Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland. It generates 11.9% of Polish GDP and is characterized by a high life satisfaction, low income inequalities, and high wages. The region has a diversified geography. The Beskid Mountains cover most of the southern part of the voivodeship, with the highest peak of Pilsko on the Polish-Slovakian border reaching above sea level. Silesian Upland dominates the central part of the region, while the hilly, limestone Polish Jura closes it from the northeast.

Katowice urban area The Katowice urban area (, ), also known as the Upper Silesian urban area (, ), is an urban area/conurbation in southern Poland, centered on Katowice. It is located in the Silesian Voivodeship. The Katowice urban area is the largest urban are ...

, located in the central part of the region, is the second most-populous urban area in Poland after

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, with 2.2 million people, and one of Poland's seven supra-regional metropolises, while

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; ) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 mi) from the Czech Republic, Czech border. It i ...

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; ; , ; ) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 166,765 as of December 2022, making it the List of cities and towns in Poland#Largest cities and towns by population, 22nd largest city in Poland, and an a ...

and

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship. However, Częstochowa is historically part of Lesser Poland, not Si ...

and their respective urban areas are classified among the country's 15 regional agglomerations. Despite the voivodeship's name, only the western half of its area is considered to be a part of the historical region of

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. The eastern part of Silesian Voivodeship was historically part of

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

, while a small part in the north of the region was historically considered a part of

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

History

Interwar Poland

Silesian Voivodeship was first created in 1920 when the newly independent Polish state established an

autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, zone, entity, unit, region, subdivision, province, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or territory, internal territory of a sovereign state that has ...

for all historical lands of Upper Silesia that were to end up in Poland. At the time, Upper Silesia was under international control, and a

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

was to be held in 1921 to divide the region between Germany and Poland following local results. Katowice has been chosen to be the provincial capital. In 1938, following the annexation of Trans-Olza region by Poland, the voivodeship's area was expanded to include these new territories. The interwar region did not include more than half of its current area, which were parts of the Kielce voivodeship ( Sosnowiec and

areas), Kraków voivodeship ( Jaworzno and

Żywiec Żywiec () is a town on the River Soła in southern Poland with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). It is situated within the Silesian Voivodeship, near the Żywiec Lake and Żywiec Landscape Park, one of the eight protected areas in the voivodeship. H ...

areas) or

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(cities of

Zabrze Zabrze (; German: 1915–1945: , full form: , , ) is an industrial city put under direct government rule in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It lies in the western part of the Metropolis GZM, a metropolis with a population of around 2 m ...

and Bytom as well as

Gliwice Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

and Racibórz areas).

German occupation

After the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939, Polish administrative divisions ceased to exist. Nazi Germany annexed most of the current voivodeship's area directly into the German province of Silesia (''Gau Schlesien'') with capital in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

(''Breslau'') as the governmental district of Katowice (''Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz''). This new district included both historically Silesian areas as well as western parts of Lesser Poland. Northern parts of what is the Silesian Voivodeship today, with Częstochowa, found themselves in the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

area. In 1941, the province of Silesia was split into Lower Silesia (with a capital in Wrocław) and Upper Silesia (with a capital in Katowice), the latter of which included the governmental district of Opole in addition to the one of Katowice.

Socialist Poland

Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the new communist government of Poland cancelled the autonomous status of the Silesian voivodeship and established a new Silesian-Dabrowa voivodeship (''województwo śląsko-dąbrowskie''), the area of which roughly corresponded to the German province of Upper Silesia. The name of this region reflected both the Silesian part and the Dąbrowa Basin part. In 1950,

Opole voivodeship Opole Voivodeship ( , , ), is the smallest and least populated voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province's name derives from that of the region's capital and largest city, Opole. It is part of Silesia. A relatively lar ...

was created from the western part of Silesian-Dabrowa voivodeship, and the name of the remaining area changed to Katowice voivodeship. The new region's borders included, for the first time, the Częstochowa area, and roughly resembled the contemporary Silesian Voivodeship. Between 1956–59, the name of the region was changed to Stalinogród voivodeship (''województwo stalinogrodzkie''), reflecting Katowice's forced name change to Stalinogród following the death of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. In 1975, a new administrative reform introduced 49 new voivodeships. The area of today's Silesian Voivodeship was divided between Częstochowa voivodeship (''województwo częstochowskie'') in the north, Katowice voivodeship (''województwo katowickie'') in the center, and Bielsko-Biała voivodeship (''województwo bielskie'') in the south.

After 1989

As Poland aimed to join the European Union, European negotiators named administrative reform as one of the conditions for accession. As such, in 1999, a new administrative division was introduced, reducing the number of voivodeships from 49 to 16. A Silesian voivodeship has emerged from the reform, with its capital in Katowice, and consisting of most municipalities of the former Katowice, Częstochowa, and Bielsko-Biała voivodeships.

Geography

The Silesian Voivodeship borders both the

Moravian-Silesian Region The Moravian-Silesian Region () is one of the 14 administrative regions of the Czech Republic. Before May 2001, it was called the Ostrava Region (). The region is located in the north-eastern part of its historical region of Moravia and in most ...

(

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Žilina Region The Žilina Region (; ; ) is one of the eight Regions of Slovakia, Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts (okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region was established in 1923, however, in its p ...

(

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

) to the south. It is also bordered by four other Polish voivodeships: those of Opole (to the west),

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

(to the north), Świętokrzyskie (to the north-east), and

(to the east). The region includes the Silesian Upland (') in the centre and north-west, and the Krakowsko-Częstochowska Upland (') in the north-east. The southern border is formed by the Beskidy Mountains ( Beskid Śląski and Beskid Żywiecki). The current administrative unit of Silesian Voivodeship is just a fraction of the historical

, which is within the borders of today's Poland (there are also fragments of Silesia in the Czech Republic and Germany). Other parts of today's Polish Silesia are administered as the Opole, the Lower Silesian Voivodeships and the

Lubusz Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in western Poland with a population of 972,140. Its regional capitals are Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra. The region is characterized by a landscape of forests, lake ...

. On the other hand, a large part of the current administrative unit of the Silesian Voivodeship is not part of historical Silesia (e.g.,

Zawiercie Zawiercie () () is a town in southern Poland located in the Silesian Voivodeship with 49,334 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland near the source of the Warta River. The town lies near the historical region of Sil ...

, Myszków, Jaworzno, Sosnowiec,

Dąbrowa Górnicza Dąbrowa Górnicza () is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula Rive ...

, Będzin and east part of

, which were historically parts of

Demography

Population

More than one out of every nine of Poland's residents live in the Silesian voivodeship. According to the Polish Statistics Office, the region's population was 4.32 million at the end of 2023, a decrease of 6% from 10 years earlier. Similarly to Poland, the Silesian voivodeship has suffered extremely low fertility and an intensifying natural population decrease. In 2023, the total fertility rate was only 1.10, well below the 2.1 required to sustain a population size and slightly below the Polish average of 1.11. 27,641 people were born while 51,723 died, a natural decrease of -24,082. In 2023, 19.1% of the population was under 20, 32.2% was 20–44 years old, 27.4% was 45–64, while 21.3% were 65 or older. Silesian voivodeship is the most densely populated and most urbanized region of Poland. More than three-fourths of residents live in urban areas, compared to less than 60% on average in Poland. Population density is nearly three times the average, with more than 350 people per square kilometer (nearly 1,000 per square mile). Population density is particularly high in the central part of the region where the polycentric Katowice urban area is located. Population density in the Silesian voivodeship

Aside from Polish citizens, a large immigrant population resides in the region and is not counted towards official population statistics in Poland. As of November 2024, 99,542 foreigners living in the region paid into social security, and in the 2023/24 academic year, 31,111 foreign students attended primary and secondary schools in the region. In addition, following the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the region has attracted many refugees. As of January 2025, 99,545 Ukrainian refugees settled in the Silesian voivodeship.

Religion

Silesian voivodeship is the most religiously diverse region of Poland. In the 2021 census, 71.39% of residents declared they have belonged to a religion, of which

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

was the largest denomination with 3.063 million adherents (69.57% of total). The region is divided into five ecclesial provinces: * Archdiocese of Katowice with its suffragan Diocese of Gliwice covers all of the former Prussian lands in the voivodeship * Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec covers all of the former Austro-Hungarian lands in the voivodeship and is a suffragan to the

Archdiocese of Kraków In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

* Archdiocese of Częstochowa with its suffragan Diocese of Sosnowiec covers all of the former Russian lands in the voivodeship Jasna Góra in Częstochowa, located in the northern part of the voivodeship, is the most-visited shrine in Poland and features the Black Madonna icon. Silesian voivodeship is also the center of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, in particular

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, in Poland. Wisła and Goleszów are the only municipalities in Poland where Lutheranism is the plurality religion, at 46.7% and 37.47% of the total population, respectively. In total, there are 53,980 Protestants in the region (1.23% of the region's population and 42.7% of all protestants in Poland).

Origins

In terms of nationality and ethnicity, the 2021 Polish census allowed responders to select up to two nationalities and ethnicities. Polish nationality was selected by 95.49% of residents, while 13.08% indicated other nationalities; in addition to the Polish one or separately. Silesian and German nationalities were the largest, declared by 517,100 and 27,923 residents, respectively. The 2021 census did not count most of recent immigrants towards the resident population but instead considered them as temporary residents. According to the census, 119,594 of such temporary residents lived in the Silesian voivodeship, and the majority of them were Ukrainians.

Tourism

Both the northern and southern parts of the voivodeship are surrounded by a

green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

is enveloped by the Beskidy Mountains which are popular with winter sports fans. It offers over 150 ski lifts and 200 kilometres of ski routes. More and more slopes are illuminated and equipped with artificial snow generators. Szczyrk, Brenna, Wisła and Ustroń are the most popular winter mountain resorts. Rock climbing sites can be found in Jura Krakowsko-Czestochowska. In the south-western part of the voivodeship are parks and old monasteries ( Rudy Raciborskie, Wodzisław Śląski). Along the Oder River are interesting natural reserves and places for swimming during the summer. There are numerous castles and palaces in the voivodeship, including the medieval castles of the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

in Będzin,

, Racibórz, and the castles forming the Trail of the Eagle's Nests, including at Bobolice, Mirów, Ogrodzieniec and

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ) is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, city with county rights. The population of the city was estimated at 169,793 residents Olsz ...

. The best-preserved palaces include those at Brynek, Kłobuck, Koniecpol, Kończyce Wielkie, Pławniowice, Sosnowiec and Złoty Potok. Often visited is the Black Madonna's Jasna Góra Sanctuary in

– the annual destination of over 4 million pilgrims from all over the world. Another local pilgrimage destination is the Basilica of St. Mary and St. Bartholomew in Piekary Śląskie. Other notable historic churches include the St. Nicholas' Chapel in

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Repu ...

, a Romanesque rotunda, depicted on the 20 złotych note, and the St. Mary Magdalene Church in Cieszyn, which contains several sarcophagi of Polish dukes from the

. There are three

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...

s in the voivodeship: Goczałkowice-Zdrój, Jastrzębie-Zdrój, and Ustroń. With its more than two centuries of industrial history, the region has many technical heritage memorials. These include narrow and standard gauge railways, coal and silver mines, and shafts and their equipment from the 19th and 20th centuries. The historic coal mine complex in

is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland, and the Historic Silver Mine in Tarnowskie Góry is listed as both a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

and Historic Monument of Poland. There are numerous memorials to Polish uprisings against foreign rule, including the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

of 1863–1864 and Silesian Uprisings of 1919–1921, and Świętochłowice hosts the Silesian Uprisings Museum. There are numerous

memorials in the voivodeship, including at the sites of Nazi massacres of Poles and Jews, and the sites of former Nazi German forced labour camps and prisons. The Gliwice Radio Tower and Katowice Parachute Tower are local symbols of German provocation and Polish resistance during the war, respectively. 2012 Powiat cieszyński, Cieszyn, Rynek, Ratusz i dawny hotel Pod Brunatnym Jeleniem.jpg, Cieszyn Old Town 20140619 Zamek Bobolice 3914.jpg, Bobolice Royal Castle Pałac w Pszczynie 38.JPG, Pszczyna Castle in Pszczyna Częstochowa, Jasna Góra, wieża bazyliki , brama Lubomirskich - DSCF7204.jpg,

Jasna Góra Monastery The Jasna Góra Monastery ( , ''Luminous or Light Mountain'', ) in Częstochowa, Poland, is a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary and one of the country's places of pilgrimage. The image of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, also known as Ou ...

SZTOLNIA GŁĘBOKA FRYDERYK - część trasy turystycznej pn. Sztolnia Czarnego Pastrąga.jpg, Historic Silver Mine in Tarnowskie Góry

Cities and towns

Due to its industrial and urban nature, the voivodeship has many cities and large towns. Of Poland's 40 most populous cities, 12 are in Silesian Voivodeship. 19 of the cities in the voivodeship have the legal status of ''city-county'' (see

powiat A ''powiat'' (; ) is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture (Local administrative unit, LAU-1 ormerly Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS-4 ...

). In all, it has 24 cities and 47 towns, listed below in descending order of population (as of 2019):

Economy

The

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

(GDP) of the province was 61 billion € in 2018, accounting for 12.3% of the Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 22,200 € or 74% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 83% of the EU average. Silesia Voivodeship is the province with the fourth-highest GDP per capita in Poland. The Silesian voivodeship is predominantly an industrial region. Most of the mining is derived from one of the world's largest bituminous

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

fields of the Upper Silesian Industrial District (') and the

Coal District (') with its major cities

, Jastrzębie-Zdrój,

Żory Żory (; , , ) is a town and city powiat, county in the Silesian Voivodeship, located in southern Poland with 62,848 inhabitants (2021). It is located in the historic Upper Silesia region about southwest of Katowice. Location Żory is located in ...

and Wodzisław Śląski.

Lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

can be found near Bytom,

and Tarnowskie Góry;

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

and raw materials for building – near

. The most important regional industries are: mining, iron, lead, and zinc metallurgy, power industry, engineering, automobile, chemical, building materials, and textile. In the past, the Silesian economy was determined by coal mining. Now, considering the investment volume, car manufacturing is becoming more and more important. The most profitable company in the region is

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

Auto-Poland S.A. in Bielsko-Biała with a revenue of PLN 6.2 billion in 1997. Recently a new car factory has been opened by GM

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

in Gliwice. There are two

Special Economic Zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

s in the area: Katowice and Częstochowa. The voivodeship's economy consists of about 323,000, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, employing over 3 million people. The biggest Polish steelworks, "Huta Katowice", is situated in

. The unemployment rate stood at 3.9% in 2017 and was lower than the national average.

Transport

Katowice International Airport Katowice Wojciech Korfanty Airport () is an international airport, located in Pyrzowice, north of Katowice, Poland. The airport is named after Wojciech Korfanty, a politician of the early years of Polish independence. It is List of airports in ...

(in Tarnowskie Góry County) is used for domestic and international flights, with the other nearby airports being John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice. The Silesian agglomeration railway network has the largest concentration in the country. The voivodship capital enjoys good railway and road connections with

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

( motorway A1) and

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

(motorway A1),

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

( motorway A4),

(motorway A4),

(motorway A1) and

. It is also the crossing point for many international routes like E40 connecting

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and E75 from

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

to the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. A relatively short distance to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

facilitates cross-border co-operation and may positively influence the process of European integration. Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa (known by its acronym ''LHS'', English: ''Broad gauge metallurgy line'') in Sławków is the longest

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

railway line in Poland. The line runs on a single track for almost 400 km from the Polish- Ukrainian border, crossing it just east of

Hrubieszów Hrubieszów (; ; , or ) is a town in southeastern Poland, with a population of around 18,212 (2016). It is the capital of Hrubieszów County within the Lublin Voivodeship. Throughout history, the town's culture and architecture was strongly shaped ...

. It is the westernmost broad-gauge railway line in Europe that is connected to the broad-gauge rail system of the countries of the former Soviet Union. A large part of the Upper Silesia conurbation features the Silesian Interurbans, the longest tram network in Poland, and one of the largest in the world. Bus and tram transport in and around Katowice and surrounding cities has been managed by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (ZTM) since 2019.

Education

Gliwice Strzody Czerwona Chemia 04 09 2011 P9049533

There are eleven public universities in the voivodeship. The biggest university is the University of Silesia in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

, with 43,000 students. The region's capital boasts the

Medical University A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

, the Karol Adamiecki University of Economics in Katowice, the University of Music in Katowice, the Physical Education Academy, and the Academy of Fine Arts.

is the seat of the Częstochowa University of Technology and Pedagogic University. The Silesian University of Technology in

is nationally renowned.

is home of the Technical-Humanistic Academy. In addition, 17 new private schools have been established in the region. There are over 300,000 people currently studying in the Voivodeship. The biggest universitiesLista uczelni i szkół w Województwie śląskim
(for day 30.11.2016 r.) are: # Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach (23 133 students), # Politechnika Śląska w Gliwicach (21 366 students), # Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Katowicach (10 345 students), # Śląski Uniwersytet Medyczny w Katowicach (9 870 students), # Politechnika Częstochowska (7 881 students), # Akademia Techniczno-Humanistyczna w Bielsku-Białej (5 482 students), # Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego im. Jerzego Kukuczki w Katowicach (4 727 students), # Uniwersytet Humanistyczno-Przyrodniczy im. Jana Długosza w Częstochowie (4 525 students).

Politics

The Silesian voivodeship's government is headed by the province's ' (

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

) who is appointed by the Polish Prime Minister. The ' is then assisted in performing his duties by the voivodeship's marshal, who is the appointed speaker for the voivodeship's executive and is elected by the ' (provincial assembly). The current ' of Silesia is Jarosław Wieczorek, whilst the present marshal is Wojciech Saługa. The Sejmik of Silesia consists of 48 members.

2024 election

Administrative division

Silesian Voivodeship is divided into 36 counties (

s). These include 19 city counties (far more than any other voivodeship) and 17 land counties. The counties are further divided into 167

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...

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

Protected areas

Protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

s in Silesian Voivodeship include eight areas designated as Landscape Parks: * Eagle Nests Landscape Park (partly in

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

) * Little Beskids Landscape Park (partly in Lesser Poland Voivodeship) * Rudy Landscape Park * Silesian Beskids Landscape Park * Stawki Landscape Park * Upper Liswarta Forests Landscape Park * Załęcze Landscape Park (partly in

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced . Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship ...

) * Żywiec Landscape Park

Sports

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

enjoy the largest following in the voivodeship, with several successful teams. Most accomplished clubs include men's football clubs Górnik Zabrze and Ruch Chorzów, women's football club Czarni Sosnowiec, speedway team KS ROW Rybnik, ice hockey team GKS Katowice, men's volleyball team Jastrzębski Węgiel and women's volleyball team BKS Bielsko-Biała. Since the establishment of the province, several major international sports competitions were co-hosted by the province, including the EuroBasket 2009, 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, 2016 European Men's Handball Championship, 2017 Men's European Volleyball Championship, 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship, 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, 2021 Men's European Volleyball Championship, 2023 World Men's Handball Championship.

Curiosities

* Bytom,

, Racibórz and Siewierz are former medieval ducal seats of the

. *One of the three parish churches of the

Armenian Catholic Church The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church. It accepts the papal supremacy, leadership of the bishop of Rome, and is therefore in full communion with ...

in Poland is located in

(see also: '' Armenians in Poland'').

References

External links

Województwo Śląskie
Official website {{Coord, 50, 20, 00, N, 19, 00, 01, E, region:PL-SL_type:adm1st, display=title States and territories established in 1999 1999 establishments in Poland