Silesian Voivodeship (Polish:województwo śląskie[vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔˈɕlɔ̃skʲɛ]ⓘ) is an administrative province in southernPoland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland. It generates 11.9% of Polish GDP[4] and is characterized by a high life satisfaction, low income inequalities, and high wages.[5]
The region has a diversified geography. The Beskid Mountains cover most of the southern part of the voivodeship, with the highest peak ofPilsko on the Polish-Slovakian border reaching 1,534 m (5,033 ft) above sea level.Silesian Upland dominates the central part of the region, while the hilly, limestonePolish Jura closes it from the northeast.Katowice urban area, located in the central part of the region, is the second most-populous urban area in Poland afterWarsaw, with 2.2 million people, and one of Poland's seven supra-regional metropolises, whileRybnik,Bielsko-Biała andCzęstochowa and their respective urban areas are classified among the country's 15 regional agglomerations.[6]
Despite the voivodeship's name, only the western half of its area is considered to be a part of the historical region ofSilesia. The eastern part of Silesian Voivodeship was historically part ofLesser Poland, while a small part in the north of the region was historically considered a part ofGreater Poland.
Silesian Voivodeship was first created in 1920 when the newly independent Polish state established anautonomous region for all historical lands of Upper Silesia that were to end up in Poland. At the time, Upper Silesia was under international control, and aplebiscite was to be held in 1921 to divide the region between Germany and Poland following local results. Katowice has been chosen to be the provincial capital. In 1938, following the annexation ofTrans-Olza region by Poland, the voivodeship's area was expanded to include these new territories.
After theinvasion of Poland in 1939, Polish administrative divisions ceased to exist. Nazi Germany annexed most of the current voivodeship's area directly into the Germanprovince of Silesia (Gau Schlesien) with capital inWrocław (Breslau) as the governmental district of Katowice (Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz). This new district included both historically Silesian areas as well as western parts of Lesser Poland. Northern parts of what is the Silesian Voivodeship today, with Częstochowa, found themselves in theGeneral Government area.
In 1941, the province of Silesia was split into Lower Silesia (with a capital in Wrocław) and Upper Silesia (with a capital in Katowice), the latter of which included the governmental district of Opole in addition to the one of Katowice.
FollowingWorld War II, the new communist government of Poland cancelled the autonomous status of the Silesian voivodeship and established a newSilesian-Dabrowa voivodeship (województwo śląsko-dąbrowskie), the area of which roughly corresponded to the German province of Upper Silesia. The name of this region reflected both the Silesian part and theDąbrowa Basin part.
In 1950, Opole voivodeship was created from the western part of the Silesian-Dabrowa voivodeship, and the name of the remaining area changed toKatowice Voivodeship. The new region's borders included, for the first time, the Częstochowa area, and roughly resembled the contemporary Silesian Voivodeship. Between 1956–59, the name of the region was changed to Stalinogród voivodeship (województwo stalinogrodzkie), reflecting Katowice's forced name change to Stalinogród following the death ofJoseph Stalin.
As Poland aimed to join the European Union, European negotiators named administrative reform as one of the conditions for accession. As such, in 1999, a new administrative division was introduced, reducing the number of voivodeships from 49 to 16. A Silesian voivodeship has emerged from the reform, with its capital in Katowice, and consisting of most municipalities of the former Katowice, Częstochowa, and Bielsko-Biała voivodeships.
More than one out of every nine of Poland's residents live in the Silesian voivodeship. According to the Polish Statistics Office, the region's population was 4.32 million at the end of 2023,[8] a decrease of 6% from 10 years earlier.
Similarly to Poland, the Silesian voivodeship has suffered extremely low fertility and an intensifying natural population decrease. In 2023, the total fertility rate was only 1.10, well below the 2.1 required to sustain a population size and slightly below the Polish average of 1.11. 27,641 people were born while 51,723 died, a natural decrease of -24,082. In 2023, 19.1% of the population was under 20, 32.2% was 20–44 years old, 27.4% was 45–64, while 21.3% were 65 or older.[9]
Silesian voivodeship is the most densely populated and most urbanized region of Poland. More than three-fourths of residents live in urban areas, compared to less than 60% on average in Poland.[10] Population density is nearly three times the average, with more than 350 people per square kilometer (nearly 1,000 per square mile).[11] Population density is particularly high in the central part of the region where the polycentric Katowice urban area is located.
Population density in the region
Aside from Polish citizens, a large immigrant population resides in the region and is not counted towards official population statistics in Poland. As of November 2024, 99,542 foreigners living in the region paid into social security,[12] and in the 2023/24 academic year, 31,111 foreign students attended primary and secondary schools in the region.[13] In addition, following the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the region has attracted many refugees. As of January 2025, 99,545 Ukrainian refugees settled in the Silesian voivodeship.[14]
Silesian voivodeship is the most religiously diverse region of Poland.[15] In the 2021 census, 71.39% of residents declared they have belonged to a religion, of whichRoman Catholicism was the largest denomination with 3.063 million adherents (69.57% of total). The region is divided into five ecclesial provinces:
Jasna Góra in Częstochowa, located in the northern part of the voivodeship, is the most-visited shrine in Poland and features theBlack Madonna icon.
Silesian voivodeship is also the center ofProtestantism, in particularLutheranism, in Poland.Wisła andGoleszów are the only municipalities in Poland where Lutheranism is the plurality religion, at 46.7% and 37.47% of the total population, respectively. In total, there are 53,980 Protestants in the region (1.23% of the region's population and 42.7% of all protestants in Poland).
In terms of nationality and ethnicity, the 2021 Polish census allowed responders to select up to two nationalities and ethnicities.Polish nationality was selected by 95.49% of residents, while 13.08% indicated other nationalities; in addition to the Polish one or separately.Silesian andGerman nationalities were the largest, declared by 517,100 and 27,923 residents, respectively.
The 2021 census did not count most of recent immigrants towards the resident population but instead considered them as temporary residents. According to the census, 119,594 of such temporary residents lived in the Silesian voivodeship, and the majority of them were Ukrainians.[16]
Both the northern and southern parts of the voivodeship are surrounded by agreen belt.Bielsko-Biała is enveloped by theBeskidy 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 andUstroń are the most popular winter mountain resorts. Rock climbing sites can be found inJura Krakowsko-Czestochowska. In the south-western part of the voivodeship are parks and old monasteries (Rudy Raciborskie,Wodzisław Śląski). Along theOder River are interesting natural reserves and places for swimming during the summer.
With its more than two centuries of industrial history, the region has many technical heritage memorials. These include narrow and standard gauge railways, coal and silver mines, and shafts and their equipment from the 19th and 20th centuries. The historic coal mine complex inZabrze is listed as aHistoric Monument of Poland,[17] and theHistoric Silver Mine in Tarnowskie Góry is listed as both aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site and Historic Monument of Poland.
There are numerous memorials to Polish uprisings against foreign rule, including theJanuary Uprising of 1863–1864 andSilesian Uprisings of 1919–1921, andŚwiętochłowice hosts the Silesian Uprisings Museum.
There are numerousWorld War II memorials in the voivodeship, including at the sites of Nazi massacres of Poles and Jews, and the sites of former Nazi Germanforced labour camps and prisons. TheGliwice Radio Tower andKatowice Parachute Tower are local symbols of German provocation and Polish resistance during the war, respectively.
Katowice is the capital of the Silesian VoivodeshipJasna Góra inCzęstochowa is the holiest Roman Catholic shrine in PolandGliwice, one of the oldest cities inSilesiaBielsko-Biała is a major industrial, transport and touristic hub
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 ofcity-county (seepowiat). In all, it has 24 cities and 47 towns, listed below in descending order of population (as of 2019):[1]
Cities (governed by a city mayor orprezydent miasta):
Thegross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 61 billion € in 2018, accounting for 12.3% of the Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 22,200 € or 74% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 83% of the EU average. Silesia Voivodeship is the province with the fourth-highest GDP per capita in Poland.[18]
The Silesian voivodeship is predominantly an industrial region. Most of themining is derived from one of the world's largest bituminouscoalfields of the Upper Silesian Industrial District (Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy) and theRybnik Coal District (Rybnicki Okręg Węglowy) with its major citiesRybnik,Jastrzębie-Zdrój,Żory andWodzisław Śląski.Lead andzinc can be found nearBytom,Zawiercie andTarnowskie Góry;iron ore and raw materials for building – nearCzęstochowa. 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 isFiat Auto-Poland S.A. in Bielsko-Biała with a revenue ofPLN 6.2 billion in 1997. Recently a new car factory has been opened byGMOpel in Gliwice. There are twoSpecial Economic Zones in the area: Katowice and Częstochowa. The voivodeship's economy consists of about 323,000, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, employing over 3 million people. The biggest Polish steelworks, "Huta Katowice", is situated inDąbrowa Górnicza.
The unemployment rate stood at 3.9% in 2017 and was lower than the national average.[19]
Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa (known by its acronymLHS, English:Broad gauge metallurgy line) inSławków is the longestbroad gaugerailway line in Poland. The line runs on a single track for almost 400 km from the Polish-Ukrainian border, crossing it just east ofHrubieszów. 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.
A large part of the Upper Silesia conurbation features theSilesian Interurbans, the longest tram network in Poland, and one of the largest in the world. Bus and tram transport in and around Katowice and surrounding cities has been managed by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (ZTM) since 2019.
The Silesian voivodeship's government is headed by the province'svoivode (governor) who is appointed by thePolish Prime Minister. Thevoivode 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 thesejmik (provincial assembly). The currentvoivode of Silesia is Jarosław Wieczorek, whilst the present marshal is Wojciech Saługa.
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 167gminas.
The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).
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