Łódź Voivodeship

Location within Poland
Division into counties
Coordinates(Łódź): 19°28′E / 51.783, 19.467
Country  Poland
Capital Łódź
Counties
Area
 - Total 18,219 km² (7,034.4 sq mi)
Population (2006)
 - Total 2,571,534
 - Density 141.1/km² (365.6/sq mi)
 - Urban 1,662,937
 - Rural 908,597
Car plates E
* further divided into 177 gminas
Website: http://www.lodzkie.pl

Łódź Voivodeship (also known as Łódź Province, or by its Polish name of województwo łódzkie [vɔjɛˈvut​͡stfɔ ˈwut​͡skʲɛ] or simply Łódzkie) is a province (voivodeship) in central Poland, created on January 1, 1999 out of the former Łódź Voivodeship (1975-99) and the Sieradz, Piotrków Trybunalski and Skierniewice Voivodeships and part of Płock Voivodeship, pursuant to the 1998 Local Government Reorganization Act. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced [wut​͡ɕ].

Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian to the north and east, Świętokrzyskie to the south-east, Silesian to the south, Opole to the south-west, Greater Poland to the west, and Kuyavian-Pomeranian for a short stretch to the north. Its territory belongs to three historical provinces of Poland – Masovia (in the east), Greater Poland (in the west) and Lesser Poland (in the southeast, around Opoczno).

Cities and towns

The voivodeship contains 43 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006 [1]):

1. Łódź (764,168)
2. Piotrków Trybunalski (79,367)
3. Pabianice (70,445)
4. Tomaszów Mazowiecki (66,705)
5. Bełchatów (62,062)
6. Zgierz (58,313)
7. Radomsko (49,152)
8. Skierniewice (48,761)
9. Kutno (47,557)
10. Zduńska Wola (44,370)
11. Sieradz (44,045)
12. Łowicz (30,204)
13. Wieluń (24,347)
14. Opoczno (22,708)
15. Ozorków (20,571)
16. Aleksandrów Łódzki (20,512)
17. Łask (18,684)
18. Rawa Mazowiecka (17,643)
19. Konstantynów Łódzki (17,564)
20. Łęczyca (15,423)
21. Głowno (15,167)
22. Koluszki (13,407)

23. Brzeziny (12,373)
24. Żychlin (8,880)
25. Wieruszów (8,759)
26. Zelów (8,173)
27. Poddębice (7,875)
28. Tuszyn (7,178)
29. Pajęczno (6,674)
30. Sulejów (6,387)
31. Działoszyn (6,276)
32. Krośniewice (4,647)
33. Drzewica (3,945)
34. Przedbórz (3,758)
35. Stryków (3,566)
36. Złoczew (3,403)
37. Warta (3,388)
38. Rzgów (3,338)
39. Biała Rawska (3,182)
40. Uniejów (2,916)
41. Kamieńsk (2,858)
42. Błaszki (2,179)
43. Szadek (2,007)

Administrative division

Łódź Voivodeship is divided into 24 counties (powiats): 3 city counties and 21 land counties. These are further divided into 177 gminas.

The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).

English and
Polish names Area
(km²) Population
(2006) Seat Other towns Total
gminas
City counties
Łódź 293 764,168   1
Piotrków Trybunalski 67 79,367   1
Skierniewice 33 48,761   1
Land counties
Zgierz County
powiat zgierski 854 160,805 Zgierz Ozorków, Aleksandrów Łódzki, Głowno, Stryków 9
Sieradz County
powiat sieradzki 1,491 121,013 Sieradz Złoczew, Warta, Błaszki 11
Tomaszów Mazowiecki County
powiat tomaszowski 1,026 120,973 Tomaszów Mazowiecki   11
Pabianice County
powiat pabianicki 491 119,008 Pabianice Konstantynów Łódzki 7
Radomsko County
powiat radomszczański 1,443 118,856 Radomsko Przedbórz, Kamieńsk 14
Bełchatów County
powiat bełchatowski 969 112,640 Bełchatów Zelów 8
Kutno County
powiat kutnowski 886 104,124 Kutno Żychlin, Krośniewice 11
Piotrków County
powiat piotrkowski 1,429 90,227 Piotrków Trybunalski * Sulejów 11
Łowicz County
powiat łowicki 987 82,338 Łowicz   10
Opoczno County
powiat opoczyński 1,039 78,659 Opoczno Drzewica 8
Wieluń County
powiat wieluński 928 78,260 Wieluń   10
Zduńska Wola County
powiat zduńskowolski 369 67,704 Zduńska Wola Szadek 4
Łódź East County
powiat łódzki wschodni 499 64,574 Łódź * Koluszki, Tuszyn, Rzgów 6
Łęczyca County
powiat łęczycki 774 53,435 Łęczyca   8
Pajęczno County
powiat pajęczański 804 53,395 Pajęczno Działoszyn 8
Łask County
powiat łaski 617 50,874 Łask   5
Rawa County
powiat rawski 647 49,443 Rawa Mazowiecka Biała Rawska 6
Wieruszów County
powiat wieruszowski 576 42,336 Wieruszów   7
Poddębice County
powiat poddębicki 881 42,195 Poddębice Uniejów 6
Skierniewice County
powiat skierniewicki 756 37,779 Skierniewice *   9
Brzeziny County
powiat brzeziński 359 30,600 Brzeziny   5
* seat not part of the county

Protected areas

Protected areas in Łódź Voivodeship include seven Landscape Parks, as listed below.

• Bolimów Landscape Park (partly in Masovian Voivodeship)
• Łódź Hills Landscape Park
• Przedbórz Landscape Park (partly in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship)
• Spała Landscape Park
• Sulejów Landscape Park
• Warta-Widawka Landscape Park
• Załęcze Landscape Park (partly in Silesian Voivodeship)

Most popular surnames in the region

1. Nowak : 15,460
2. Kowalski : 15,005
3. Kowalczyk : 13,121

History

The capital of the Łódź Voivodeship has always been Łódź, but the area of land which it comprises has changed several times. The first was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Second Polish Republic in the years 1921-1939. In 1938 some western counties were ceded to Greater Poland Voivodeship (see: Territorial changes of Polish Voivodeships on April 1, 1938).

After the change, Łódź Voivodeship's area was 20,446 km², and its population (as for 1931) was 2,650,100. It consisted of 15 powiats (counties):

• Brzeziny county,
• Końskie county,
• Kutno county,
• Łask county,
• Łęczyca county,
• Łowicz county,
• city of Łódź county (powiat lodzki grodzki),
• Łódź county,
• Opoczno county,
• Piotrków Trybunalski county,
• Radomsko county,
• Rawa Mazowiecka county,
• Sieradz county,
• Skierniewice county,
• Wieluń county.

The largest cities of the Voivodeship were (population according to the 1931 census):

• Łódź (pop. 604,600),
• Piotrków Trybunalski (pop. 51,300),
• Pabianice (pop. 45,700),
• Tomaszów Mazowiecki (pop. 38,000),
• Zgierz (pop. 26,600),
• Kutno (pop. 23,400),
• Radomsko (pop. 23,000).

Source: Maly rocznik statystyczny 1939, Nakladem Glownego Urzedu Statystycznego, Warszawa 1939 (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939).

The next incarnation existed from 1945 until 1975 (although the city of Łódź was excluded as a separate City Voivodeship). This Łódź Voivodeship was then broken up, superseded by Łódź (see below), Sieradz, Piotrków Trybunalski, Skierniewice and partly Płock Voivodeships.