Lower Silesian Voivodeship (Polish:województwo dolnośląskie,[vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔdɔlnɔˈɕlɔ̃skjɛ]ⓘ) in southwesternPoland, is one of the 16voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of 19,946 square kilometres (7,701 sq mi) and as of 2019[update] has a total population of 2,899,986.
It is one of the wealthiest provinces in Poland, as natural resources such ascopper,brown coal and rock materials are widely present.[4]
The oldest known Polish written sentence in theBook of Henryków, now held by the Archdiocesan Museum in Wrocław
Silesian tribes settled the lands at the end of the first millennium after theMigration Period. In the 9th century, the region became part of Great Moravia underSvatopluk I of Moravia and in the 10th century,Mieszko I of thePiast dynasty eventually incorporated the region to Poland. The region withstood German invasions with decisive Polish victories atNiemcza (1017) andGłogów (1109), both commemorated with monuments. It was divided into small realms reigned bySilesian branches of Piast dukes after thetestament of Bolesław III Wrymouth in 1138. Wrocław was mentioned as one of three centers of the Kingdom of Poland, along withKraków andSandomierz, in the early-12th-centuryGesta principum Polonorum chronicle. In 1241, it was the place of theBattle of Legnica, the largest battle of theMongol invasions of Poland. With theOstsiedlung, the cultural and ethnic Germanic influence grew with an influx of immigrants from the German-speaking areas of theHoly Roman Empire, and since the 1330s when it was subjugated to theKingdom of Bohemia, although large portions of Lower Silesia still formed Polish-ruled duchies under the houses of Piast,Jagiellon andSobieski, some up to the 17th and 18th century. Chief medieval ducal capitals of the area wereWrocław,Legnica,Głogów,Świdnica andJawor. Lower Silesia was, during theMiddle Ages, one of Poland's cultural centers. TheBook of Henryków (1273), which contains the earliest known sentence written in the Polish language, as well as a document which contains the oldest printed text in Polish, were both created within it.[5] The first granting ofmunicipal privileges in Poland took place in the region, with the granting of rights forZłotoryja byHenry the Bearded. Medieval municipal rights modeled afterLwówek Śląski andŚroda Śląska, both established by Henry the Bearded, became the basis of municipal form of government for several cities and towns in Poland, and two of five local Polish variants of medieval town rights. Burial sights of medieval Polish monarchs from the Piast dynasty are located in the province.
Although much of the region is relatively low-lying, Lower Silesia includes theSudeten Foreland, as well as part of theSudetes mountain range, that runs along the Polish/Czech border.Ski resorts in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship includeKarpacz andSzklarska Poręba in theKarkonosze mountains.
The voivodeship has a number of mineral springs and is host to a large number ofspa towns. The highest point in the voivodeship isMount Śnieżka (1,603 m (5,259 ft) above sea level) while the lowest point is located in theOder River Valley (69 m (226 ft) above sea level).[9]
Wrocław Airport serves as an international and domestic airport.
Wrocław Główny is the largest railway station in Poland, serving an average of 21.2 million passengers annually. It offers the domestic and international connections of various carriers.
There are various museums, including the majorNational Museum in Wrocław with the branchRacławice Panorama Museum, and the Archdiocese Museum in Wrocław, which contains theBook of Henryków. Wrocław also hosts the Post and Telecommunications Museum, Poland's chief museum dedicated to postal history. The Regional Museum inŚroda Śląska holds theŚroda Treasure, containing medieval gold and silver coins, jewellery and royalregalia, considered one of the most precious archaeological findings of 20th-century Europe. TheOssolineum in Wrocław is a National Institute and Library of great importance, and the Pan Tadeusz Museum, containing the manuscript of the Polish national epos,Pan Tadeusz byAdam Mickiewicz, serves as its branch.Bolesławiec, center of pottery production since the Middle Ages, hosts the Museum of Ceramics. The former gold mines inZłoty Stok andZłotoryja,tin andcobalt mine inKrobica,nickel mine inSzklary,[11] coal mine inNowa Ruda anduranium ore mine inKowary are available for tourists. There is also an underground tourist route in historic cellars under the old town ofKłodzko.
BaroqueKrzeszów Abbey, which hosts the Icon of Our Lady of Grace, the oldest Marian icon in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe; one of the burial sites of the Piast dynasty[14]
World War II sites include the museum at the former Nazi GermanGross-Rosen concentration camp and memorials at the sites of other Nazi camps and prisons, at the sites of Nazi massacres, and to thePolish resistance movement, etc. A portion of the underground structures built as part of the unfinished Nazi GermanProject Riese is available for tourists. One of the largest war cemeteries in Poland, of theSecond Polish Army from World War II, is located inZgorzelec. One of the few Italian war cemeteries in Poland is located in Wrocław (fromWorld War I), and there is also a mass grave of Italian soldiers from World War II in Bolesławiec (see alsoItaly–Poland relations).
There are also theKłodzko andSrebrna Góra fortresses, which initially served for military purposes, and during World War II as German prisons for prisoners of various nationalities, especially Polish.
Bielany Avenue (pl. Aleja Bielany) - the largestshopping center in Poland
Thegross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 41.1 billion euro in 2018, accounting for 8.3% of the Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €23,400 or 78% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 85% of the EU average. Lower Silesia Voivodeship is the province with the second highest GDP per capita in Poland.[21]
GDP per capita in Lower Silesian Voivodeship and Poland
The wealth of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship is partly due to mining and production of various minerals. The Legnica-Głogów Copper Basin (Polish:Legnicko-Głogowski Okręg Miedziowy) with the cities ofLegnica,Głogów,Lubin andPolkowice producescopper, as well as other valuable minerals, making Poland the second largest producer of copper in Europe, and the largest producer ofsilver andrhenium in Europe and one of the largest in the world (as of 2024).[22]Strzegom and its surroundings are the site ofgranite mining, and the town is called the "capital of Polish granite".[23] One of the three largestlignite mines in Poland is located inBogatynia.
The voivodeship contains 8 cities and 83 towns. The cities, governed by acity mayor (Polish:prezydent miasta), are listed below in descending order of population (as of 2019):[1]
Lower Silesia is divided into three additional delegation districts governed by the provincial government, with Wrocław serving as the capital of the administrative region:[25]
^"Położenie".dolnyslask.poland.com (in Polish). Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved27 December 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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