Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, [3] in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbrzych and Jelenia Góra Voivodeships, following the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. It covers an area of 19,946 square kilometres (7,701 sq mi), and as of 2019 [update] has a total population of 2,899,986.[ citation needed]
It is one of the wealthiest provinces in Poland as natural resources such as copper, silver, gold, brown coal and rock materials (inter alia granite, basalt, gabbro, diabase, amphibolite, porphyry, gneiss, serpentinite, sandstone, greywacke, limestone, dolomite, bentonite, kaolinite, clay, aggregate) are widely present. Its well developed and varied industries attract both domestic and foreign investors, thus stimulating economic growth. [4]
Its capital and largest city is Wrocław, situated on the Oder River. The voivodeship is host to many castles and palaces. For this reason tourism is a large part of this region's economy.
In the past 1,200 years, the region has been part of Great Moravia, the Medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Crown of Bohemia, Habsburg monarchy (Austria), Prussia, the German Empire, and modern Poland after 1945.
Silesian tribes settled the lands at the end of the first millennium after the Migration Period. During the period of Germania Slavica, the region became part of Great Moravia under Svatopluk I of Moravia. Mieszko I brought the various existing Silesian duchies under the rule of the Piast dynasty and they became the Duchy of Silesia. It was again divided into small realms reigned by Silesian branches of Piast princes after the testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth in 1138. With the Ostsiedlung, the cultural and ethnic Germanic influence grew with an influx of immigrants from the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, of which Silesia was a direct part until the 1330s when it was subjugated to the Kingdom of Bohemia, then together with it became part of the Habsburg monarchy (1526), then the Kingdom of Prussia (1742/44), and subsequently the German Empire (1871). In 1945, Lower Silesia was made part of Poland as agreed at the post-war Potsdam Conference. As a consequence, Lower Silesia suffered a nearly total loss of its pre-war population between 1945 and 1950. Polish citizens dispossessed by the Soviets were then settled in the now emptied lands.
Lower Silesia was, during the early medieval era, one of Poland's cultural centers. The Book of Henryków (1273), which contains the earliest known sentence written in the Polish language, as well as a document which contains the oldest printed text in Polish, were both created within it. Złotoryja, Poland's first town, was granted municipal privileges according to German Magdeburg rights by Henry the Bearded. Over the centuries, Lower Silesia has experienced several epochal events such as the Protestant Reformation, the Silesian Wars, industrialisation and the two World Wars.
Although much of the region is relatively low-lying, Lower Silesia includes the Sudeten Foreland, as well as part of the Sudetes mountain range, that runs along the Polish/ Czech border. Ski resorts in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship include Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba in the Karkonosze mountains.
The voivodeship has a number of mineral springs and is host to a large number of spa towns.
Lower Silesian Voivodeship is bordered by Lubusz Voivodeship to the north-west, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the north-east, Opole Voivodeship to the south-east, the Czech Republic ( Hradec Králové Region, Liberec Region, Olomouc Region and Pardubice Region) to the south, and Germany ( Saxony) to the west.
The Copernicus Airport Wrocław serves as an international and domestic airport.
Wrocław Główny is the largest railway station in Poland, serving an average of 21.2 million passengers annually. It offers the domestic and international connections of various carriers.
The A4 motorway, A8 motorway, A18 motorway and S3 Expressway, S5 Expressway, S8 Expressway also run through the Voivodeship.
Wrocław Główny railway station is a major railway hub in the region
Koleje Dolnośląskie train at Wrocław Główny
The viaduct in Lewin Kłodzki, on the railway line No. 309
Tourism is important for Lower Silesian Voivodeship. There are 99
castles and hundreds of palaces. Several are located
Jelenia Góra valley alone[
citation needed] .
Wrocław being the largest city in the voivodeship has many sights and attractions, including the Market Square, and Wrocław's dwarfs. The Festival of Good Beer is held every year, on the second weekend of June.
The annual international Chopin Festival is held in the Fryderyk Chopin Theatre in the town of Duszniki-Zdrój. Other major attraction of the town is the Museum of Papermaking, established in a 17th-century paper mill.
Śnieżka is the highest peak of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and the whole of the
Sudetes[
citation needed].
Piast Castle in Legnica
Krobielowice Palace
Radomierzyce Palace
Jedlinka Palace in Jedlina-Zdrój
Wojanów Palace
Holy Cross Church, whose scholastic was Nicolaus Copernicus
Church of St. Clare and Hedwig church, Wrocław
Protected areas in Lower Silesian Voivodeship:
and many areas of Natura 2000 network.
The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 41.1 billion € in 2018, accounting for 8.3% of the Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €23,400 or 78% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 85% of the EU average. Lower Silesia Voivodship is the province with the second highest GDP per capita in Poland. [6]
GDP per capita in Lower Silesia Voivodeship: GDP in Poland:
Lower Silesian Voivodeship | GDP per capita | Poland | GDP per capita |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | $10 440 (+2.8%) | 2000 | $10 140 (+4.0%) |
2005 | $13 060 (+4.9%) | 2005 | $12 600 (+3.5%) |
2006 | $13 700 (+7.3%) | 2006 | $13 020 (+6.2%) |
2007 | $14 980 (+9.5%) | 2007 | $13 760 (+6.5%) |
2008 | $16 030 (+7.2%) | 2008 | $14 450 (+5.0%) |
2009 | $16 350 (+2.0%) | 2009 | $14 720 (+1.9%) |
The southwest part of the Voivodeship is considered part of the so-called Black Triangle, an area of heavily industrialization and environmental damage on the three-way border of Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. [7]
The voivodeship contains 8 cities and 83 towns. The cities (governed by a city mayor or prezydent miasta) are listed below in descending order of population (as of 2019): [1]
Lower Silesian Voivodeship is divided into 30 counties ( powiats), four of which are city counties. These are further divided into 169 gminas.
Lower Silesia is divided into three districts administracyji province government, the capital of Wrocław (administrative region): [8]
Świdnica, Kłodzko, Ząbkowice Śląskie, Dzierżoniów
Glogów, Jawor, Lubin, Polkowice, Złotoryja
Boleslawiec, Kamienna Góra, Luban, Lwówek Śląski, Zgorzelec.
The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).
Name | Period |
---|---|
Witold Krochmal | 4 January 1999 – 22 October 2001 |
Ryszard Nawrat | 22 October 2001 – 21 March 2003 |
Stanisław Łopatowski | 31 March 2003 – 21 December 2005 |
Krzysztof Grzelczyk | 21 December 2005 – 29 November 2007 |
Rafał Jurkowlaniec | 29 November 2007 – 1 December 2010 |
Aleksander Skorupa | 28 December 2010 – 11 March 2014 |
Tomasz Smolarz | 12 March 2014 – 8 December 2015 |
Paweł Hreniak | 8 December 2015 – 2019 |
Jarosław Obremski | Since 2019 |
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