory (Sohrau), Mikołów (Nikolai), Tychy (Tichau), Królewska Huta (Königshütte), Tarnowskie Góry (Tarnowitz), Miasteczko Śląskie (Georgenberg), Woźniki (Woischnik), Lubliniec (Lublinitz), Cieszyn (Teschen), Skoczów (Skotschau), Bielsko (Bielitz)). This Voivodeship did not include – as opposed to the present one – lands and cities of old pre-Partition Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Among the last ones the Southern part was included in Kraków Voivodeship Żywiec (Saybusch), Wilamowice (Wilmesau), Biała Krakowska (Biala) oraz Jaworzno), and the North Western part Będzin (Bendzin), Dąbrowa Górnicza (Dombrowa), Sosnowiec (Sosnowitz), Częstochowa (Tschenstochau), Myszków, Szczekociny (Schtschekotzin), Zawiercie, Sławków) belonged to Kielce Voivodeship.

After aggression of Nazi Germany (Invasion of Poland), on 8 October 1939, Hitler published a decree "About division and administration of Eastern Territories". A Silesian Province (Gau Schlesien) was created, with a seat in Breslau (Wrocław). It consisted of four districts: Kattowitz, Oppeln, Breslau and Liegnitz.

The following counties were included in Kattowitz District: Kattowitz, Königshütte, Tarnowitz, Beuthen Hindenburg, Gleiwitz, Freistadt, Teschen, Biala, Bielitz, Saybusch, Pleß, Sosnowitz, Bendzin and parts of the following counties: Kranau, Olkusch, Riebnich and Wadowitz. However, according to Hitler’s dectee from 12 October 1939 about establishing General Government (Generalgouvernement), Tschenstochau (Częstochowa) belonged to GG.

In 1941 the Silesian Province (Provinz Schlesien) underwent new administrative division and as a result Upper Silesian Province was created (Provinz Oberschlesien):

After the War during 1945 - 1950 there existed a Silesian Voivodeship, commonly known as Śląsko-Dąbrowskie Voivodeship, which included a major part of today's Silesian Voivodeship. In 1950 Śląsko-Dąbrowskie Voivodeship was divided into Opole and Katowice Voivodeships. The latter one had borders similar to the borders of modern Silesian Voivodeship.

The present Silesian Voivodeship was formed in 1999 from the following voivodeships of the previous administrative division:

Geography

The Silesian Voivodeship borders both the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south. It is also bordered by four other Polish voivodeships: those of Opole (to the west), Łódź (to the north), Świętokrzyskie (to the north-east), and Lesser Poland (to the east).

The region includes the Silesian Upland (Wyżyna Śląska) in the centre and north-west, and the Krakowsko-Częstochowska Upland (Jura Krakowsko-Czestochowska) in the north-east. The southern border is formed by the Beskidy Mountains (Beskid Śląski and Beskid Żywiecki).

The current administrative unit of Silesian Voivodeship is just a fraction of the historical Silesia which is within the borders of today's Poland (there are also fragments of Silesia in the Czech Republic and Germany). Other parts of today's Polish Silesia are administered as the Opole, the Lower Silesian Voivodeships and the Lubusz Voivodeship. On the other hand, a large part of the current administrative unit of the Silesian Voivodeship is not part of historical Silesia (e.g., Częstochowa, Zawiercie, Myszków, Jaworzno, Sosnowiec, Żywiec, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Będzin and east part of Bielsko-Biała, which are historically parts of Lesser Poland).

Demography

Silesian Voivodeship has the highest population density in the country (379 people per square kilometre, compared to the national average of 124). The region's considerable industrialisation gives it the lowest unemployment rate nationally (6.2%). The Silesian region is the most industrialized and the most urbanized region in Poland: 78% of its population live in towns and cities.

Tourism

Palace and park in Wodzisław Śląski, south-west Silesia

Both northern and southern part of the voivodeship is surrounded by a green belt. Bielsko-Biała is enveloped by the Beskidy Mountains which are popular with winter sports fans. It offers over 150 ski lifts and 200 kilometres of ski routes. More and more slopes are illuminated and equipped with artificial snow generators. Szczyrk, Brenna, Wisła and Ustroń are the most popular winter mountain resorts. Rock climbing sites can be found in Jura Krakowsko-Czestochowska. The ruins of castles forming the Eagle Nests Trail are a famous attraction of the region. Often visited is the Black Madonna's Jasna Góra Sanctuary in Częstochowa - the annual destination of over 4 million pilgrims from all over the world. In south-western part of the voivodeship are parks, palaces and old monastery (Rudy Raciborskie, Wodzisław Śląski). Along Odra river are interesting natural reserve and at summer places for swimming.

With its more than two centuries of industrialisation history, region has a number of technical heritage memorials. These include narrow and standard gauge railways, coal and silver mines, shafts and its equipment from 19th and 20th century.

Cities and towns

Katowice is the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship
Jasna Góra in Częstochowa is the holiest catholic shrine in Poland
Gliwice - Town Hall

Due to its industrial and urban nature, the voivodeship has many cities and large towns. Of Poland's 40 most-populous cities, 12 are in Silesian Voivodeship. 19 of the cities in the voivodeship have the legal status of city-county (see powiat). In all it has 71 cities and towns (with legal city rights), listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006[2]):

  1. Katowice (307,233)
  2. Częstochowa (235,798)
  3. Sosnowiec (214,488)
  4. Gliwice (186,347)
  5. Bytom (176,106)
  6. Bielsko-Biała (174,370)
  7. Zabrze (169,643)
  8. Ruda Śląska (142,510)
  9. Rybnik (140,863)
  10. Tychy (129,322)
  11. Dąbrowa Górnicza (124,701)
  12. Chorzów (111,536)
  13. Jaworzno (94,580)
  14. Jastrzębie-Zdrój (92,105)
  15. Mysłowice (75,428)
  16. Siemianowice Śląskie (69,713)
  17. Żory (62,110)
  18. Tarnowskie Góry (60,889)
  19. Będzin (59,023)
  20. Piekary Śląskie (57,917)
  21. Racibórz (56,397)
  22. Świętochłowice (53,150)
  23. Zawiercie (51,862)
  24. Wodzisław Śląski (49,353)
  25. Knurów (39,823)
  26. Mikołów (38,392)
  27. Cieszyn (36,014)
  28. Czechowice-Dziedzice (34,811)
  29. Czeladź (34,173)
  30. Myszków (32,830)
  31. Żywiec (32,078)
  32. Czerwionka-Leszczyny (28,486)
  33. Pszczyna (25,621)
  34. Lubliniec (24,229)
  35. Rydułtowy (21,950)
  36. Łaziska Górne (21,906)
  37. Bieruń (19,642)
  38. Pyskowice (19,127)
  39. Orzesze (18,830)
  40. Radlin (17,673)
  41. Radzionków (17,220)
  42. Lędziny (16,156)
  43. Ustroń (15,420)
  44. Skoczów (14,641)
  45. Pszów (14,012)
  46. Kłobuck (13,193)
  47. Wisła (11,453)
  48. Blachownia (9,863)
  49. Wojkowice (9,434)
  50. Poręba (8,784)
  51. Kalety (8,657)
  52. Imielin (7,887)
  53. Miasteczko Śląskie (7,368)
  54. Łazy (7,139)
  55. Sławków (6,833)
  56. Koniecpol (6,303)
  57. Szczyrk (5,860)
  58. Siewierz (5,528)
  59. Kuźnia Raciborska (5,517)
  60. Krzepice (4,524)
  61. Ogrodzieniec (4,465)
  62. Żarki (4,419)
  63. Woźniki (4,410)
  64. Szczekociny (3,795)
  65. Toszek (3,822)
  66. Strumień (3,397)
  67. Wilamowice (2,818)
  68. Koziegłowy (2,505)
  69. Krzanowice (2,207)
  70. Pilica (1,971)
  71. Sośnicowice (1,747)

Economy

The Silesian voivodship is predominantly an industrial region. Most of the mining is derived from one of the world's largest bituminous coalfields of the Upper Silesian Industrial District (Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy) and the Rybnik Coal District (Rybnicki Okręg Węglowy) with its major cities Rybnik, Jastrzębie Zdrój, Żory and Wodzisław Śląski. Lead and zinc can be found near Bytom, Zawiercie and Tarnowskie Góry; iron ore and raw materials for building - near Częstochowa. The most important regional industries are: mining, iron, lead and zinc metallurgy, power industry, engineering, automobile, chemical, building materials and textile. In the past, the Silesian economy was determined by coal mining. Now, considering the investment volume, car manufacturing is becoming more and more important. The most profitable company in the region is Fiat Auto-Poland S.A. in Bielsko-Biała with a revenue of PLN 6.2 billion in 1997. Recently a new car factory has been opened by GM Opel in Gliwice. There are two Special Economic Zones in the area: Katowice and Częstochowa. The voivodship's economy consists of about 323,000, mostly small and medium-sized, enterprises employing over 3 million people. The biggest Polish steel-works "Huta Katowice" is situated in Dąbrowa Górnicza.

Silesian Voivodship is also one of the richest regions in Poland. Average monthly salary is about 3,800 zlotys (over €1,200).

Transport

Terminal 2 of Katowice International Airport in Pyrzowice

Katowice International Airport (in Tarnowskie Góry County) is used for domestic and international flights, Other Nearby Airports are John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice and Warsaw Frédéric Chopin Airport. The Silesian agglomeration railway network has the largest concentration in the country. The voivodship capital enjoys good railway and road connections with Gdańsk (motorway A1) and Ostrava (motorway A1), Kraków (motorway A4), Wrocław (motorway A4), Łódź (motorway A1) and Warsaw. It is also the crossing point for many international routes like E40 connecting Calais, Brussels, Cologne, Dresden, Wrocław, Kraków and Kiev and E75 from Scandinavia to the Balkans. A relatively short distance to Vienna facilitates cross-border co-operation and may positively influence the process of European integration. Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa (known by its acronym LHS, English: Broad gauge metallurgy line) in Sławków is the longest broad gauge railway line in Poland. The line runs on a single track for almost 400 km from the Polish-Ukrainian border, crossing it just east of Hrubieszów. It is the westernmost broad gauge railway line in Europe that is connected to the broad gauge rail system of the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Education

There are eleven public universities in the voivodship. The biggest university is the University of Silesia in Katowice, with 43,000 students. The region's capital boasts the Medical University, The Karol Adamiecki University of Economics in Katowice, the University of Music in Katowice, the Physical Education Academy and the Academy of Fine Arts. Częstochowa is the seat of the Częstochowa University of Technology and Pedagogic University. The Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice is nationally renowned. Bielsko-Biała is home of the Technical-Humanistic Academy. In addition, 17 new private schools have been established in the region.

There are more than 300,000 people studying in the voivodship.

Politics

The Silesian voivodeship's government is headed by the province's voivode (governor) who is appointed by the Polish Prime Minister. The voivode is then assisted in performing his duties by the voivodeship's marshal, who is the appointed speaker for the voivodeship's executive and is elected by the sejmik (provincial assembly). The current voivode of Silesia is Jarosław Wieczorek, whilst the present marshal is Wojciech Saługa.

The Sejmik of Silesia consists of 48 members.

Silesian Regional Assembly elections on 21 November 2010[3]
Party Votes Percent Seats
Civic Platform (PO) ? 33,7% 22
Law and Justice (PiS) ? 20,8% 11
Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) ? 16,4% 10
Silesian Autonomy Movement (RAS) 122,781 8.49% 3
Polish People's Party (PSL) ? 7,10% 2

Administrative division

Silesian Voivodeship is divided into 36 counties (powiats). These include 19 city counties (far more than any other voivodeship) and 17 land counties. The counties are further divided into 167 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
Katowice 165 315,996 1
Częstochowa 160 246,129 1
Sosnowiec 91 225,202 1
Gliwice 134 199,099 1
Zabrze 80 190,610 1
Bytom 69 187,205 1
Bielsko-Biała 125 176,678 1
Ruda Śląska 78 145,929 1
Rybnik 148 141,382 1
Tychy 82 130,842 1
Dąbrowa Górnicza 188 129,753 1
Chorzów 33 114,434 1
Jaworzno 152 96,051 1
Jastrzębie-Zdrój 85 95,149 1
Mysłowice 66 74,988 1
Siemianowice Śląskie 25 72,451 1
Żory 65 62,625 1
Piekary Śląskie 40 59,494 1
Świętochłowice 13 55,172 1
Land counties
Cieszyn County
powiat cieszyński		 730 171,029 Cieszyn Ustroń, Skoczów, Wisła, Strumień 12
Wodzisław County
powiat wodzisławski		 287 155,228 Wodzisław Śląski Rydułtowy, Radlin, Pszów 9
Będzin County
powiat będziński		 368 151,122 Będzin Czeladź, Wojkowice, Sławków, Siewierz 8
Bielsko County
powiat bielski		 457 150,764 Bielsko-Biała * Czechowice-Dziedzice, Szczyrk, Wilamowice 10
Żywiec County
powiat żywiecki		 1,040 149,492 Żywiec 15
Tarnowskie Góry County
powiat tarnogórski		 643 137,979 Tarnowskie Góry Radzionków, Kalety, Miasteczko Śląskie 9
Częstochowa County
powiat częstochowski		 1,519 133,553 Częstochowa * Blachownia, Koniecpol 16
Zawiercie County
powiat zawierciański		 1,003 124,127 Zawiercie Poręba, Łazy, Ogrodzieniec, Szczekociny, Pilica 10
Gliwice County
powiat gliwicki		 663 114,963 Gliwice * Knurów, Pyskowice, Toszek, Sośnicowice 8
Racibórz County
powiat raciborski		 544 111,505 Racibórz Kuźnia Raciborska, Krzanowice 8
Pszczyna County
powiat pszczyński		 473 104,638 Pszczyna 6
Mikołów County
powiat mikołowski		 232 91,022 Mikołów Łaziska Górne, Orzesze 5
Kłobuck County
powiat kłobucki		 889 84,730 Kłobuck Krzepice 9
Lubliniec County
powiat lubliniecki		 822 76,628 Lubliniec Woźniki 8
Rybnik County
powiat rybnicki		 225 73,527 Rybnik * Czerwionka-Leszczyny 5
Myszków County
powiat myszkowski		 479 71,619 Myszków Żarki, Koziegłowy 5
Bieruń-Lędziny County
powiat bieruńsko-lędziński		 157 55,868 Bieruń Lędziny, Imielin 5
* seat not part of the county

Protected areas

Protected areas in Silesian Voivodeship include eight areas designated as Landscape Parks:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Arkadiusz Belczyk,Tłumaczenie polskich nazw geograficznych na język angielski [Translation of Polish Geographical Names into English], 2002-2006.
  2. ↑ http://www.stat.gov.pl/gus/45_655_PLK_HTML.htm
  3. ↑ "Silesian Regional Assembly elections". State Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2011. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  Łódź Voivodeship  Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship
 Opole Voivodeship  Lesser Poland Voivodeship
    Silesian Voivodeship  
 Moravian-Silesian Region,  Czech Republic
 Žilina Regions,  Slovakia

Coordinates: 50°20′00″N 19°00′01″E / 50.33333°N 19.00028°E / 50.33333; 19.00028

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