Administrative division of Poland

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The administrative structure of Poland is based strongly on the principle of the unitary state .

After the reform that came into force in 1999, the territorial structure of self-government in Poland now comprises three levels: municipalities ( gmina ), districts ( powiat ) or urban districts ( miasto na prawach powiatu ) and regional administrative districts, the so-called voivodships ( województwo ) .

The administrative structure in Poland has a unitary character and is based on homogeneous legislation that binds all local government authorities equally and on homogeneous, 4-year terms of office for local government authorities at all levels.

The (public) state administration is divided into government administration and self-administration.

Administrative division of Poland

history

Poland-Lithuania

Congress Poland (1816–1837)

Congress Poland 1831

In the years 1816 to 1837, voivodeships also existed in Congress Poland; these were then renamed provinces and reorganized several times.


Second republic

Poland 1920–1939
Voivodships

The national territory was divided into 16 voivodeships and the equivalent capital Warsaw. The boundaries of these administrative units were initially based on the former German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian administrative borders, but on April 1, 1938 there were some reallocations of areas.

  1. Białystok Voivodeship
  2. Kielce Voivodeship
  3. Krakow Voivodeship
  4. Lublin Voivodeship
  5. Lviv Voivodeship
  6. Łódź Voivodeship
  7. Nowogródek Voivodeship
  8. Polesian Voivodeship
  9. Pomeranian Voivodeship
  10. Poznan Voivodeship
  11. Stanislaw Voivodeship
  12. Tarnopol Voivodeship
  13. Warsaw Voivodeship (Country)
  14. Warsaw (city)
  15. Vilnius Voivodeship
  16. Volyn Voivodeship


People's Republic of Poland

1945-1975

After the Second World War, under Soviet influence, the system of territorial self-government of the interwar period was gradually abolished and a people's council system was established.

After the Second World War until 1975, Poland was divided into 17 voivodeships.

Voivodeships 1950–1975

Administrative reform in 1975

In 1975 a two-tier system was established with the aim of greater centralization. The number of voivodships was increased to 49, the counties were abolished and the number of parishes was reduced to 2,500.


In 1975 the number was increased to 49, officially in order to optimize the state administration, to strengthen the authorities in the regions and to compensate for the disparities in the economic developments between the regions. None of the stated goals were achieved; instead, as expected, the influence of the central government was increased.

Voivodeships 1975–1998


Third Republic

In 1990 a reform took place with the restoration of local self-government in the communities.

Since January 1, 1999, there has been a three-tier administrative structure in Poland, in voivodeships, districts and municipalities.

Voivodships

First floor

Voivodships



second level

Division of Poland into voivodships, powiats and gminas (2013)

Powiats

In 2014 there were 380 powiats in Poland, including 314 so-called rural districts ( powiat ziemski ) and 66 urban districts ( powiat grodzki ).

Miasta na prawach powiatu

Third level

Communities

The municipalities ( Gmina ) are administrative units that form the third level of local self-government in Poland.

Gmina miejska

A Gmina miejska ('Stadtgemeinde', literally: 'Urban Municipality') consists of a single city . This city can also be the seat of a Gmina wiejska 'rural community' in the surrounding area. Due to the legal identity of the city and Gmina , Gminy miejskie are usually referred to only with the name of the city. In the big cities and for historical reasons in some other municipalities, the mayor Prezydent miasta calls himself 'City President', in smaller municipalities he is called Burmistrz . In 2006, 307 Gminas had the status of Gmina miejska .


Gmina miejsko-wiejska

A Gmina miejsko-wiejska ('city-and-rural community', literally: 'urban-rural community') consists of a city and several villages that have limited self-administration skills. With the exception of the municipality of Skalmierzyce , this town is also the administrative seat of Gmina . Most of the time, the city is too small to form an independent 'city municipality' ( Gmina miejska ) . The name of Gmina , headed by a Burmistrz 'mayor', is derived from the name of the administrative center. In 2006 582 Gminas had this status .


Gmina wiejska

A Gmina wiejska ('rural community', literally: 'rural community') consists exclusively of villages. In some cases, the administrative headquarters are located in a town in the center of Gmina , which as Gmina miejska 'municipality' is not part of Gmina wiejska . If there is no city within the municipality, one of the larger villages is the seat of the Gmina and the municipality head Wójt (from ' Vogt '). In this case the Gmina is also named after this place. In 2006 there were 1589 of these Gminas in Poland , 160 of them with administrative headquarters outside the Gmina , i.e. in a city that forms its own municipality and sometimes also its own urban district.


See also

Portal: Poland  - Overview of Wikipedia content on Poland

Web links

Commons : Administrative division of Poland  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dorsch Pamela: National and transnational networking of Polish cities and regions - On the way to a sustainable city and regional development . Science Center Berlin for Social Research. S. 6. 2003. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  2. ↑ Comparative analysis of the structures of public administration in the Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany. P. 83
  3. ^ Administrative system in Poland
  4. ^ A b Dorsch Pamela: National and transnational networking of Polish cities and regions - On the way to a sustainable city and regional development . Science Center Berlin for Social Research. S. 4. 2003. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  5. ^ Iwona Sagan: Polish regional and metropolitan policy. In: Poland analyzes. No. 103, February 21, 2012, ISSN  1863-9712 , pp. 1–12, digital version (PDF; 795 KB) .
  6. ^ Dorsch Pamela: National and transnational networking of Polish cities and regions - On the way to a sustainable city and regional development . Science Center Berlin for Social Research. S. 3. 2003. Accessed December 13, 2016.
  7. ^ Administrative system in Poland
  8. ↑ Podział administracyjny Polski 2014 , p. 1
  9. ^ Dorsch Pamela: National and transnational networking of Polish cities and regions - On the way to a sustainable city and regional development . Science Center Berlin for Social Research. S. 3. 2003. Accessed December 13, 2016.