Greater Poland Voivodeship
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| Greater Poland Voivodeship Województwo wielkopolskie |
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| — Voivodeship — | |||
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| Location within Poland | |||
| Division into counties | |||
| Coordinates (Poznań): 52°17′34″N 16°44′8″E / 52.29278°N 16.73556°E | |||
| Country | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital | Poznań | ||
| Counties |
4 cities, 31 land counties *
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| Area | |||
| - Total | 29,826 km2 (11,515.9 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| - Total | 3,374,653 | ||
| - Density | 113.1/km2 (293/sq mi) | ||
| - Urban | 1,923,582 | ||
| - Rural | 1,451,071 | ||
| Car plates | P | ||
| * further divided into 226 gminas. | |||
| Website | http://www.en.poznan.uw.gov.pl/ | ||
Greater Poland Voivodeship (also known as Wielkopolska Province, or by its Polish name of województwo wielkopolskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ vjɛlkɔˈpɔlskʲɛ] or simply Wielkopolskie) is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Poznań, Kalisz, Konin, Piła and Leszno Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province is named after the region called Greater Poland or Wielkopolska [vjɛlkɔˈpɔlska] (
listen). The modern province includes most of this historic region, except for some south-western parts.
Greater Poland Voivodeship is second in area and third in population among Poland's sixteen voivodeships, with an area of 29,826 square kilometres (11,516 sq mi) and a population of close to 3.4 million. Its capital city is Poznań; other important cities include Kalisz, Konin, Piła, Ostrów Wielkopolski and Gniezno (an early capital of Poland). It is bordered by seven other voivodeships: West Pomeranian to the north-west, Pomeranian to the north, Kuyavian-Pomeranian to the north-east, Łódź to the south-east, Opole to the south, Lower Silesian to the south-west and Lubusz to the west.
Greater Poland Voivodeship and the city of Poznań have international twinning arrangements with the English county of Nottinghamshire. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Cities and towns
The voivodeship contains 109 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006 [2]):
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1. Poznań (566,546) |
38. Murowana Goślina (10,140) |
75. Nekla (3,203) |
[edit] Administrative division
Greater Poland Voivodeship is divided into 35 counties (powiats): 4 city counties and 31 land counties. These are further divided into 226 gminas.
The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).
| English and Polish names |
Area | Population (2006) |
Seat | Other towns | Total gminas |
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| (km²) | (sq mi) | |||||
| City counties | ||||||
| Poznań | 262 | 101 | 566,546 | 1 | ||
| Kalisz | 70 | 27 | 108,575 | 1 | ||
| Konin | 82 | 32 | 80,618 | 1 | ||
| Leszno | 32 | 12 | 64,079 | 1 | ||
| Land counties | ||||||
| Poznań County powiat poznański |
1,900 | 734 | 291,562 | Poznań * | Swarzędz, Luboń, Mosina, Murowana Goślina, Puszczykowo, Kostrzyn, Pobiedziska, Kórnik, Buk, Stęszew | 17 |
| Ostrów Wielkopolski County powiat ostrowski |
1,161 | 448 | 158,407 | Ostrów Wielkopolski | Nowe Skalmierzyce, Odolanów, Raszków | 8 |
| Gniezno County powiat gnieźnieński |
1,254 | 484 | 140,333 | Gniezno | Witkowo, Trzemeszno, Kłecko, Czerniejewo | 10 |
| Piła County powiat pilski |
1,267 | 489 | 137,099 | Piła | Wyrzysk, Ujście, Łobżenica, Wysoka | 9 |
| Konin County powiat koniński |
1,579 | 610 | 123,646 | Konin * | Golina, Kleczew, Sompolno, Ślesin, Rychwał | 14 |
| Koło County powiat kolski |
1,011 | 390 | 88,601 | Koło | Kłodawa, Dąbie, Przedecz | 11 |
| Czarnków-Trzcianka County powiat czarnkowsko-trzcianecki |
1,808 | 698 | 86,134 | Czarnków | Trzcianka, Krzyż Wielkopolski, Wieleń | 8 |
| Szamotuły County powiat szamotulski |
1,120 | 432 | 85,849 | Szamotuły | Wronki, Pniewy, Obrzycko, Ostroróg | 8 |
| Turek County powiat turecki |
929 | 359 | 83,635 | Turek | Tuliszków, Dobra | 9 |
| Kalisz County powiat kaliski |
1,160 | 448 | 80,369 | Kalisz * | Stawiszyn | 11 |
| Kościan County powiat kościański |
723 | 279 | 77,760 | Kościan | Śmigiel, Czempiń, Krzywiń | 5 |
| Krotoszyn County powiat krotoszyński |
714 | 276 | 77,092 | Krotoszyn | Koźmin Wielkopolski, Zduny, Kobylin, Sulmierzyce | 6 |
| Gostyń County powiat gostyński |
810 | 313 | 75,683 | Gostyń | Krobia, Poniec, Borek Wielkopolski, Pogorzela | 7 |
| Września County powiat wrzesiński |
704 | 272 | 73,778 | Września | Miłosław, Nekla, Pyzdry | 5 |
| Nowy Tomyśl County powiat nowotomyski |
1,012 | 391 | 71,817 | Nowy Tomyśl | Opalenica, Zbąszyń, Lwówek | 6 |
| Jarocin County powiat jarociński |
588 | 227 | 70,390 | Jarocin | Żerków | 4 |
| Złotów County powiat złotowski |
1,661 | 641 | 68,526 | Złotów | Jastrowie, Okonek, Krajenka | 8 |
| Wągrowiec County powiat wągrowiecki |
1,041 | 402 | 67,606 | Wągrowiec | Skoki, Gołańcz | 7 |
| Pleszew County powiat pleszewski |
712 | 275 | 61,951 | Pleszew | 6 | |
| Rawicz County powiat rawicki |
553 | 214 | 59,375 | Rawicz | Miejska Górka, Bojanowo, Jutrosin | 5 |
| Słupca County powiat słupecki |
838 | 324 | 58,725 | Słupca | Zagórów | 8 |
| Śrem County powiat śremski |
574 | 222 | 58,646 | Śrem | Książ Wielkopolski, Dolsk | 4 |
| Oborniki County powiat obornicki |
713 | 275 | 55,976 | Oborniki | Rogoźno | 3 |
| Kępno County powiat kępiński |
608 | 235 | 55,335 | Kępno | 7 | |
| Wolsztyn County powiat wolsztyński |
680 | 263 | 54,718 | Wolsztyn | 3 | |
| Środa Wielkopolska County powiat średzki |
623 | 241 | 54,568 | Środa Wielkopolska | 5 | |
| Ostrzeszów County powiat ostrzeszowski |
772 | 298 | 54,490 | Ostrzeszów | Grabów nad Prosną, Mikstat | 7 |
| Leszno County powiat leszczyński |
805 | 311 | 50,024 | Leszno * | Rydzyna, Osieczna | 7 |
| Grodzisk Wielkopolski County powiat grodziski |
644 | 249 | 49,444 | Grodzisk Wielkopolski | Rakoniewice, Wielichowo | 5 |
| Chodzież County powiat chodzieski |
681 | 263 | 46,967 | Chodzież | Szamocin, Margonin | 5 |
| Międzychód County powiat międzychodzki |
737 | 285 | 36,329 | Międzychód | Sieraków | 4 |
| * seat not part of the county | ||||||
[edit] Protected areas
Protected areas in Greater Poland Voivodeship include two National Parks and 12 Landscape Parks. These are listed below.
- Drawno National Park (partly in Lubusz and West Pomeranian Voivodeships)
- Wielkopolska National Park
- Barycz Valley Landscape Park (partly in Lower Silesian Voivodeship)
- Chłapowski Landscape Park
- Lednica Landscape Park
- Powidz Landscape Park
- Promno Landscape Park
- Przemęt Landscape Park (partly in Lubusz Voivodeship)
- Pszczew Landscape Park (partly in Lubusz Voivodeship)
- Puszcza Zielonka Landscape Park
- Rogalin Landscape Park
- Sieraków Landscape Park
- Warta Landscape Park
- Żerków-Czeszewo Landscape Park
[edit] Most popular surnames in the region
- Nowak: 35,011
- Kaczmarek: 24,185
- Wojciechowski: 12,928
[edit] See also
- Prussia’s Province of Posen (1818–1919)
- Second Polish Republic’s Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)
[edit] Further reading
- Zygmunt Boras, Książęta Piastowscy Wielkopolski (Piast Princes of Wielkopolska), Poznań, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, 1983.
[edit] External links
- Voivodeship Office in Poznan
- Greater Poland Local Government Office
- ChefMoz Dining Guide Greater Poland
- Open Directory Project Greater Poland
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Coordinates: 52°20′02″N 17°14′50″E / 52.33389°N 17.24722°E

