Voivodship

Encyclopedia : V : VO : VOI : Voivodship

Poland voivodeships since 1999

A Voivodship, also spelled Voivodeship, Voivodina or Vojvodina (Romanian: voievodat, Polish: województwo, Serbian: vojvodina (војводина), vojvodstvo (војводство) or vojvodovina (војводовина), Hungarian: vajdaság, Lithuanian: vaivadija), is a geographical unit of administration dating to medieval Romania, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Serbia (see Vojvodina), ruled by a Voivod (voivode). The Voivod (literal translation: "the one who leads the warriors") was initially the military commander next to the ruler. It is sometimes translated as duchy, province, palatinate, or administrative district.

The term voivodship is used in the native languages for the 16 voivodeships of Poland, and for the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia, and has found its way into English in some of the larger dictionaries such as the OED, though it is not in common usage ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}.

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