Podlasie Voivodship
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| Podlasie Voivodship | |
| Missing image Podlaskie_Herb.PNG Coat of Arms of Podlasie Voivodships | 
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| Location | |
| Missing image Podlaskie2.jpg Location | |
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| Administrative division | |
| Missing image Podlaskie1.jpg Counties | |
| General information | |
| Capital city | Białystok |
| Area | 20 180 km² |
| Population - density - % of population of Poland | 1 mln 221 000 60,5 people/km² 3,2 % |
| Cities Powiats Communes Sołectwo Villages | 36 17 118 3307 3272 |
| Agriculture | 12 006 km² |
| Road density | 52,4 km/100 km² |
| Economy | |
| Unemployment | 14,1%/79 000 people (2003) |
| GDP | 1106 PLN per capita |
| Production: | |
| food and drinks | 46,2% |
| wood, wood products and furniture | 14,6% |
| electric energy, gas and water | 10,7% |
| machines and appliances | 4,8% |
| textiles | 4,4% |
| Economic units in private sector | |
| trade and commerce | 33,2% |
| services | 11,8% |
| construction | 10,5% |
| industrial processing | 9,7% |
| transport | 8,3% |
| agriculture, hunting and forestry | 4,5% |
| Administrative division | |
| Powiats - Urban counties - Land counties | 3 14 |
| Communes - Urban - Urban-Rural - Rural | 13 23 82 |
| Official webpage (http://www.bialystok.uw.gov.pl/PUWMCMS/T%B3umaczenia/angielski.htm) | |
The Podlasie Voivodship (in Polish województwo podlaskie) is an administrative and local government region or voivodship of north-eastern Poland.
It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Białystok, Łomża and half of Suwałki voivodships as a result of Local Government Reorganization Act of 1998. The voivodship's name recalls the region's traditional name of Podlasie (Podlachia).
The Polish part of the Białowieża Forest Biosphere Reserve is in Podlasie Voivodship.
| Contents |
Major cities and towns
(population in 2003):
- Białystok (287,400);
- Suwałki (70,000);
- Łomża (65,600);
- Augustów (30,600);
- Bielsk Podlaski (28,400);
- Zambrów (24,300);
- Hajnówka (23,900);
- Grajewo (23,100).
Podlasie Voivodship Counties
Podlasie Voivodship is divided onto 17 counties (powiat), including three urban counties and 118 gminas (13 urban, 23 urban-rural and 82 rural).
Economy
According to REGON register in the year 2002 there were around 95 thousand companies registered in Podlasie region.
Agriculture
Arable land constitutes around 60 % of the total area of the region – most of which is ploughland (around 40 %), forests, meadows and pastures. Over 120 thousand farms are registered, the majority of which – around 50% - are small farms of the size of 1-5 ha and medium-sized farms of 5 – 10 ha. The small ones prefer intensive production (gardening, orcharding), whereas the large ones – cattle and crop production. The cattle-raising farms are maliny oriented at milk production.
Natural conditions of the region are conducive to the development of ecologic production, which is at present realised by around 100 farms. Over 600 farms in the region run agrotouristic businesses.
Landscape assets
The most precious asset of Podlasie is its nature. Around 30% of the area of the voivodship is under legal protection. There are four, Wigry, Biebrza, Bialowieża and Narew, national parks, 3 Suwałki, Łomża – Narew Valley and Knyszyn Forest landscape parks, 88 nature reserves and 15 protected landscape areas. The voivodship constitutes a part of the ecologically clean area of "the Green Lungs of Poland".
Most popular surnames in the region
Official seal of Podlasie Voivodship
Podlaskie_pieczec.png
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| Voivodships of Poland Greater Poland | Kuyavia-Pomerania | Lesser Poland | Łódź | Lower Silesia | Lublin | Lubusz | Masovia | Opole | Podlachia | Pomerania | Świętokrzyskie | Silesia | Subcarpathia | Warmia and Masuria | West Pomerania | |
| Principal cities Warsaw | Łódź | Kraków | Wrocław | Poznań | Gdańsk | Szczecin | Bydgoszcz | Lublin | Katowice | Białystok | Częstochowa | Gdynia | Gorzów Wlkp. | Toruń | Radom | Kielce | Rzeszów | Olsztyn | |