LESSER POLAND VOIVODESHIP

'Lesser Poland Voivodeship' (also "'Małopolska Province'" — Polish: ''województwo małopolskie'') is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland. It has an area of 15,108 square kilometers, and a population of 3,271,206.
It was created January 1, 1999, out of the former Kraków, Tarnów, Nowy Sącz and parts of Bielsko-Biała and Katowice voivodeships, pursuant to the 1998 Local Government Reorganization Act. The province's name recalls the region's traditional name, Małopolska.
The province is bounded on the north by ''Góry Świętokrzyskie'' (the Świętokrzyskie Mountains), on the west by ''Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska'' (a broad range of hills stretching from Kraków to Częstochowa), and on the south by the Tatra,
Pieniny and Beskidy Mountains.
Malopolska Province is part of the broader ancient Malopolska Region which, with Greater Poland (''Wielkopolska'') and Silesia (''Śląsk''), formed the early medieval Polish state.
Almost all of Lesser Poland lies in the Vistula River catchment area. The city of Kraków was one of the European Cities of Culture in 2000. Kraków has railway and road connections with Katowice (expressway), Warsaw, Wrocław and Rzeszów. It lies at the crossroads of major international routes linking Dresden with Kiev, and Gdańsk with Budapest. Located here is the second largest international airport in Poland (after Warsaw's), the John Paul II International Airport.

Contents

Economy

Universities

Tourism

Administrative division

Cities and towns

Most popular surnames in the region

References

Economy

The region's economy includes high technology, banking, chemical and metallurgical industries, coal, ore, food processing, and spirit and tobacco industries. The most industrialised city of the voivodeship is Kraków. The largest regional enterprise operates here, the Tadeusz Sendzimir Steelworks in Nowa Huta, employing 17,500 people. Another major industrial center is located in the west, in the neighbourhood of Chrzanów (chiefly the production of railway engines) and Oświęcim (chemical works). Kraków Park Technologiczny, a Special Economic Zone, has been established within the voivodeship. There are almost 210,000 registered economic entities operating in the voivodeship, mostly small and medium-sized, of which 234 belong to the state-owned sector. Foreign investment, growing in the region, reached approximately USD 18.3 billion by the end of 2006.

Universities

130,000 students attend fifteen Kraków institutions of higher learning. The Jagiellonian University, the largest university in the city (44,200 students), was founded in 1364 as Cracow Academy. Nicolaus Copernicus and Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II) graduated from it. The AGH University of Science and Technology (29,800 students) is considered to be the best technical university in Poland. The Academy of Economics, the Pedagogical University, the Kraków University of Technology and the Agricultural Academy are also very highly regarded. There are also the Fine Arts Academy, the State Theatre University and the Musical Academy. Nowy Sącz has become a major educational center in the region thanks to its Higher School of Business and Administration, with an American curriculum, founded in 1992. The school has 4,500 students. There are also two private higher schools in Tarnów.

Tourism

Four national parks and numerous reserves have been established in the voivodeship to protect the environment of Lesser Poland. The region has areas for tourism and recreation, including Zakopane (Poland's most popular winter resort) and the Tatra, Pieniny and Beskidy Mountains. The natural landscape features many historic sites. The salt mine at Wieliczka, the pilgrimage town of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, and Kraków's Old Town are ranked by UNESCO among the most precious sites of world heritage. At Wadowice, birthplace of John Paul II (50 kilometers southwest of Kraków) is a museum dedicated to the late Pope's childhood. The area of Oświęcim, with the former Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz-I and Auschwitz-II-Birkenau, is visited annually by half a million people. Another tourist destination is the town of Bochnia with its salt mine, Europe's oldest.

Administrative division

#Kraków City County
#Nowy Sącz City County
#Tarnów City County
#Bochnia County, powiat bocheński, Bochnia
#Brzesko County, powiat brzeski, Brzesko
#Chrzanów County, powiat chrzanowski, Chrzanów
#Dąbrowa Tarnowska County, powiat dąbrowski, Dąbrowa Tarnowska
#Gorlice County, powiat gorlicki, Gorlice
#Kraków County, powiat krakowski, Kraków
#Limanowa County, powiat limanowski, Limanowa
#Miechów County, powiat miechowski, Miechów
#Myślenice County, powiat myślenicki, Myślenice
#Nowy Sącz County, powiat nowosądecki, Nowy Sącz
#Nowy Targ County, powiat nowotarski, Nowy Targ
#Olkusz County, powiat olkuski, Olkusz
#Oświęcim County, powiat oświęcimski, Oświęcim
#Proszowice County, powiat proszowicki, Proszowice
#Sucha County, powiat suski, Sucha Beskidzka
#Tarnów County, powiat tarnowski, Tarnów
#Tatra County, powiat tatrzański, Zakopane
#Wadowice County, powiat wadowicki, Wadowice
#Wieliczka County, powiat wielicki, Wieliczka

Cities and towns

The voivodeship has 57 cities and towns, including 3 cities that are urban counties. The list below orders ranks them by population, according to GUS data from December 31, 2006.

No	CoA	city	population	area
1		Kraków	756 267	326,80 km²
2		Tarnów	123 697	72,38 km²
3		Nowy Sącz	89 484	57,06 km²
4		Olkusz	40 985	25,66 km²
5		Oświęcim	40 809	30,30 km²
6		Chrzanów	40 704	38,31 km²
7		Bochnia	37 402	29,89 km²
8		Nowy Targ	33 480	50,42 km²
9		Gorlice	28 645	23,56 km²
10		Zakopane	27 261	84,35 km²
11		Skawina	23 623	20,48 km²
12		Andrychów	21 998	10,28 km²
13		Wadowice	19 181	10,63 km²
14		Trzebinia	18 739	31,30 km²
15		Libiąż	17 554	35,88 km²
16		Wolbrom	15 075	9,81 km²
17		Wieliczka	15 060	13,37 km²
18		Kęty	15 047	23,14 km²
19		Myślenice	15 035	30,14 km²
20		Brzesko	14 826	11,73 km²
21		Limanowa	14 693	18,64 km²
22		Rabka-Zdrój	13 014'	36,59 km²
23		Miechów	11 709	15,49 km²
24		Brzeszcze	11 704	19,17 km²
25		Dąbrowa Tarnowska	11 274	23,07 km²
26		Krynica-Zdrój	11 226	40,17 km²
27		Bukowno	10 637	63,42 km²
28		Krzeszowice	9951	16,84 km²
29		Sucha Beskidzka	9699	27,46 km²
30		Chełmek	9073	8,31 km²
31		Stary Sącz	8992	16,56 km²
32		Niepołomice	8677	27,08 km²
33		Mszana Dolna	7504	27,10 km²
34		Szczawnica	7363	87,89 km²
35		Tuchów	6520	18,15 km²
36		Sułkowice	6337	16,46 km²
37		Proszowice	6200	7,21 km²
38		Dobczyce	6122	12,97 km²
39		Grybów	6066	17,00 km²
40		Piwniczna-Zdrój	5780	38,30 km²
41		Maków Podhalański	5695	20,04 km²
42		Jordanów	5113	20,92 km²
43		Muszyna	4989	23,96 km²
44		Biecz	4575	17,80 km²
45		Kalwaria Zebrzydowska	4466	5,50 km²
46		Słomniki	4316	3,34 km²
47		Żabno	4262	11,12 km²
48		Zator	3679	11,53 km²
49		Skała	3677	2,97 km²
50		Wojnicz	3404	8,50 km²
51		Alwernia	3388	8,87 km²
52		Ryglice	2817	25,08 km²
53		Nowy Wiśnicz	2741	5,05 km²
54		Ciężkowice	2389	9,99 km²
55		Czchów	2219'	14,08 km²
56		Świątniki Górne	2113	4,44 km²
57		Zakliczyn	1558	4,02 km²

Most popular surnames in the region

# Nowak : 23,671
# Wójcik : 13,347
# Zając : 10,206

References

★ Małopolskie Voivodship Official Site

★ Photo- and Topographic Maps of the whole region

★ Agency for Regional Development of Lesser Poland - MARR

★ Tourism Information of Małopolskie Voivodship

★ Małopolska Province invites

★ General statistics

★ Photos of Krakow, Tatry, Zakopane

★ Info about the Lesser Poland - Malopolska Province