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Dzielnica

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Administrative divisions of Poland

Voivodeships Powiats (list) Gminas (list)
v t e

In the Polish system of local administration, a dzielnica [d͡ʑelˈɲit͡sa] (Polish plural dzielnice) is an administrative subdivision or quarter of a city or town. A dzielnica may have its own elected council (rada dzielnicy, or dzielnica council), and those of Warsaw each have their own mayor (burmistrz). Like the osiedle and sołectwo, a dzielnica is an auxiliary unit (jednostka pomocnicza) of a gmina. These units are created by decision of the gmina council, and do not have legal personality in their own right.

The subsidiary units of many towns and cities are called osiedles rather than dzielnicas, although it is also possible for osiedles to exist within a dzielnica. Numbers and sizes of dzielnicas vary significantly between cities. Warsaw has 18 dzielnicas, as does Kraków; Gdańsk has 34, Gdynia 22, Lublin 27, Katowice 22 and Szczecin 4. Some cities are no longer formally divided into dzielnicas, although formerly existing dzielnicas continue to be referred to as such and serve as areas of jurisdiction for administrative offices. Łódź, Wrocław and Poznań are each divided into five districts of this type.

The word dzielnica is also used informally in Polish to refer to any distinct part of a town or city. Historically it can also refer to a region of the country, in particular any of the five principalities into which Poland was divided following the death of Bolesław III Wrymouth in 1138; see Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty.

References[edit]

Polish Act of 8 March 1990 on gmina self-government, as amended (in Polish)

v t e Polish terms for country subdivisions
Current	National: voivodeship powiat gmina Urban: dzielnica osiedle Rural: sołectwo
Historical	departament gromada gubernia jurydyka księstwo obwód okręg opole prowincja rejencja starostwo ziemia
See also	Crown of the Kingdom of Poland

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Administrative divisions of Poland – The administrative division of Poland since 1999 has been based on three levels of subdivision. The territory of Poland is divided into voivodeships, these are divided into powiats. Major cities normally have the status of both gmina and powiat, Poland currently has 16 voivodeships,379 powiats, and 2,479 gminas. The current system was introduced pursuant to a series of acts passed by the Polish parliament in 1998, previously there had been 49 smaller voivodeships, and no powiats. The reform created 16 larger voivodeships and reintroduced powiats, the boundaries of the voivodeships do not always reflect the historical borders of Polish regions. Around half of the Silesian Voivodeship belongs to the province of Lesser Poland. Similarly the area around Radom, which historically is part of Lesser Poland, is located in the Masovian Voivodeship, also, the Pomeranian Voivodeship includes only the eastern extreme of historical Pomerania, as well as areas outside it. Poland is currently divided

Voivodeships of Poland – A województwo is the highest-level administrative subdivision of Poland, corresponding to a province in many other countries. The term województwo has been in use since the 14th century, the word województwo is also rendered as voivodeship or a variant spelling. The Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998, which went into effect on 1 January 1999 and these replaced the 49 former voivodeships that had existed from 1 July 1975. Todays voivodeships are mostly named after historical and geographical regions, while prior to 1998 generally took their names from the cities on which they were centered. The new units range in area from under 10,000 km2 to over 35,000 km2, voivodeships are further divided into powiats and gminas, see Administrative divisions of Poland. Competences and powers at voivodeship level are shared between the voivode, the sejmik and the marshal. In most cases these institutions are all based in one city, but in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Lubusz Voivodeship the voiv

1. Voivodeships 1816-1820

2. Voivodeships of Poland Województwa Polski (Polish)

3. Voivodeships of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1635

Powiat – A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as county, a powiat is part of a larger unit, the voivodeship or province. A powiat is usually subdivided into gminas, major towns and cities, however, function as separate counties in their own right, without subdivision into gminas. They are termed city counties and have roughly the same status as county boroughs in the UK. The other type of powiats are termed land counties, as of 2008, there were 379 powiat-level entities,314 land counties, and 65 city counties. For a complete listing, see List of Polish counties. For tables of counties by voivodeship, see the articles on the individual voivodeships, the history of Polish powiats goes back to the second half of the 14th century. They remained the basic unit of organization in Poland, then in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Afte

1. Division of Poland into powiats (counties)

List of counties in Poland – The following is an alphabetical list of all 380 county-level entities in Poland. A county or powiat is the level of Polish administrative division. The list includes the 314 land counties and the 66 city counties, for general information about these entities, see the article on powiats. The following information is given in the list, English name Polish name, note that sometimes two different counties have the same name in Polish. Note that sometimes the seat is not part of the county, being itself a city county. Voivodeship of which the county is a part, number of gminy into which the county is divided. For tables of counties by voivodeship, see the articles on the particular voivodeships

1. Division of Poland into powiats (counties)

Gmina – The gmina is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a commune or municipality. As of 2010 there were 2,478 gminy throughout the country, the word gmina derives from the German word Gemeinde, meaning community. The gmina has been the unit of territorial division in Poland since 1974. Some rural gminy have their seat in a town which is outside the gminas division, for example, the rural Gmina Augustów is administered from the town of Augustów, but does not include the town, as Augustów is an urban type gmina in its own right. The legislative and controlling body of each gmina is the municipal council, or in a town. A gmina may create auxiliary units, which play an administrative role. In rural areas these are called sołectwa, in towns they may be dzielnice or osiedla and in an urban-rural gmina, for a complete listing of all the gminy in Poland, see List of Polish gminas. Each gmina carries out two types of tasks, its own tasks and commissioned ones, own

1. Division of Poland into gminy

Poland – Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political associ

1. Reconstruction of a Bronze Age, Lusatian culture settlement in Biskupin, c. 700 BC

2. Flag

3. Earliest known contemporary depiction of a Polish ruler; King Mieszko II Lambert of Poland being presented with a Liturgical book by Matilda of Swabia, 1025–1031

4. Drawing of the Battle of Grunwald, which was fought against the German Order of Teutonic Knights, 15 July 1410

Warsaw – Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres, while the area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world and it was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central Europe. Today Warsaw is considered an Alpha– global city, an international tourist destination. Warsaws economy, by a variety of industries, is characterised by FMCG manufacturing, metal processing, steel and electronic manufacturing. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, the Warsaw Stock Exchange is one of the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European U

Legal personality – To have legal personality means to be capable of holding legal rights and obligations within a certain legal system, such as entering into contracts, suing, and being sued. Legal personality is a prerequisite to legal capacity, the ability of any person to amend rights. In international law, consequently, legal personality is a prerequisite for an organization to be able to sign international treaties in its own name. A holder of legal personality is called as a person, Persons are of two kinds, natural persons and juridical persons – entities such as corporations, which are treated in law as if they are persons. While human beings acquire legal personhood when they are born, juridical persons do so when they are incorporated in accordance with law, artificial personality, juridical personality, or juristic personality is the characteristic of a non-living entity regarded by law to have the status of personhood. A juridical or artificial person has a name and has certain rights, protec

1. Business administration

Gdynia – Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. For centuries, Gdynia remained an agricultural and fishing village on the Baltic coast. At the beginning of the 20th-century Gdynia became as a resort town. This also triggered an increase in local population and it was then that the town was given a more cosmopolitan character with modernism being the dominant architectural style and emerged as a city in 1926. The rapid development of Gdynia was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, although the German troops refrained from deliberate bombing, the newly built port and shipyard were completely destroyed. The population of the city suffered much heavier losses as most of the inhabitants were evicted and expelled, the locals were either displaced to other regions of occupied Poland or sent to Nazi concentration camps throughout Europe. After the war, Gdynia was settled with the inhabitants of Warsaw

1. Gdynia

2. View from Kosciuszko Square; Dar Pomorza on the left, Sea Towers on the right

3. Gdynia Maritime University in the building from 1937 as example of prewar Polish modern architecture.

4. Orłowski's House from 1936

Lublin – Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland and the second largest city of Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 349,103, Lublin is the largest Polish city east of the Vistula River, and is located approximately 170 kilometres to the southeast of Warsaw by road. One of the events that contributed to the citys development was the Polish-Lithuanian Union of Krewo in 1385. In 1474, Lublin, which was part of the Sandomierz region. Lublin also witnessed the early stages of Reformation in the 16th century, a Calvinist congregation was founded and certain groups of radical Arians also appeared in the city, making it an important national centre of Arianism. Until the partitions at the end of the 18th century, Lublin was a city of the Crown Kingdom of Poland. Its delegates and nobles had the right to participate in the Royal Election, although Lublin was not spared from severe destruction during World War II, its picturesque and historical Ol

1. Top: panorama of Old Town Lublin, including Crown Tribural Second left: façade buildings in Staego Street. Second right: Lublin Castle. Third left: view of Tynitarska Tower, Cracow Gate and many of historical built from Miasto Square. Third right: Tentement house in Klonawica Street, Bottom: view of Plac po Farze area

2. Cracow Gate in the Old Town is among the most recognisable landmarks of the city.

3. Another characteristic building in Lublin is the Royal Castle.

4. Maria Curie-Sklodowska University

Katowice – Katowice /ˌkætəˈviːtsə/ is a city in southwestern Poland and the center of the Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 299,910 as of 2015. Throughout the mid-18th century, Katowice had developed into a village upon the discovery of coal reserves in the area. In 1742 the infamous Silesian War transferred Upper Silesia, including Katowice, simultaneously Silesia experienced the influx of the first Jewish settlers. In the first half of the 19th century, intensive industrialization transformed local mills and farms into industrial steelworks, mines, foundries and this also contributed to the establishment of companies and eventual rapid growth of the city. At the same time, Katowice became linked to the system with the first train arriving at the main station in 1847. The outbreak of World War I was favourable for Katowice due to the steel industry. Following Germanys defeat and the Silesian Uprisings aimed at unfair pro-German plebiscites, Katowice, Poland was then backed by the Geneva

2. Left to right: Skyscrapers in city center • Panorama of Miasto Katowice • Silesian Museum • Archcathedral • Silesian Theatre • Spodek

Szczecin – Szczecin is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea, it is a major seaport, as of June 2011, the population was 407,811. Szczecin is located on the Oder, south of the Szczecin Lagoon, the city is situated along the southwestern shore of Dąbie Lake, on both sides of the Oder and on several large islands between the western and eastern branches of the river. The citys recorded history began in the 8th century as a Slavic Pomeranian stronghold, in the 12th century, when Szczecin had become one of Pomeranias main urban centres, it lost its independence to Piast Poland, the Duchy of Saxony, the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark. At the same time, the House of Griffins established themselves as rulers, the population was Christianized. The native Slavic population was subjected to discrimination and Germanization in the following centuries, between 1237 and 1243, the town was rebuilt, granted extensive autonomy rights and eventually joined the H

1. Top: Market; Old Town Hall, The Oder River Middle: National Sea Museum, PAZIM building Bottom: Ducal Castle, St James' Cathedral, Virgin Tower

2. The city's fortifications, as seen in 1642

3. Stettin in the late 19th century.

4. Sedina Monument (1899–1913). Sedina was a personification of Stettin. The statue was scrapped for copper in 1942, and after the war it was replaced with an anchor. In 2012 the authorities approved plans for a reconstruction of the statue.

Country subdivision – Administrative divisions are granted a certain degree of autonomy and are usually required to manage themselves through their own local governments. Countries are divided up into smaller units to make managing their land. For example, a country may be divided into provinces, which, in turn, are divided into counties, which, in turn, may be divided in whole or in part into municipalities, and so on. Administrative divisions are separate from dependent territories, with the former being an integral part of the state. However, the administrative division can include dependent territories as well as accepted administrative divisions. For clarity and convenience the standard reference for the largest administrative subdivision of a country is called the first-level administrative division or first administrative level. Next smaller is called second-level administrative division or second administrative level, there is no fixed rule, for all politics is local as is perhaps well demonstrated

1. World political divisions

Voivodeship (Poland) – A województwo is the highest-level administrative subdivision of Poland, corresponding to a province in many other countries. The term województwo has been in use since the 14th century, the word województwo is also rendered as voivodeship or a variant spelling. The Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998, which went into effect on 1 January 1999 and these replaced the 49 former voivodeships that had existed from 1 July 1975. Todays voivodeships are mostly named after historical and geographical regions, while prior to 1998 generally took their names from the cities on which they were centered. The new units range in area from under 10,000 km2 to over 35,000 km2, voivodeships are further divided into powiats and gminas, see Administrative divisions of Poland. Competences and powers at voivodeship level are shared between the voivode, the sejmik and the marshal. In most cases these institutions are all based in one city, but in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Lubusz Voivodeship the voiv

1. Voivodeships 1816-1820

2. Voivodeships of Poland Województwa Polski (Polish)

3. Voivodeships of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1635

Administrative division of Duchy of Warsaw – Administrative division of the Duchy of Warsaw was based on departments, which were headed by prefects. Each department was named after its capital city, the departments were divided into powiats, and the powiats were divided into urban and rural gminas. Each department was governed by a prefect, while counties were administered by a prefect deputy, main cities of the Duchy were administered by mayors, who were nominated by King Frederick Augustus I. The initial six departaments were created by a Napoleon’s decree of January 14,1807, in 1816, the departments of Congress Poland were turned into voivodeships. Mieczysław Bandurka, Zmiany administracyjne i terytorialne ziem województwa łódzkiego w XIX i XX wieku, NDAP, UW w Łodzi, AP w Łodzi, jacek Arkadiusz Goclon, Polska na królu pruskim zdobyta, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, Wrocław 2002

1. Administrative division of Duchy of Warsaw, 1810-1815

Guberniya – A governorate, or a guberniya, was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire and the early Russian SFSR. The term is translated as government, governorate, or province. A governorate was ruled by a governor, a word borrowed from Latin gubernator, sometimes the term guberniya was informally used to refer to the office of a governor. Selected governorates were united under a governor general such as Grand Duchy of Finland, Tsardom of Poland, Russian Turkestan. There also were military governors such as Kronshtadt, Vladivostok, aside of governorates, other types of divisions were oblasts and okrugs. This subdivision type was created by the edict of Peter the Great on December 18,1708 On the establishment of the gubernias and cities assigned to them, in 1719, guberniyas were further subdivided into provinces. Later the number of guberniyas was increased to 23, the term guberniya, however, still remained in use. These viceroyalties were governed by namestniki or

1. Division of Russia into eight guberniyas in 1708

Prowincja – You may also be looking for Administrative divisions of Poland. A prowincja was the largest territorial subdivision in medieval and Renaissance-era Poland, the term designated each of the two largest constituents of the state, depending on the period, including Wielkopolska, Małopolska and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Ducal Prussia was often counted as part of the Greater Poland, Inflanty as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, though larger than a voivodship, the prowincja was less important in terms of offices and power. In most respects, it was merely a unit of administration. The real power lay with the voivodship—and, to a lesser extent, occasionally the term voviodeship will be misleadingly translated into English as a province, leading to potential confusion. Since 1795, the Polish word prowincja has been used only for certain foreign-imposed units of administration within territories of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian C

1. Provinces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Regierungsbezirk – Regierungsbezirk is an administrative region at federal state level in Germany. The regional authority is called a Regierungspräsidium or Bezirksregierung and is headed by a Regierungspräsident, the Regierungsbezirke do not pass any legislation. Within the federal authority, they act as a mid-level agency. Regierungsbezirk is variously translated as district, administrative district or province. By German unification in 1871, the concept of Regierungsbezirke had been adopted by most States of the German Empire, the Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia are in direct continuation of those created in the Prussian Rhine and Westphalia provinces in 1816. Similar entities in other states were initially named Kreishauptmannschaft or Kreis or province in Hesse, in Nazi Germany the naming was unified to Regierungsbezirk. Currently, only four large-area states out of 16 in total are divided into Regierungsbezirke, on 1 January 2004, Saxony-Anhalt disbanded its three Regierungsbezirke, Des

1. Regierungsbezirke as from 1 August 2008. The map also shows the former RBs of Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony

Starostwo

1. Starosta, by Kanuty Rusiecki, 1823

Crown of the Kingdom of Poland – The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, or simply the Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, including Poland proper. The kingdom has been dated back to c. 966, when Mieszko I and his pagan Slavic realm joined Christian Europe and his oldest son and successor, Prince Bolesław I Chrobry, Duke of Poland, became the first crowned King of Poland in 1025. The creation of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland was a milestone in the evolution of Polish statehood and it represented the concept of the Polish kingdom as distinctly separate from the person of the monarch. A related concept that evolved soon afterward was that of Rzeczpospolita, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland was also related to other symbols of Poland, such as the capital, the Polish coat of arms and the flag of Poland. The concept of the Crown also had a geographical aspects, particularly related to the indivisibility of the Polish - Crown -territory. It can be see

1. Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, 1635

LIST OF IMAGES

1. Administrative divisions of Poland – The administrative division of Poland since 1999 has been based on three levels of subdivision. The territory of Poland is divided into voivodeships, these are divided into powiats. Major cities normally have the status of both gmina and powiat, Poland currently has 16 voivodeships,379 powiats, and 2,479 gminas. The current system was introduced pursuant to a series of acts passed by the Polish parliament in 1998, previously there had been 49 smaller voivodeships, and no powiats. The reform created 16 larger voivodeships and reintroduced powiats, the boundaries of the voivodeships do not always reflect the historical borders of Polish regions. Around half of the Silesian Voivodeship belongs to the province of Lesser Poland. Similarly the area around Radom, which historically is part of Lesser Poland, is located in the Masovian Voivodeship, also, the Pomeranian Voivodeship includes only the eastern extreme of historical Pomerania, as well as areas outside it. Poland is currently divided into 16 provinces known as voivodeships, the leader of that executive is called the marszałek. Each voivodeship is divided into a number of entities known as powiats. The number of powiats per voivodeship ranges from 12 to 42 and this includes both powiats proper, and cities with powiat status. Land counties have a council, which elects an executive headed by the starosta. In city counties the functions of institutions are performed by the citys own council. The third level of division is the gmina. A powiat is typically divided into a number of gminas, although the city counties constitute single gminas, a gmina may be classed as urban, urban-rural, or rural. A gmina has a council as well as a directly elected mayor. Gminas are generally sub-divided into smaller units, called osiedle or dzielnica in towns, 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

Administrative divisions of Poland

2. Voivodeships of Poland – A województwo is the highest-level administrative subdivision of Poland, corresponding to a province in many other countries. The term województwo has been in use since the 14th century, the word województwo is also rendered as voivodeship or a variant spelling. The Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998, which went into effect on 1 January 1999 and these replaced the 49 former voivodeships that had existed from 1 July 1975. Todays voivodeships are mostly named after historical and geographical regions, while prior to 1998 generally took their names from the cities on which they were centered. The new units range in area from under 10,000 km2 to over 35,000 km2, voivodeships are further divided into powiats and gminas, see Administrative divisions of Poland. Competences and powers at voivodeship level are shared between the voivode, the sejmik and the marshal. In most cases these institutions are all based in one city, but in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Lubusz Voivodeship the voivodes offices are in a different city from those of the executive, Voivodeship capitals are listed in the table below. The voivode is appointed by the Prime Minister and is the representative of the central government. The voivodes offices collectively are known as the urząd wojewódzki, the sejmik is elected every four years, at the same time as the local authorities at powiat and gmina level. It passes bylaws, including the development strategies and budget. It also elects the marszałek and other members of the executive, the marshals offices are collectively known as the urząd marszałkowski. According to 2014 Eurostat data, the GDP per capita of Polish voivodeships varies notably, Administrative division of Poland between 1979 and 1998 included 49 voivodeships upheld after the establishment of the Third Polish Republic in 1989 for another decade. This reorganization of administrative division of Poland was mainly a result of government reform acts of 1973–1975. In place of the administrative division, a new two-level administrative division was introduced. The three smallest voivodeships – Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź – had the status of municipal voivodeship. After World War II, the new division of the country within the new national borders was based on the prewar one and included 14 voivodeships. The voivodeships in the east that had not been annexed by the Soviet Union had their borders left almost unchanged. The newly acquired territories in the west and north were organized into the new voivodeships of Szczecin, Wrocław and Olsztyn, two cities were granted voivodeship status, Warsaw and Łódź

Voivodeships of Poland – Voivodeships 1816-1820
Voivodeships of Poland – Voivodeships of Poland Województwa Polski (Polish)
Voivodeships of Poland – Voivodeships of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1635

3. Powiat – A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as county, a powiat is part of a larger unit, the voivodeship or province. A powiat is usually subdivided into gminas, major towns and cities, however, function as separate counties in their own right, without subdivision into gminas. They are termed city counties and have roughly the same status as county boroughs in the UK. The other type of powiats are termed land counties, as of 2008, there were 379 powiat-level entities,314 land counties, and 65 city counties. For a complete listing, see List of Polish counties. For tables of counties by voivodeship, see the articles on the individual voivodeships, the history of Polish powiats goes back to the second half of the 14th century. They remained the basic unit of organization in Poland, then in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After Poland regained independence in 1918, the powiats were again the territorial units. Powiats were abolished in 1975 in favor of a number of voivodeships. This reform also created 16 larger voivodeships, legislative power within a powiat is vested in an elected council, while local executive power is vested in the starosta, who is elected by that council. The administrative offices headed by the starosta are called the starostwo, however, in city counties these institutions do not exist separately – their powers and functions are exercised by the city council, the directly elected mayor, and the city offices. In some cases a powiat has its seat outside its own territory, for example, Poznań County has its offices in Poznań, although Poznań is itself a city county, and is therefore not part of Poznań County. Powiats have relatively limited powers, since many local and regional matters are dealt with either at gmina or voivodeship level, the Polish the name of an county, in the administrative sense, consists of the word powiat followed by a masculine-gender adjective. In most cases, this is the formed from the name of the town or city where the county has its seat. Thus the county with its seat at the town of Kutno is named powiat kutnowski, if the name of the seat comprises a noun followed by an adjective, as in Maków Mazowiecki, the adjective will generally be formed from the noun only. There are also a few counties whose names are derived from the names of two towns, from the name of a city and an adjective, or a mountain range. There is more one way to render such names into English

Powiat – Division of Poland into powiats (counties)

4. List of counties in Poland – The following is an alphabetical list of all 380 county-level entities in Poland. A county or powiat is the level of Polish administrative division. The list includes the 314 land counties and the 66 city counties, for general information about these entities, see the article on powiats. The following information is given in the list, English name Polish name, note that sometimes two different counties have the same name in Polish. Note that sometimes the seat is not part of the county, being itself a city county. Voivodeship of which the county is a part, number of gminy into which the county is divided. For tables of counties by voivodeship, see the articles on the particular voivodeships

List of counties in Poland – Division of Poland into powiats (counties)

5. Gmina – The gmina is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a commune or municipality. As of 2010 there were 2,478 gminy throughout the country, the word gmina derives from the German word Gemeinde, meaning community. The gmina has been the unit of territorial division in Poland since 1974. Some rural gminy have their seat in a town which is outside the gminas division, for example, the rural Gmina Augustów is administered from the town of Augustów, but does not include the town, as Augustów is an urban type gmina in its own right. The legislative and controlling body of each gmina is the municipal council, or in a town. A gmina may create auxiliary units, which play an administrative role. In rural areas these are called sołectwa, in towns they may be dzielnice or osiedla and in an urban-rural gmina, for a complete listing of all the gminy in Poland, see List of Polish gminas. Each gmina carries out two types of tasks, its own tasks and commissioned ones, own tasks are public tasks exercised by self-government, which serve to satisfy the needs of the community. Commissioned tasks cover the remaining public tasks resulting from legitimate needs of the state, the tasks are handed over on the basis of statutory by-laws, charters and regulations, or by way of agreements between the self-government units and central-government administration. Official report from the Central Statistical Office of Poland dated January 1,2006

Gmina – Division of Poland into gminy

6. Poland – Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church

Poland – Reconstruction of a Bronze Age, Lusatian culture settlement in Biskupin, c. 700 BC
Poland – Flag
Poland – Earliest known contemporary depiction of a Polish ruler; King Mieszko II Lambert of Poland being presented with a Liturgical book by Matilda of Swabia, 1025–1031
Poland – Drawing of the Battle of Grunwald, which was fought against the German Order of Teutonic Knights, 15 July 1410

7. Warsaw – Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres, while the area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world and it was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central Europe. Today Warsaw is considered an Alpha– global city, an international tourist destination. Warsaws economy, by a variety of industries, is characterised by FMCG manufacturing, metal processing, steel and electronic manufacturing. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, the Warsaw Stock Exchange is one of the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European Union agency for external security, has its headquarters in Warsaw. It has been said that Warsaw, together with Frankfurt, London, Paris, the city is positioning itself as Eastern Europe’s chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and serious restaurants. The first historical reference to Warsaw dates back to the year 1313, after the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, Warsaw was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars, the city became the capital of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. In accordance with the decisions of the Congress of Vienna, the Russian Empire annexed Warsaw in 1815, only in 1918 did it regain independence from the foreign rule and emerge as a new capital of the independent Republic of Poland. Warsaw gained the title of the Phoenix City because it has survived wars, conflicts. Most notably, the city required painstaking rebuilding after the damage it suffered in World War II. On 9 November 1940, the city was awarded Polands highest military decoration for heroism, the historic city-centre of Warsaw with its picturesque Old Town in 1980 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Buildings represent examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period, folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman, Wars, and his wife, Sawa. According to legend, Sawa was a living in the Vistula River with whom Wars fell in love

Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw

8. Legal personality – To have legal personality means to be capable of holding legal rights and obligations within a certain legal system, such as entering into contracts, suing, and being sued. Legal personality is a prerequisite to legal capacity, the ability of any person to amend rights. In international law, consequently, legal personality is a prerequisite for an organization to be able to sign international treaties in its own name. A holder of legal personality is called as a person, Persons are of two kinds, natural persons and juridical persons – entities such as corporations, which are treated in law as if they are persons. While human beings acquire legal personhood when they are born, juridical persons do so when they are incorporated in accordance with law, artificial personality, juridical personality, or juristic personality is the characteristic of a non-living entity regarded by law to have the status of personhood. A juridical or artificial person has a name and has certain rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities. The concept of a person is a fundamental legal fiction. It is pertinent to the philosophy of law, as it is essential to laws affecting a corporation, juridical personality allows one or more natural persons to act as a single entity for legal purposes. In many jurisdictions, artificial personality allows that entity to be considered under law separately from its individual members and they may sue and be sued, enter contracts, incur debt, and own property. Entities with legal personality may also be subjected to legal obligations. An entity with legal personality may shield its members from personal liability, in some common law jurisdictions a distinction is drawn between corporation aggregate and a corporation sole. Historically most corporations sole were ecclesiastical in nature, but a number of public offices are now formed as corporations sole. The concept of personality is not absolute. The concept of a person is now central to Western law in both common-law and civil-law countries, but it is also found in virtually every legal system. Examples are a religious officiant in that capacity, or The Crown in the Commonwealth realms, a corporation aggregate is a corporation constituted by more than one member. Municipal corporations are creatures of statute, other organizations may be created by statute as legal persons, including European economic interest groupings. Unincorporated associations, that is aggregates of two or more persons, are treated as persons in some jurisdictions but not others. Partnerships, an aggregate of two or more persons to carry on a business in common for profit and created by agreement, traditionally, partnerships did not have continuing legal personality, but many jurisdictions now treat them as having an independent legal personality

Legal personality – Business administration

9. Gdynia – Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. For centuries, Gdynia remained an agricultural and fishing village on the Baltic coast. At the beginning of the 20th-century Gdynia became as a resort town. This also triggered an increase in local population and it was then that the town was given a more cosmopolitan character with modernism being the dominant architectural style and emerged as a city in 1926. The rapid development of Gdynia was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, although the German troops refrained from deliberate bombing, the newly built port and shipyard were completely destroyed. The population of the city suffered much heavier losses as most of the inhabitants were evicted and expelled, the locals were either displaced to other regions of occupied Poland or sent to Nazi concentration camps throughout Europe. After the war, Gdynia was settled with the inhabitants of Warsaw and lost cities such as Lviv. The city was gradually regenerating itself with its shipyard being rebuilt, in December 1970 the shipyard workers protest against the increase of prices was bloodily repressed. This greatly contributed to the rise of the Solidarity movement in Gdańsk, today the port of Gdynia is a regular stopover on the itinerary of luxurious passenger ships and a new ferry terminal with a civil airport are under realisation. The city won numerous awards in relation to safety, infrastructure, quality of life, in 2013 Gdynia was ranked as Polands best city to live in and topped the rankings in the overarching category of general quality of life. Gdynia is also noted for its access to education. There are prestigious universities such as the Polish Naval Academy located nearby, Gdynia hosts the Gdynia Film Festival, the main Polish film festival, and was the venue for the International Random Film Festival in 2014. Late 10th century, Pomerelia was united with Poland, during the reign of Mieszko II Pomerelia seceded from Poland and became independent. 1116/1121, Bolesław III reunited Pomerelia with Poland,1227, Pomerelia again became an independent Duchy. 1253, First known mention of the name Gdynia, as a Pomeranian fishing village, the first church on this part of the Baltic Sea coast was built there. 1294, Pomerelia was inherited by the future Polish king Przemysł II. and remained as part of Poland until – 1309–1310, The Teutonic Order conquered Pomerelia,1380, The owner of the village which became Gdynia, Peter from Rusocin, gave the village to the Cistercian Order. 1382, Gdynia became property of the Cistercian abbey in Oliva, Pomerelia became part of Royal Prussia, a newly established province of the Kingdom of Poland, and later on of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. 1772, In the First Partition of Poland, Royal Prussia was annexed into the Kingdom of Prussia, Gdynia became known in German as Gdingen, and was expropriated from the Cistercian Order

Gdynia – Gdynia
Gdynia – View from Kosciuszko Square; Dar Pomorza on the left, Sea Towers on the right
Gdynia – Gdynia Maritime University in the building from 1937 as example of prewar Polish modern architecture.
Gdynia – Orłowski's House from 1936

10. Lublin – Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland and the second largest city of Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 349,103, Lublin is the largest Polish city east of the Vistula River, and is located approximately 170 kilometres to the southeast of Warsaw by road. One of the events that contributed to the citys development was the Polish-Lithuanian Union of Krewo in 1385. In 1474, Lublin, which was part of the Sandomierz region. Lublin also witnessed the early stages of Reformation in the 16th century, a Calvinist congregation was founded and certain groups of radical Arians also appeared in the city, making it an important national centre of Arianism. Until the partitions at the end of the 18th century, Lublin was a city of the Crown Kingdom of Poland. Its delegates and nobles had the right to participate in the Royal Election, although Lublin was not spared from severe destruction during World War II, its picturesque and historical Old Town has been preserved. The district is one of Polands official national Historic Monuments, as designated May 16,2007, the city is viewed as an attractive location for foreign investment and the analytical Financial Times Group has found Lublin to be one of the best cities for business in Poland. The Foreign direct investment ranking placed Lublin second among larger Polish cities in the Cost-effectiveness category, Lublin is also noted for its green spaces and a high standard of living. Archaeological finds indicate a presence of cultures in the area. A complex of settlements started to develop on the site of Lublin and in its environs in the 6th-7th centuries. Remains of settlements dating back to the 6th century were discovered in the center of todays Lublin on Czwartek Hill, the next period of the early Middle Ages was marked by intensification of habitation, particularly in the areas along river valleys. The settlements at the time were centered around the stronghold on Old Town Hill, when the tribal stronghold was destroyed in the 10th century, the center shifted to the north-east, to a new stronghold above Czechówka valley, and after the mid-12th century to Castle Hill. At least two churches are presumed to have existed in Lublin in the medieval period. One of them was most probably erected on Czwartek Hill during the rule of Casimir the Restorer in the 11th century. The castle became the seat of a Castellan, first mentioned in sources from 1224. The oldest historical document mentioning Lublin dates from 1198, so the name must have come into use some time earlier. The location of Lublin at the borders of the Polish lands gave it military significance

Lublin – Top: panorama of Old Town Lublin, including Crown Tribural Second left: façade buildings in Staego Street. Second right: Lublin Castle. Third left: view of Tynitarska Tower, Cracow Gate and many of historical built from Miasto Square. Third right: Tentement house in Klonawica Street, Bottom: view of Plac po Farze area
Lublin – Cracow Gate in the Old Town is among the most recognisable landmarks of the city.
Lublin – Another characteristic building in Lublin is the Royal Castle.
Lublin – Maria Curie-Sklodowska University

11. Katowice – Katowice /ˌkætəˈviːtsə/ is a city in southwestern Poland and the center of the Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 299,910 as of 2015. Throughout the mid-18th century, Katowice had developed into a village upon the discovery of coal reserves in the area. In 1742 the infamous Silesian War transferred Upper Silesia, including Katowice, simultaneously Silesia experienced the influx of the first Jewish settlers. In the first half of the 19th century, intensive industrialization transformed local mills and farms into industrial steelworks, mines, foundries and this also contributed to the establishment of companies and eventual rapid growth of the city. At the same time, Katowice became linked to the system with the first train arriving at the main station in 1847. The outbreak of World War I was favourable for Katowice due to the steel industry. Following Germanys defeat and the Silesian Uprisings aimed at unfair pro-German plebiscites, Katowice, Poland was then backed by the Geneva Convention and the ethnic Silesian minority. On 3 May 1921, the Polish army entered Katowice and the Polish administration took control, the city became the capital of the autonomous Silesian Voivodeship as well as the seat of the Silesian Parliament and Committee of Upper Silesia. After the plebiscite many former German citizens emigrated, however a vibrant German community remained until the end of World War II, in 1939, after the Wehrmacht seized the town, Katowice and the provinces were incorporated into the Third Reich. The town was liberated by the Allies on 27 January 1945. Katowice is a center of science, culture, industry, business, trade, and transportation in Upper Silesia and southern Poland, today, the city is considered as an emerging metropolis. The whole metropolitan area is the 16th most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union with an output amounting to $114.5 billion, Katowice is the seat of the Polish National Radio Symphony and Orchestra. It also hosts the finals of Intel Extreme Masters, a video game tournament. The area around Katowice, in Upper Silesia, has been inhabited by ethnic Silesians from its earliest documented history, initially it was ruled by the Polish Silesian Piast dynasty until its extinction. The settlement of the area surrounding Katowice dates back to the end of the 12th century, from 1138, the Bytom castellany encompassed territories where Katowice is located nowadays. In 1177 the lands were handed over by Duke Casimir II the Just to his nephew Mieszko I Tanglefoot. From 1327, the region was under Czech administration as part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, historians assume that Katowice was founded on the right bank of the Rawa river by Andrzej Bogucki in around 1580. In 1598 a village called Villa Nova was also documented to stand in the now occupied by the city of Katowice

Katowice
Katowice – Left to right: Skyscrapers in city center • Panorama of Miasto Katowice • Silesian Museum • Archcathedral • Silesian Theatre • Spodek
Katowice
Katowice

12. Szczecin – Szczecin is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea, it is a major seaport, as of June 2011, the population was 407,811. Szczecin is located on the Oder, south of the Szczecin Lagoon, the city is situated along the southwestern shore of Dąbie Lake, on both sides of the Oder and on several large islands between the western and eastern branches of the river. The citys recorded history began in the 8th century as a Slavic Pomeranian stronghold, in the 12th century, when Szczecin had become one of Pomeranias main urban centres, it lost its independence to Piast Poland, the Duchy of Saxony, the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark. At the same time, the House of Griffins established themselves as rulers, the population was Christianized. The native Slavic population was subjected to discrimination and Germanization in the following centuries, between 1237 and 1243, the town was rebuilt, granted extensive autonomy rights and eventually joined the Hanseatic League. After the Treaty of Stettin in 1630, the town came under the control of the Swedish Empire, in the late-19th century Stettin became an industrial town, vastly increasing in size and population, and served as a major port for Berlin. During the Nazi era, opposition groups and minorities were persecuted and treated as enemies, by the end of World War II Stettins status was in doubt, and the Soviet occupation authorities at first appointed officials from the citys almost entirely German pre-war population. In July 1945, however, Polish authorities were permitted to take power, Stettin was renamed Szczecin and became part of the newly established the Polish Peoples Republic, and from 1989 the Republic of Poland. From 1999 onwards, Szczecin has served as the site of the headquarters of NATOs Multinational Corps Northeast, the names Szczecin and Stettin are of Slavic origin, though the exact etymology is the subject of ongoing research. Other medieval names for the town are Burstaborg and Burstenburgh and these names, which literally mean brush burgh, are likely derived from the translation of the citys Slavic name. The recorded history of Szczecin began in the century, when West Slavs settled Pomerania. Since the 9th century, the stronghold was fortified and expanded toward the Oder bank, Mieszko I of Poland took control of Pomerania between 960 and 967, and the region with the city of Szczecin became part of Poland in 967. Subsequent Polish rulers, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Liutician federation all aimed to control the territory, after the decline of the neighbouring regional centre Wolin in the 12th century, the city became one of the more important and powerful seaports of the Baltic Sea. In a campaign in the winter of 1121–1122, Bolesław III Wrymouth, the inhabitants were Christianized by two missions of Bishop Otto of Bamberg in 1124 and 1128. At this time, the first Christian church of Saints Peter, Polish minted coins were commonly used in trade in this period. The population of the city at that time is estimated to be at around 5, Polish rule ended with Boleslaws death in 1138. There, a Polish contingent supplied by Mieszko III the Old joined the crusaders, however, the citizens had placed crosses around the fortifications, indicating they already had been Christianised

Szczecin – Top: Market; Old Town Hall, The Oder River Middle: National Sea Museum, PAZIM building Bottom: Ducal Castle, St James' Cathedral, Virgin Tower
Szczecin – The city's fortifications, as seen in 1642
Szczecin – Stettin in the late 19th century.
Szczecin – Sedina Monument (1899–1913). Sedina was a personification of Stettin. The statue was scrapped for copper in 1942, and after the war it was replaced with an anchor. In 2012 the authorities approved plans for a reconstruction of the statue.

13. Country subdivision – Administrative divisions are granted a certain degree of autonomy and are usually required to manage themselves through their own local governments. Countries are divided up into smaller units to make managing their land. For example, a country may be divided into provinces, which, in turn, are divided into counties, which, in turn, may be divided in whole or in part into municipalities, and so on. Administrative divisions are separate from dependent territories, with the former being an integral part of the state. However, the administrative division can include dependent territories as well as accepted administrative divisions. For clarity and convenience the standard reference for the largest administrative subdivision of a country is called the first-level administrative division or first administrative level. Next smaller is called second-level administrative division or second administrative level, there is no fixed rule, for all politics is local as is perhaps well demonstrated by their relative lack of systemic order. In the realm of self-government, any of these can and does occur along a stretch of road—which for the most part is passing through rural unsettled countryside. In British cultural legacy, most territorial entities begin with fairly expansive counties which encompass a large area. Within those entities are the large and small cities or towns, many sister cities share a water boundary which quite often serves as a border of both cities and counties. For example, Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts appear to the traveler as one large city, while locally they each are quite culturally different. Sovereign state, a national or supra-national division, country, a national or sub-national division. Administrative division codes of the Peoples Republic of China GADM, a database of country administrative areas. ISO 3166-2, specifically Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 2

Country subdivision – World political divisions

14. Voivodeship (Poland) – A województwo is the highest-level administrative subdivision of Poland, corresponding to a province in many other countries. The term województwo has been in use since the 14th century, the word województwo is also rendered as voivodeship or a variant spelling. The Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998, which went into effect on 1 January 1999 and these replaced the 49 former voivodeships that had existed from 1 July 1975. Todays voivodeships are mostly named after historical and geographical regions, while prior to 1998 generally took their names from the cities on which they were centered. The new units range in area from under 10,000 km2 to over 35,000 km2, voivodeships are further divided into powiats and gminas, see Administrative divisions of Poland. Competences and powers at voivodeship level are shared between the voivode, the sejmik and the marshal. In most cases these institutions are all based in one city, but in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Lubusz Voivodeship the voivodes offices are in a different city from those of the executive, Voivodeship capitals are listed in the table below. The voivode is appointed by the Prime Minister and is the representative of the central government. The voivodes offices collectively are known as the urząd wojewódzki, the sejmik is elected every four years, at the same time as the local authorities at powiat and gmina level. It passes bylaws, including the development strategies and budget. It also elects the marszałek and other members of the executive, the marshals offices are collectively known as the urząd marszałkowski. According to 2014 Eurostat data, the GDP per capita of Polish voivodeships varies notably, Administrative division of Poland between 1979 and 1998 included 49 voivodeships upheld after the establishment of the Third Polish Republic in 1989 for another decade. This reorganization of administrative division of Poland was mainly a result of government reform acts of 1973–1975. In place of the administrative division, a new two-level administrative division was introduced. The three smallest voivodeships – Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź – had the status of municipal voivodeship. After World War II, the new division of the country within the new national borders was based on the prewar one and included 14 voivodeships. The voivodeships in the east that had not been annexed by the Soviet Union had their borders left almost unchanged. The newly acquired territories in the west and north were organized into the new voivodeships of Szczecin, Wrocław and Olsztyn, two cities were granted voivodeship status, Warsaw and Łódź

Voivodeship (Poland) – Voivodeships 1816-1820
Voivodeship (Poland) – Voivodeships of Poland Województwa Polski (Polish)
Voivodeship (Poland) – Voivodeships of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1635

15. Administrative division of Duchy of Warsaw – Administrative division of the Duchy of Warsaw was based on departments, which were headed by prefects. Each department was named after its capital city, the departments were divided into powiats, and the powiats were divided into urban and rural gminas. Each department was governed by a prefect, while counties were administered by a prefect deputy, main cities of the Duchy were administered by mayors, who were nominated by King Frederick Augustus I. The initial six departaments were created by a Napoleon’s decree of January 14,1807, in 1816, the departments of Congress Poland were turned into voivodeships. Mieczysław Bandurka, Zmiany administracyjne i terytorialne ziem województwa łódzkiego w XIX i XX wieku, NDAP, UW w Łodzi, AP w Łodzi, jacek Arkadiusz Goclon, Polska na królu pruskim zdobyta, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, Wrocław 2002

Administrative division of Duchy of Warsaw – Administrative division of Duchy of Warsaw, 1810-1815

16. Guberniya – A governorate, or a guberniya, was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire and the early Russian SFSR. The term is translated as government, governorate, or province. A governorate was ruled by a governor, a word borrowed from Latin gubernator, sometimes the term guberniya was informally used to refer to the office of a governor. Selected governorates were united under a governor general such as Grand Duchy of Finland, Tsardom of Poland, Russian Turkestan. There also were military governors such as Kronshtadt, Vladivostok, aside of governorates, other types of divisions were oblasts and okrugs. This subdivision type was created by the edict of Peter the Great on December 18,1708 On the establishment of the gubernias and cities assigned to them, in 1719, guberniyas were further subdivided into provinces. Later the number of guberniyas was increased to 23, the term guberniya, however, still remained in use. These viceroyalties were governed by namestniki or governors general, correspondingly, the term governorate general was in use to refer to the actual territory being governed. The office of general had more administrative power and was in a higher position than the previous office of governor. Sometimes a governor general ruled several guberniyas, for the guberniya as subdivisions of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland, see Administrative division of Congress Poland and Governorates of the Grand Duchy of Finland. For the guberniya as subdivisions of the Ukrainian Peoples Republic and the Ukrainian SSR, after the February Revolution, the Russian Provisional Government renamed governors into guberniya commissars. The October Revolution left the subdivision in place, but the apparatus was replaced by guberniya soviets. Actual subdivisions of the Soviet Union into particular territorial units was subject to numerous changes, eventually, in 1929, the subdivision was replaced by the notions of oblast, okrug, and raion. In post-Soviet republics such as Russia and Ukraine, the term Guberniya is obsolete, there is another archaic meaning of the word as the word denoted a type of estate in former Lithuania of the Russian Empire till 1917. History of the division of Russia List of governorates of the Russian Empire Governorate-General GOELRO plan Ignatov. History of state administration of Russia

Guberniya – Division of Russia into eight guberniyas in 1708

17. Prowincja – You may also be looking for Administrative divisions of Poland. A prowincja was the largest territorial subdivision in medieval and Renaissance-era Poland, the term designated each of the two largest constituents of the state, depending on the period, including Wielkopolska, Małopolska and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Ducal Prussia was often counted as part of the Greater Poland, Inflanty as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, though larger than a voivodship, the prowincja was less important in terms of offices and power. In most respects, it was merely a unit of administration. The real power lay with the voivodship—and, to a lesser extent, occasionally the term voviodeship will be misleadingly translated into English as a province, leading to potential confusion. Since 1795, the Polish word prowincja has been used only for certain foreign-imposed units of administration within territories of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty Regions of Poland

Prowincja – Provinces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

18. Regierungsbezirk – Regierungsbezirk is an administrative region at federal state level in Germany. The regional authority is called a Regierungspräsidium or Bezirksregierung and is headed by a Regierungspräsident, the Regierungsbezirke do not pass any legislation. Within the federal authority, they act as a mid-level agency. Regierungsbezirk is variously translated as district, administrative district or province. By German unification in 1871, the concept of Regierungsbezirke had been adopted by most States of the German Empire, the Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia are in direct continuation of those created in the Prussian Rhine and Westphalia provinces in 1816. Similar entities in other states were initially named Kreishauptmannschaft or Kreis or province in Hesse, in Nazi Germany the naming was unified to Regierungsbezirk. Currently, only four large-area states out of 16 in total are divided into Regierungsbezirke, on 1 January 2004, Saxony-Anhalt disbanded its three Regierungsbezirke, Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg. The responsibilities are now covered by a Landesverwaltungsamt with three offices at the seats of the Bezirksregierungen. On 1 January 2005, Lower Saxony disbanded its remaining four Regierungsbezirke, Brunswick, Hanover, Lüneburg, on 1 August 2008, Saxony restructured its districts and changed the name of its Regierungsbezirke to Direktionsbezirke. This was necessary because one of the new districts did not fit with the borders of the old Regierungsbezirke, the Direktionsbezirke are still named Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig. As of 1 March 2012, the Direktionsbezirke were merged into one Landesdirektion, four of the new federal states re-established in 1990, Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia, decided not to implement Regierungsbezirke. In Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland they never existed, stettin, dissolved in 1945, Province of Pomerania Media related to Regierungsbezirk at Wikimedia Commons

Regierungsbezirk – Regierungsbezirke as from 1 August 2008. The map also shows the former RBs of Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony

19. Crown of the Kingdom of Poland – The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, or simply the Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, including Poland proper. The kingdom has been dated back to c. 966, when Mieszko I and his pagan Slavic realm joined Christian Europe and his oldest son and successor, Prince Bolesław I Chrobry, Duke of Poland, became the first crowned King of Poland in 1025. The creation of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland was a milestone in the evolution of Polish statehood and it represented the concept of the Polish kingdom as distinctly separate from the person of the monarch. A related concept that evolved soon afterward was that of Rzeczpospolita, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland was also related to other symbols of Poland, such as the capital, the Polish coat of arms and the flag of Poland. The concept of the Crown also had a geographical aspects, particularly related to the indivisibility of the Polish - Crown -territory. It can be seen as a unit of administrative division. Parts formed part at the early Kingdom of Poland, then, at the same time, the Crown also referred to all lands that the Polish state could claim to have the right to rule over, including those that were not within Polish borders. The term distinguishes those territories federated with the Crown Grand Duchy of Lithuania from various fiefdom territories, such as the Duchy of Prussia and the Duchy of Courland. Prior to the 1569 Union of Lublin, Crown territories may be understood as those of Poland proper, inhabited by Poles, with the Union of Lublin, however, most of present-day Ukraine, passed onto Polish administration, thus becoming Crown territory. During that period, a term for a Pole from the Crown territory was koroniarz - or Crownlander in English - derived from Korona - the Crown and this often meant a distinction between persons loyal to the elected King and persons loyal to Polish magnate. Crown lands were divided into two provinces, Lesser Poland and Greater Poland and these were further divided into administrative units known as voivodeships. Royal Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land, Malbork Voivodeship, Gdańsk, Toruń, Polish historian Henryk Wisner writes that Royal Prussia belonged to the Province of Greater Poland. The towns affected were, Biała, Lubica, Wierzbów, Spiska Sobota, Poprad, Straże, Spiskie Włochy, Nowa Wieś, Spiska Nowa Wieś, Ruszkinowce, Wielka, Spiskie Podgrodzie, Maciejowce, Twarożne. Wenceslaus I sold the Duchy of Siewierz to the Archbishop of Kraków, Zbigniew Cardinal Oleśnicki, after that point it was considered to be associated with the Lesser Poland Province and was the only ecclesiastical duchy in Lesser Poland. In 1641 it became part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Duchy of Livonia was held as a condominium with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was held as a condominium with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, jan Herburt, Statuta Regni Poloniae, in ordinem alphabeti digesta, Cracoviae 1563. Jan Dąbrowski, Korona Królestwa Polskiego w XIV wieku, studium z dziejów rozwoju polskiej monarchii stanowej, stanisław Szczur, Historia Polski Średniowiecze, Wydawnictwo Literackie 2002, ISBN 83-08-03272-9

Crown of the Kingdom of Poland – Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, 1635