The voivodeships of Poland from 1975 to 1998 were created as part of a two-tier method for administering the country and its regions. Between June 1, 1975, and December 31, 1998, pursuant to a law proclaimed on May 28, 1975, Poland was administratively divided into 49 voivodeships, consolidating and eliminating the intermediate administrative level of counties.

The scheme meant that most voivodeships had fewer than 1,000,000 inhabitants. Each voivodeship took its name from a small- or medium-sized town situated near its centre, which would become its capital.

History An unstated reason for the reform was the desire of the Polish Central Committee to strengthen control over lower layers of the state apparatus. After Edward Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as first secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party, his clique maintained power by dividing the Politburo.

Through administrative reorganization and the new territorial division, Gierek was able to nominate his supporters to provincial committees and break the hold of older elements of the party.Wojciech Roszkowski, Historia Polski 1914-1998 ("Polish History 1914-1998, 7th Edition"), Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1999, p. 330.

On the date the system took effect (1 June 1975), the 49 voivodeships were further subdivided into 2,343 municipalities plus 814 cities, including four cities with special status — Warsaw, Łódź, Kraków and Wrocław — for a total of 3,157 municipal governments serving as secondary administrative units.

Warsaw Voivodeship had the status of a metropolitan voivodeship, and the Łódź and Kraków Voivodeships were called urban voivodeships. The appointed mayor of each voivodeship's capital city also served as the provincial governor. Initially, the city of Wrocław was a separate administrative division within the Wrocław Voivodeship.

During 1991 and 1992 the large municipalities were restructured, significantly changing the division of powers between the provincial cities and the surrounding rural communities (Laws of 1991, ch. 2, sec. 9, ch. 3, sec. 12 and ch. 87, sec. 397).

In the Polish administrative reform of 1999 Poland introduced a further reform of local government administration, establishing the present 16 voivodeships with new districts.

Cities In 1975 many towns that had previously been large communal villages were incorporated as cities.

During the second half of the 1970s eight towns lost their civic rights and were merged into neighbouring cities, while several cities that had previously lost their identity and absorbed into metropolitan conurbations regained their independence: Poręba, Sławków, Międzyzdroje, Bieruń, Lędziny, Wojkowice, Rydułtowy, Pszów, Miasteczko Śląskie, Imielin, Radlin, Radzionków and Zagórz.

List of voivodeships From 1975 until 1998 Poland was divided into the following voivodeships:

Maplocation Voivodeship Provincialcapital Area, km2(1998) Population(1998) Cities Gmina Biała PodlaskaVoivodeship Biała Podlaska 5,348 309,900 6 35 BiałystokVoivodeship Białystok 10,055 701,400 17 49 Bielsko-BiałaVoivodeship Bielsko-Biała 3,704 927,500 18 59 BydgoszczVoivodeship Bydgoszcz 10,349 1,136,900 27 55 ChełmVoivodeship Chełm 3,866 248,800 4 25 CiechanówVoivodeship Ciechanów 6,362 437,400 9 45 CzęstochowaVoivodeship Częstochowa 6,182 779,600 17 49 ElblągVoivodeship Elbląg 6,103 495,100 15 37 GdańskVoivodeship Gdańsk 7,394 1,469,400 19 43 Gorzów WielkopolskiVoivodeship Gorzów,Wielkopolski 8,484 514,300 21 38 Jelenia GóraVoivodeship Jelenia Góra 4,379 523,700 24 28 KaliszVoivodeship Kalisz 6,512 724,800 20 53 KatowiceVoivodeship Katowice 6,650 3,894,900 43 46 KielceVoivodeship Kielce 9,211 1,131,700 17 69 KoninVoivodeship Konin 5,139 480,800 18 45 KoszalinVoivodeship Koszalin 8,470 527,600 17 35 KrakówVoivodeship Kraków 3,254 1,245,000 10 38 KrosnoVoivodeship Krosno 5,702 510,100 12 37 LegnicaVoivodeship Legnica 4,037 525,600 11 31 LesznoVoivodeship Leszno 4,154 399,500 19 28 LublinVoivodeship Lublin 6,792 1,027,300 16 62 ŁomżaVoivodeship Łomża 6,684 352,900 12 39 ŁódźVoivodeship Łódź 1,524 1,099,700 8 11 Nowy SączVoivodeship Nowy Sącz 5,576 747,500 14 41 OlsztynVoivodeship Olsztyn 12,327 778,200 21 48 OpoleVoivodeship Opole 8,535 1,022,100 29 61 OstrołękaVoivodeship Ostrołęka 6,498 411,600 9 38 PiłaVoivodeship Piła 8,205 496,900 24 35 PiotrkówVoivodeship Piotrków Trybunalski 6,266 642,200 10 51 PłockVoivodeship Płock 5,117 520,900 9 44 PoznańVoivodeship Poznań 8,151 1,363,600 33 57 PrzemyślVoivodeship Przemyśl 4,437 415,600 9 35 RadomVoivodeship Radom 7,294 763,300 15 61 RzeszówVoivodeship Rzeszów 4,397 648,900 13 41 SiedlceVoivodeship Siedlce 8,499 661,400 12 66 SieradzVoivodeship Sieradz 4,868 411,500 9 40 SkierniewiceVoivodeship Skierniewice 3,960 423,700 8 36 SłupskVoivodeship Słupsk 7,453 429,700 11 31 SuwałkiVoivodeship Suwałki 10,490 489,200 14 42 SzczecinVoivodeship Szczecin 9,982 995,200 29 50 TarnobrzegVoivodeship Tarnobrzeg 6,283 609,100 14 46 TarnówVoivodeship Tarnów 4,151 700,800 9 41 ToruńVoivodeship Toruń 5,348 674,800 13 41 WałbrzychVoivodeship Wałbrzych 4,168 733,000 31 30 WarszawaVoivodeship Warsaw 3,788 2,419,800 27 32 WłocławekVoivodeship Włocławek 4,402 434,700 14 30 WrocławVoivodeship Wrocław 6,287 1,136,700 16 33 ZamośćVoivodeship Zamość 6,980 489,300 5 47 Zielona GóraVoivodeship Zielona Góra 8,868 679,300 26 50

See also Voivodeships of Poland

Notes