'Łódź Voivodeship' (also "'Łódź Province'" —
Polish: ''województwo łódzkie'') is a
province of central
Poland created
January 1,
1999, out of the former Łódź voivodeship (1975-99) and the
Sieradz,
Piotrków Trybunalski,
Skierniewice and part of the
Płock Voivodeships, pursuant to the 1998 Local Government Reorganization Act. The province's name recalls that of the region's largest city,
Łódź.
Administrative divisions
The ''
powiats'' (counties) of Łódź Voivodeship are:
★
'Łódź' Municipal powiat
★
'Piotrków Trybunalski' Municipal powiat
★
'Skierniewice' municipal powiat
★
Powiat of Bełchatów,
Bełchatów
★
Powiat of Brzeziny,
Brzeziny
★
Powiat of Kutno,
Kutno
★
Powiat of Łask,
Łask
★
Powiat of Łęczyca,
Łęczyca
★
Powiat of Łowicz,
Łowicz
★
Powiat of Łódź East,
Łódź
★
Powiat of Opoczno,
Opoczno
★
Powiat of Pabianice,
Pabianice
★
Powiat of Pajęczno,
Pajęczno
★
Powiat of Piotrków Trybunalski,
Piotrków Trybunalski
★
Powiat of Poddębice,
Poddębice
★
Powiat of Radomsko,
Radomsko
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Powiat of Rawa,
Rawa Mazowiecka
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Powiat of Sieradz,
Sieradz
★
Powiat of Skierniewice,
Skierniewice
★
Powiat of Tomaszów Mazowiecki,
Tomaszów Mazowiecki
★
Powiat of Wieluń,
Wieluń
★
Powiat of Wieruszów,
Wieruszów
★
Powiat of Zduńska Wola,
Zduńska Wola
★
Powiat of Zgierz,
Zgierz
List of cities and towns
The voivodeship has 43 cities and towns, among them 3 cities which are city counties. The list below orders them by population and also gives the area (data from December 31, 2005):
★
Łódź - '767.628'
(294,39 km²)
★
Piotrków Trybunalski - '79.670'
(67,26 km²)
★
Pabianice - '70.743'
(32,98 km²)
★
Tomaszów Mazowiecki - '66.859'
(41,30 km²)
★
Bełchatów - '62.192'
(34,63 km²)
★
Zgierz - '58.351'
(42,32 km²)
★
Radomsko - '49.331'
(51,45 km²)
★
Skierniewice - '48.807'
(32,86 km²)
★
Kutno - '47.750'
(33,59 km²)
★
Zduńska Wola - '44.495'
(24,58 km²)
★
Sieradz - '44.202'
(51,22 km²)
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Łowicz - '30.305'
(23,41 km²)
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Wieluń - '24.384'
(16,90 km²)
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Opoczno - '22.755'
(24,76 km²)
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Ozorków - '20.623'
(15,47 km²)
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Aleksandrów Łódzki - '20.486'
(13,47 km²)
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Łask - '18.811'
(15,33 km²)
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Rawa Mazowiecka - '17.635'
(13,67 km²)
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Konstantynów Łódzki - '17.532'
(26,87 km²)
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Łęczyca - '15.466'
(8,95 km²)
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Głowno - '15.181'
(19,82 km²)
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Koluszki - '13.355'
(9,41 km²)
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Brzeziny - '12.377'
(21,58 km²)
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Żychlin - '8.938'
(8,69 km²)
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Wieruszów - '8.792'
(5,98 km²)
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Zelów - '8.148'
(10,75 km²)
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Poddębice - '7.882'
(5,89 km²)
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Tuszyn - '7.199'
(23,25 km²)
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Pajęczno - '6.682'
(20,21 km²)
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Sulejów - '6.378'
(26,25 km²)
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Działoszyn - '6.296'
(4,94 km²)
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Krośniewice - '4.681'
(2,96 km²)
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Drzewica - '3.954'
(4,90 km²)
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Przedbórz - '3.778'
(6,13 km²)
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Stryków - '3.589'
(8,15 km²)
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Złoczew - '3.400'
(13,80 km²)
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Warta - '3.390'
(10,84 km²)
★

24 px
Rzgów - '3.336'
(16,26 km²)
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Biała Rawska - '3.201'
(9,62 km²)
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Uniejów - '2.938'
(12,33 km²)
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Kamieńsk - '2.836'
(11,99 km²)
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Błaszki - '2.205'
(1,62 km²)
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Szadek - '2.036'
(17,99 km²)
== Most popular
surnames in the region ==
#
Nowak : 15,460
#
Kowalski : 15,005
#
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
Poland (
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 biggest 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. The City of Łódź was excluded as a separate City Voivodeship. It was later broken up, superseded by Łódź (see below),
Sieradz,
Piotrków Trybunalski,
Skierniewice and partly
Płock
Łódź Voivodeship, also known as Łódź Metropolitan Voivodeship (''województwo miejskie łódzkie'') existed in
Poland in the years
1975-
1998, superseded by the present Łódź Voivodeship. The President of the City of Łódź was also the voivodeship governor.
As of 1995, major cities and towns in the third definition included (with their 1995 populations)
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Łódź (825,600);
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Pabianice (75,700);
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Zgierz (59,100);
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Ozorków (21,900);
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Aleksandrów Łódzki (20,400).
External links
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Województwo Łódzkie Official website