Administrative divisions of Poland

Poland is currently divided into 16 provinces known as voivodeships (Polish: województwa, singular województwo). Legally they are called "I tier units" (jednostki I stopnia). Administrative authority at voivodeship level is shared between a central government-appointed governor, called the voivode (usually a political appointee), an elected assembly called the sejmik, and an executive board (zarząd województwa) chosen by that assembly. The leader of that executive is called the marszałek.

Pomerania West Pomerania Warmia-Masuria Podlaskie Masovia Kuyavian- Pomerania Greater Poland Lubusz Lower Silesian Łódź Opole Lublin Lesser Poland Subcarpathia Świętokrzyska Silesia Kaliningrad (Russia) Lithuania Belarus Ukraine Slovakia Czech Republic Germany Baltic Sea

# Administrative symbols Voivodeship Polish name Capital city (cities) 1 Greater Poland wielkopolskie Poznań 2 Kuyavia-Pomerania kujawsko-pomorskie Bydgoszcz and Toruń 3 Lesser Poland małopolskie Kraków 4 Łódź łódzkie Łódź 5 Lower Silesia dolnośląskie Wrocław 6 Lublin lubelskie Lublin 7 Lubusz lubuskie Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra 8 Masovia mazowieckie Warsaw 9 Opole opolskie Opole 10 Podlaskie podlaskie Białystok 11 Pomerania pomorskie Gdańsk 12 Silesia śląskie Katowice 13 Subcarpathia podkarpackie Rzeszów 14 Świętokrzyskie świętokrzyskie Kielce 15 Warmia-Masuria warmińsko-mazurskie Olsztyn 16 West Pomerania zachodniopomorskie Szczecin

Each voivodeship is divided into a number of smaller entities known as powiats (counties), which are legally "II tier units" (jednostki II stopnia). The number of powiats per voivodeship ranges from 12 (Opole Voivodeship) to 42 (Masovian Voivodeship). They include two types of administrative divisions:

• 314 powiats proper (known as land counties, Polish powiaty ziemskie). Land counties have an elected council (rada powiatu), which elects an executive board (zarząd powiatu) headed by the starosta.
• 66 cities with powiat status (city counties, Polish powiaty grodzkie or more formally miasta na prawach powiatu). In city counties the functions of these institutions are performed by the city's own council (rada miejska, rada miasta) and directly elected mayor (prezydent). The administration of such a city functions both as a powiat and a municipality.

Tier units of the administrative division in Poland.

The "III tier units" (jednostki III stopnia) are 2477 gminas (also called commune or municipality). A powiat is typically divided into a number of gminas (between 3 and 19), although the city counties constitute single gminas. A gmina has an elected council as well as a directly elected mayor (known as prezydent in large towns, burmistrz in most urban and urban-rural gminas, and wójt in rural gminas). A gmina may be classed as:

• 302 urban municipalities (gmina miejska, consisting of a town (miasto)),
• 642 urban-rural municipalities (gmina miejsko-wiejska, consisting of a town (miasto) together with its surrounding villages (wieś) and the surrounding countryside),
• 1533 village or rural municipalities (gmina wiejska, not containing a town). 158 of them are called related or connected municipalities (gmina obwarzankowa). In this case the rural municipality does not contain a town, but its administration itself is located in a city or a town outside of its territory. 14 of these gminas have their administration located in a city with powiat status, the rest are in urban municipalities. The administrative category of gmina obwarzankowa was introduced in 2013 to deal with the budgetary disparity in the cases, in which the majority of the inhabitants of a rural municipality work in and use the social services of a city or a town nearby, but due to their registered address their taxes are allocated to their rural municipality of residence. In essence the gmina obwarzankowa is a rural territory closely connected to an urban territory and as such the two municipal administrations work in close administrative and budgetary coordination.[2]

Gminas are generally sub-divided into smaller units, called osiedle or dzielnica in towns, and sołectwo in rural areas. However, these units are of lesser importance and are subordinate in status to the gmina.

Polish territory has been subject to significant changes over the course of Polish history. Therefore, the modern Polish administrative division, while on some levels similar to some historical ones, is quite different from others. Historical Polish administrative divisions can be divided into the following periods:

• before 1569: Subdivisions of the Kingdom of Poland
• 1569–1795: Subdivisions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
• 1795–1807: Subdivisions of the Polish–Lithuanian territories following the partitions

• 1795–1919: Subdivisions of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
• 1807–1815: Subdivisions of the Duchy of Warsaw
• 1815–1914: Subdivisions of Congress Poland
• 1815–1848: Grand Duchy of Posen
• 1848–1919: Province of Posen

• 1914–1919: Subdivisions of Polish territories during World War I

• 1922–1938: Posen-West Prussia

• 1918–1939: Subdivisions of the Second Polish Republic
• 1939–1945: Subdivisions of Polish territories during World War II
• 1945–1999: Subdivisions of the Polish People's Republic
• since 1999: see main article above

• Administrative division of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland
• Electoral districts of Poland
• Military districts of Poland
• Territorial evolution of Poland
• NUTS of Poland

Cultural and economic:

• Poland A and B

• Administrative division of Poland and Self Government Bodies - resolution of Marshals' Covenant of the Republic of Poland