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| Administrative divisions of Poland |
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| Voivodeships Powiats(list) Gminas(list) |
Theadministrative division of Poland since 1999 has been based on three levels of subdivision. The territory ofPoland is divided intovoivodeships (provinces); these are further divided intopowiats (counties or districts), and these in turn are divided intogminas (communes or municipalities). Major cities normally have the status of both gmina and powiat. Poland currently has 16 voivodeships, 380 powiats (including 66 cities with powiat status), and 2,478 gminas.[1]
The current system was introduced pursuant to a series of acts passed by thePolish parliament in 1998, and came into effect on 1 January 1999. Between 1975 and 1998 there had been 49 smaller "voivodeships" and no powiats (seesubdivisions of the Polish People's Republic). The reform created 16 larger voivodeships (largely based on and named after historical regions) and reintroduced powiats.
The boundaries of the voivodeships do not always reflect the historical borders of Polish regions. Around half of theSilesian Voivodeship belongs to the historical province ofLesser Poland. Similarly, the area aroundRadom, which historically is part of Lesser Poland, is located in theMasovian Voivodeship. Also, thePomeranian Voivodeship includes only the eastern extreme of historicalPomerania, as the western part is inGermany and the eastern border has shifted again and again.
Poland is currently divided into 16 provinces known asvoivodeships (Polish:województwa, singularwojewództwo). Legally they are called "I tier units" (jednostki I stopnia). Administrative authority at voivodeship level is shared between a central government-appointed governor, called thevoivode (usually a political appointee), an elected assembly called thesejmik, and anexecutive board (zarząd województwa) chosen by that assembly. The leader of that executive is called themarszałek.
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Each voivodeship is divided into a number of smaller entities known aspowiats (counties), which are legally "II tier units" (jednostki II stopnia). The number of powiats per voivodeship ranges from 12 (Opole Voivodeship) to 42 (Masovian Voivodeship). They include two types of administrative divisions:
The "III tier units" (jednostki III stopnia) are 2477gminas (also called commune ormunicipality). A powiat is typically divided into a number of gminas (between 3 and 19), although the city counties constitute single gminas. A gmina has an elected council as well as a directly electedmayor (known asprezydent in large towns,burmistrz in most urban and urban-rural gminas, andwójt in rural gminas). A gmina may be classed as:
Gminas are generally sub-divided into smaller units, calledosiedle ordzielnica in towns, andsołectwo in rural areas. However, these units are of lesser importance and are subordinate in status to the gmina.
Polish territory has been subject tosignificant changes over the course ofPolish history. Therefore, the modern Polish administrative division, while on some levels similar to some historical ones, is quite different from others. Historical Polish administrative divisions can be divided into the following periods:
Cultural and economic:
