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| Gmina | |
|---|---|
| |
 | |
| Category | Municipality |
| Location | Poland |
| Found in | Powiat |
| Number | 2,479 (as of 2025) |
| Possible types |
|
| Possible status | |
| Government | |
 |
| Administrative divisions of Poland |
|---|
| Voivodeships Powiats(list) Gminas(list) |
Thegmina (Polish:[ˈɡmina],pl. gminy[ˈɡminɨ]) is the basic unit of the administrative division ofPoland, similar to amunicipality.[1] As of 1 January 2019[update], there were2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and towns, with 322 among them constituting an independent urban gmina (Polish:gmina miejska) consisting solely of a standalone town or one of the 107 cities, the latter governed by a city mayor (prezydent miasta).[2][3]
The gmina has been the basic unit of territorial division in Poland since 1974, when it replaced the smallergromada. Three or more gminy make up a higher level unit called apowiat, except for those holding the status of acity with powiat rights. Each and every powiat has the seat in a city or town, in the latter case either an urban gmina or a part of an urban-rural one.[citation needed]
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There are three types of gmina:
Some rural gminy have their seat in a town which itself is outside of the gmina's territory. For example, the ruralGmina Augustów is administered from the town ofAugustów, but does not include the town, as Augustów is an urban type gmina in its own right.
107 urban gminy constitute cities, distinguished from towns through being governed by a city mayor (prezydent miasta) instead of a town mayor (burmistrz), the status awarded automatically to all urban gminy over 100,000 inhabitants or those with a status of a city with powiat rights, with some others allowed to retain the earlier awarded title due to historical reasons. 66 among the 107 cities (including all voivodeship seats and all cities over 100,000 inhabitants) have the special status of city with powiat rights. Such a city exercises also powers and duties of a powiat while not belonging to any; nevertheless, it may still be a seat of a regular powiat, albeit without belonging to it administratively (such powiat thus being often "doughnut-shaped"). In such cities, the roles of the powiat organs are fulfilled by the ones of the urban gmina.
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Polish gminy operate under amayor-council government.
The legislative and oversight body of each gmina is the elected municipal council (rada gminy), in an urban-rural gmina called the town and gmina council (rada miasta i gminy), while in an urban gmina it is called the town/city council (rada miasta).
Any local laws considered non-compliant with the national ones may be invalidated by the respectivevoivode, whose rulings may be appealed to an administrative court. Decisions in individual cases may in turn be appealed to quasi-judicial bodies namedlocal government boards of appeal [pl], their ruling subject to appeal to an administrative court.
Executive power is held in the municipality by a directly elected official, calledwójt in rural gminy, a townmayor (burmistrz) in urban-rural and most urban gminy which contain towns, or a city mayor (prezydent miasta) in the 107 urban gminy containing cities, the status awarded automatically to all urban gminy over 100,000 inhabitants or those with a status of a city with powiat rights, with some others allowed to retain the earlier awarded title due to historical reasons. A town or city mayor may be scrutinized or denied funding for his/her projects by the council, but is not politically responsible to it and does not require its confidence to remain in office; therefore,cohabitation is not uncommon.
In acity with powiat rights, the city mayor additionally has the powers and duties of a powiat executive board and astarosta, while the city council has the powers and duties of a powiat (county) council; both nevertheless being elected under the municipal election rules rather than those applicable to county elections.
Arecall referendum may be triggered either in respect to the wójt/town mayor/city mayor or to the municipal council through a petition supported by at least 1/10 of eligible voters, but the turnout in the recall referendum must be at least 3/5 of the number of people voting in the original election in order for the referendum to be valid and binding. In addition, elected bodies of any municipality may be suspended by theprime minister of Poland in case of persisting law transgressions ornegligence, resulting in such case in the municipality being placed underreceivership.
A gmina may create auxiliary units (jednostki pomocnicze), which play a subordinate administrative role. In rural areas these are calledsołectwa, in towns they may bedzielnice orosiedla and in an urban-rural gmina, the town itself may be designated as an auxiliary unit. The only gmina which is statutorily obliged to have auxiliary units isWarsaw, which is divided since 2002 into 18 boroughs exercising some devolved powers, though not considered separate entities.
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Each gmina carries out two classes of tasks:
The tasks can be also divided into another two categories:
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Own tasks include matters such as
| Number of gminy by voivodeship | |||||||||||||||||
| Voivodeship | LS | KP | LBL | LBS | ŁD | LP | MS | OP | SK | PD | PM | SL | ŚWK | WM | GP | WP | Poland |
| Urban gminy | 36 | 17 | 20 | 9 | 18 | 15 | 35 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 25 | 49 | 5 | 16 | 19 | 11 | 307 |
| Urban-rural gminy | 55 | 35 | 22 | 33 | 25 | 43 | 50 | 32 | 31 | 24 | 17 | 22 | 26 | 33 | 90 | 52 | 588 |
| Rural gminy | 78 | 92 | 171 | 41 | 134 | 124 | 229 | 36 | 113 | 81 | 81 | 96 | 71 | 67 | 117 | 51 | 1,584 |
| Total gminy | 169 | 144 | 213 | 83 | 177 | 182 | 314 | 71 | 160 | 118 | 123 | 167 | 102 | 116 | 226 | 114 | 2,479 |
| of which: rural gminy with their seat outside the gmina | 14 | 13 | 17 | 5 | 15 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 160 |
Abbreviations used for voivodeships:
LS: Lower Silesian Voivodeship,KP: Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship,LBL: Lublin Voivodeship,LBS: Lubusz Voivodeship,
ŁD: Łódź Voivodeship,LP: Lesser Poland Voivodeship,MS: Masovian Voivodeship,OP: Opole Voivodeship,
SK: Subcarpathian Voivodeship,PD: Podlaskie Voivodeship,PM: Pomeranian Voivodeship,SL: Silesian Voivodeship,
ŚWK: Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship,WM: Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship,GP: Greater Poland Voivodeship,WP: West Pomeranian Voivodeship.
| LARGEST | Population (2006 estimate) | Land area in km2 | Population density per km2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban | Warsaw (1,697,596) | Warsaw (517.22) | Świętochłowice (4,156.80) |
| Rural | Gmina Chełmiec (24,344) | Gmina Wałcz (574.89) | Gmina Buczkowice (542.70) |
| Urban-rural | Gmina Piaseczno (61,525) | Gmina Pisz (633.69) | Gmina Wołomin (801.69) |
| Town in urban-rural gmina | Gmina Nysa:Nysa (47,545) | Gmina Szczytna:Szczytna (80.38) | Gmina Swarzędz:Swarzędz (3,469.23) |
| Rural part of urban-rural gmina | Gmina Wieliczka: rural part (28,864) | Gmina Pisz: rural part (623.61) | Gmina Świątniki Górne: rural part (407.86) |
| SMALLEST | Population (2006 estimate) | Land area in km2 | Population density per km2 |
| Urban | Krynica Morska (1,364) | Górowo Iławeckie (3.32) | Krynica Morska (11.74) |
| Rural | Gmina Cisna (1,663) | Gmina Jejkowice (7.59) | Gmina Lutowiska (4.63) |
| Urban-rural | Gmina Nowe Warpno (1,559) | Gmina Świątniki Górne (20.35) | Gmina Nowe Warpno (7.88) |
| Town in urban-rural gmina | Gmina Wyśmierzyce:Wyśmierzyce (892) | Gmina Stawiszyn:Stawiszyn (0.99) | Gmina Suraż:Suraż (28.94) |
| Rural part of urban-rural gmina | Gmina Nowe Warpno: rural part (363) | Gmina Suchedniów: rural part (15.54) | Gmina Nowe Warpno: rural part (2.09) |
