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Former administrative divisions of Poland

Almost every country in the world manages its own, internal administrative divisionadministrative divisionadministrative division. Its purpose is to make country‑level management easier. Currently, Poland is divided to 16 provinces (voivodeships). Each provinceprovinceprovince is divided to counties (poviats), and each county is divided to communes/municipalities. This administrative division was introduced in 1999. But, previous administrative division was different.

After the Second World War, in June 1946, 14 provinces were established. Another level of administrative division included counties (poviats), and the lowest one included communes and cities. In 1950, the number of provinces was increased to 17 as some large provinces in the West Lands were divided.

In 1955, communes were abandoned, and subsequently replaced by gatherings. In 1973, this process was reversed – gathering were replaced by communes. In 1975, 49 provinces were established with simultaneous dissolution of counties (poviats).

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Ilustracja przedstawia trzy mapy ukazujące podziały administracyjne Polski w tysiąc dziewięćset czterdziestym szóstym roku, w tysiąc dziewięćset pięćdziesiątym roku i w tysiąc dziewięćset siedemdziesiątym piątym roku. Województwa oznaczono kolorami i opisano. Opisano państwa sąsiadujące z Polską. Na każdej mapie zapisano rok. Ilość województw w kolejnych latach zwiększała się. Wszystkie trzy mapy pokryte są równoleżnikami i południkami. Dookoła map w ramce opisano współrzędne geograficzne co dwa stopnie.Na mapie z  tysiąc dziewięćset czterdziestego szóstego roku wypisane są następujące województwa szczecińskie, gdańskie, olsztyńskie, białostockie, poznańskie, pomorskie, warszawskie, wrocławskie, łódzkie, kieleckie, lubelskie, katowickie, krakowskie, rzeszowskie. Na mapie z tysiąc dziewięćset pięćdziesiątego roku wypisane są następujące województwa szczecińskie, koszalińskie, gdańskie, olsztyńskie, białostockie, zielonogórskie, poznańskie, bydgoskie, warszawskie, wrocławskie, łódzkie, kieleckie, lubelskie, opolskie, katowickie, krakowskie, rzeszowskie. Na mapie z tysiąc dziewięćset siedemdziesiątego piątego roku, wypisane są następujące województwa szczecińskie, koszalińskie, słupskie, gdańskie, elbląskie, olsztyńskie, suwalskie, gorzowskie, piłskie, bydgoskie, toruńskie, ciechanowskie, ostrołęckie, łomżyńskie, białostockie, zielonogórskie, poznańskie, konińskie, włocławskie, płockie, skierniewickie, warszawskie, siedleckie, białopodlaskie, łódzkie, jeleniogórskie, legnickie, wrocławskie, kaliskie, sieradzkie, piotrkowskie, kieleckie, tarnobrzeskie, zamojskie, wałbrzyskie, opolskie, katowickie, krakowskie, tarnowskie, rzeszowskie, przemyskie, bielskie, nowosądeckie, krośnieńskie.

Modern administrative division of Poland

Currently, a three level administrative division (territorial division) is used.
On the 1st of January 1999, 16 provincesprovinceprovinces (first level) were established. Each province was divided to countiescountycounties (second level) which in turn were divided to communescommunecommunes/municipalities (third level).

The current administrative division has been presented on e‑books.

Province maps displaying division to counties and communes/municipalities

The names of provinces often originate from historical or geographical macroregionsgeographical macroregiongeographical macroregions. Despite being proper names, in Polish these are written with no capital letter, e.g. “województwo mazowieckie” meaning the Masovian Province. The names of counties and communes usually originate from their capitals (major cities/towns), however, the name of any county is an adjective (e.g. “powiat oleśnicki” meaning the Oleśnica County), and the name of a commune/municipality is a noun (e.g. “gmina Dobroszyce” meaning the Dobroszyce Commune). Therefore, in Polish names of counties contain no capital letter, yet names of communes do.
In the nomenclature of counties one may found some exceptions, such as “powiat tatrzański” (Tatra County) with its capital in Zakopane or “powiat bieszczadzki” (Bieszczady County) with its capital in Ustrzyki Górne. There are also names originating from a pair of towns, such as “powiat strzelecko‑drezdenecki” (the Strzelece‑Drezdenko County) or “powiat ropczycko‑sędziszowski” (the Ropczyce‑Sędziszów County). There are also names of county capitals which make it quite hard to form a suitable name in adjective form — this is why there is “powiat suski” (the Sucha Beskidzka County) or “powiat niżański” (the Nisko County).

Geographical location of my city/town and my region

As you might remember from the primary school, Poland is divided into following geographical macroregions: the mountains (e.g. Sudetes), highlands (e.g. the Lublin Highlands), lowlands (e.g. the Silesian Lowlands), lakelands (e.g. the Masurian Lakeland) etc. During geography lessons, we will often determine location of a certain object in relation to these macroregions as well as in relation to other geographical objects, such as rivers, lakes or cities/towns. Describing geographical location of the object, we will also use primary and secondary directions as well as geographical coordinates.

Hypsometric maps of provinces have been presented on e‑books.

Observe the material. It presents three level administrative division.

Summary

• In Poland, a three level administrative division is used.

• Division of Poland into smaller territorial units allows for better administrative management of the country and more efficient operation of public services.

Keywords

administrative division, province, voivodeships, communes, municipalities, counties

Glossary