Administrative divisions of Poland

Poland is divided into different areas to help manage its government and services. Since 1999, Poland has used a system with three levels of areas. The biggest areas are called voivodeships, or provinces. Right now, Poland has 16 of these provinces. Each province is then split into smaller parts called _powiats, or counties. There are 380 of these counties, including 66 big cities that act like both a county and a smaller area.

These smaller areas are called _gminas, or municipalities. Poland has about 2,479 of these tiny areas where most everyday services happen. This way, Poland can organize its schools, hospitals, and other important places better for everyone living there.

This system started after the Polish parliament passed some laws in 1998, and it began working on January 1, 1999. Before that, from 1975 to 1998, Poland had a different system with 49 smaller provinces and no counties. The new system made bigger provinces, often named after old Polish regions, and brought back the county level to help local communities.

Sometimes the borders of these new provinces do not match the old historical regions of Poland. For example, part of the Silesian Voivodeship belongs to the old area of Lesser Poland, and places like Radom are in the Masovian Voivodeship even though they used to be part of Lesser Poland. The Pomeranian Voivodeship also only includes a small part of the old region of Pomerania, with the rest now in Germany.

Voivodeships

Main article: Voivodeships of Poland

Poland is divided into 16 provinces called voivodeships. These provinces are also known as "I tier units." Each province has its own leader chosen by the central government, called a voivode. There is also an elected group called the sejmik and an executive board that helps run the province. The leader of this board is called the marszałek.

Powiats

Main article: Powiat

Poland is divided into smaller parts called powiats, which are like counties. Each big area of Poland, called a voivodeship, has between 12 and 42 of these powiats. There are two kinds of powiats:

• 314 land counties. These have a group of people who help make decisions and choose a leader called a starosta.
• 66 city counties. In these, the city's own group of people and mayor help run things, working for both the city and the county.

Gminas

Main article: Gmina

Poland is divided into special areas called gminas, which are like towns or small regions. There are 2,477 gminas in total. Each gmina has its own elected group of leaders and a mayor, who might be called a prezydent in big cities, burmistrz in smaller towns, or wójt in rural areas.

Gminas can be different types:

• Urban municipalities are towns.
• Urban-rural municipalities are towns together with the villages and countryside around them.
• Rural municipalities are villages or countryside areas. Some of these have their leaders based in a nearby town, even though the town is not part of their area. This helps share resources and support between towns and nearby villages.

Smaller units

Gminas, which are like towns or villages, can be divided into even smaller parts. In towns, these smaller parts are called osiedle or dzielnica, and in rural areas, they are called sołectwo. These smaller units are not as important as the gmina itself.

Historical subdivisions

Polish land has had many different ways of being split up throughout its long history. The way Poland is divided today is different from how it was in the past, but some parts are similar.

There have been many different times when Poland was split in different ways, like before 1569, between 1569 and 1795, and many other periods up until today. Each time, the way Poland was divided changed a lot.