Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Encyclopedia : L : LE : LES : Lesser Poland Voivodeship
| Małopolska Voivodship | |
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| Location | |
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| Administrative division | |
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| General information | |
| Capital city | Kraków |
| Area | 15 108 km² |
| Population - density | 3 253 000 215 people/km² |
| Powiats - Urban counties - Land counties | 3 19 |
| Communes | 182 |
Małopolska or Lesser Poland Voivodship (Polish: województwo małopolskie) is an administrative region or voivodship in southern Poland that contains core areas of the historic and geographic region of Lesser Poland (Polish: Małopolska). It has an area of 15,100 square kilometers, and a population of 3,253,000.
It was created on January 1, 1999 out of the former Kraków, Tarnów, Nowy Sącz and parts of Bielsko-Biała and Katowice voivodships, pursuant to the Local Government Reorganization Act of 1998. The voivodship's name recalls the region's traditional name, Małopolska.
It is bounded on the north by the Góry Świętokrzyskie (Świętokrzyskie Mountains), on the west by the Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska (a broad range of hills stretching from Kraków to Częstochowa), and on the south by the Tatra, Pieniny and Beskidy Mountains.
It is an ancient region and, together with Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) and Silesia (Śląsk), formed the early medieval Polish state.
Almost all of Lesser Poland lies in the Vistula river catchment area. The city of Kraków was one of the European Cities of Culture of the year 2000. Kraków has railway and road connections with Katowice (expressway), Warsaw, Wrocław and Rzeszów. It lies at the crossroads of major international routes linking Dresden with Kyiv, and Gdańsk with Budapest. The second largest international airport in Poland (after Warsaw), the John Paul II International Airport, is located here.
Economy
The region's economy includes high technology, banking, chemical and metallurgical industries, coal, ore, food processing, and spirit and tobacco industries. The most industrialised city of the voivodship is Kraków. The largest regional enterprise operates here, the Tadeusz Sendzimir Steelworks in Nowa Huta, employing 17,000 people. Another major industrial center is located in the west, in the neighbourhood of Chrzanów (chiefly the production of railway engines) and Oświęcim (chemical works). Kraków Park Technologiczny, a Special Economic Zone, has been established within the voivodship. There are almost 210,000 registered economic entities operating in the voivodship, mostly small and medium-sized, of which 234 belong to the state-owned sector. Foreign investment, growing in the region, reached approximately USD 1.5 billion by the end of 1997.Universities
102,000 students attend fifteen Kraków institutions of higher learning. The Jagiellonian University, the biggest university in the city (27,000 students), was founded in 1364 as Cracow Academy. Nicolaus Copernicus and Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II) graduated from it. The AGH University of Science and Technology (18,700 students) is considered to be the best technical university in Poland. The Academy of Economics, the Pedagogical University, the Kraków Technical University and the Agricultural Academy are also very highly regarded. There are also the Fine Arts Academy, the State Theatre University and the Musical Academy. Nowy Sacz has become a major educational center in the region thanks to its Higher School of Business and Administration, with an American curriculum, founded in 1992. The school has 2,200 students. There are also two private higher schools in Tarnów.Tourism
Four national parks and numerous reserves have been established in the voivodship to protect the environment of Lesser Poland. The region has areas for tourism and recreation, including Zakopane (Poland's most popular winter resort) and the Tatra, Pieniny and Beskidy Mountains. The natural landscape features many historic sites. The salt mine at Wieliczka, the pilgrimage town of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, and Kraków's Old Town are ranked by UNESCO among the most precious sites of world heritage. At Wadowice, birthplace of John Paul II (50 kilometers southwest of Kraków) is a museum dedicated to the late Pope's childhood. The area of Oświęcim, with the former Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz-I and Auschwitz-II-Birkenau, is visited annually by half a million people. Another tourist destination is the town of Bochnia with its salt mine, Europe's oldest.Administrative division
- Kraków City County
- Nowy Sącz City County
- Tarnów City County
- Bochnia County, powiat bocheński, Bochnia
- Brzesko County, powiat brzeski, Brzesko
- Chrzanów County, powiat chrzanowski, Chrzanow
- Dąbrowa Tarnowska County, powiat dąbrowski, Dabrowa Tarnowska
- Gorlice County, powiat gorlicki, Gorlice
- Kraków County, powiat krakowski, Kraków
- Limanowa County, powiat limanowski, Limanowa
- Miechów County, powiat miechowski, Miechow
- Myślenice County, powiat myślenicki, Myslenice
- Nowy Sącz County, powiat nowosądecki, Nowy Sacz
- Nowy Targ County, powiat nowotarski, Nowy Targ
- Olkusz County, powiat olkuski, Olkusz
- Oświęcim County, powiat oświęcimski, Oswiecim
- Proszowice County, powiat proszowicki, Proszowice
- Sucha Beskidzka County, powiat suski, Sucha Beskidzka
- Tarnów County, powiat tarnowski, Tarnów
- Tatra County, powiat tatrzański, Zakopane
- Wadowice County, powiat wadowicki, Wadowice
- Wieliczka County, powiat wielicki, Wieliczka
Major cities and towns
Capital city: Kraków
Major cities and towns: (population in 1995):
- Kraków (745,400);
- Tarnów (121,500);
- Nowy Sącz (82,100);
- Oświęcim (44,400);
- Chrzanów (43,100);
- Nowy Targ (34,000);
- Gorlice (30,200);
- Zakopane (30,000);
- Bochnia (29,600).
- Skawina (24,100);
- Andrychów (23,100);
Most popular
External links
- [Małopolskie Voivodship Official Site]
- [Dobranoc - Free English to Polish Translation Services]
- [Photo- and Topographic Maps of the whole region]
- [Agency for Regional Development of Lesser Poland - MARR]
- [Tourism Information of Małopolskie Voivodship]
- [Małopolska Province invites]
- [General statistics]
- [Photos of Krakow, Tatry, Zakopane]
- [Info about the Lesser Poland - Malopolska Province]
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| Voivodeships of Poland |
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|---|---|
| Greater Poland | Kuyavia-Pomerania | Lesser Poland | Lower Silesia | Lublin | Lubusz | Łódź | Masovia | Opole | Podlachia | Pomerania | Silesia | Subcarpathia | Świętokrzyskie | Warmia and Masuria | West Pomerania | |
| Principal cities: Warsaw | Łódź | Kraków | Wrocław | Poznań | Gdańsk | Szczecin | Bydgoszcz | Lublin | Katowice | Białystok | Częstochowa | Gdynia | Gorzów Wielkopolski | Toruń | Radom | Kielce | Rzeszów | Olsztyn | |
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