West Pomeranian Voivodeship or West Pomerania Province (
Polish: ''województwo zachodniopomorskie'' ) is a
voivodeship (
province) in northwestern
Poland. It borders on
Pomeranian Voivodeship to the east,
Greater Poland Voivodeship to the southeast,
Lubusz Voivodeship to the south, the
German federal-states of
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and
Brandenburg to the west, and the
Baltic Sea to the north. Its capital and largest city is
Szczecin.
It was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former
Szczecin and
Koszalin Voivodeships and parts of
Gorzów,
Piła and
Słupsk Voivodeships, pursuant to the
Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. It is named for the historical region of
Pomerania ( pl|Pomorze). In spite of the name ("West Pomeranian"), the voivodeship does not include the most westerly parts of historical Pomerania, which lie in Germany's ''Vorpommern'' (see
Western Pomerania).
The name "
Pomerania" comes from the
Slavic ''"po more"'', meaning "Land by the Sea".
Geography and tourism
]]
West Pomeranian Voivodeship is the fifth largest voivodeship of Poland in terms of area. Among the largest cities, of the region, are the capital
Szczecin, as well as
Koszalin,
Stargard, and
Świnoujście.
This is a picturesque region of the
Baltic Sea coast, with many beaches, lakes and woodlands. Szczecin,
Świnoujście and
Police are important
ports. Other major seaside towns include
Międzyzdroje,
Dziwnów,
Kołobrzeg, and
Mielno.
West Pomerania is considered one of the greenest regions of Poland, and one of the most attractive for tourists. It is characterized by incredible diversity of the landscape: beaches, hundreds of lakes, and forests full of wildlife (e.g.
Wkrzanska Forest), spreading mainly up the hills of the glacial lakes areas. West Pomerania is also rich in various forms and styles of architecture that were built during the Middle Ages as well as the Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance periods. There is a diverse repertoire of theaters, festivals, museums and galleries. During a few-day long annual Sea Festival in
Szczecin, a number of free
open-air concerts take place. In
Świnoujście during the summer, the
FAMA Academic Youth Arts Festival takes place – an event with several years of tradition, which attracts not only young people but also older alumni. In
Międzyzdroje, there is a Festival Of The Stars, which draws many popular actors. In
Wolin, a Viking Festival takes place, which draws "Vikings" from all across Europe.
Another draw to the area is a wide array of health resorts.
Brine and
peloid, discovered in the 19th century, together with
geothermal water resources, are popular attractions in Świnoujście,
Kamień Pomorski and
Połczyn Zdrój.
A notable phenomenon on a worldly scale is the
Crooked Forest outside the town of
Gryfino.
Cities and towns
town hall,
Chojna, built by Germans in 1320, when the town was known as ''Königsberg in der Neumark'']]
]]

]]
File:Ogród_Japoński-Przelewice.JPG.html" style="text-decoration: none;"class="mw-redirect" title="Dendrological Garden, Przelewice">File:Ogród Japoński-Przelewice.JPG">thumb|right|190px|[[Dendrological Garden, Przelewice
The voivodeship contains 66 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2019):
The Polish districts of the historical region [[Western Pomerania]] (the 3 westernmost districts of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship) had a population of about 520,000 in 2012 (cities of [[Szczecin]], [[Świnoujście]] and [[Police County]] combined) – while the [
German districts had a population of about 470,000 in 2012 (
Vorpommern-Rügen and
Vorpommern-Greifswald combined). So overall, about 1 million people live in the historical region of Western Pomerania today, while the
Szczecin agglomeration reaches even further.
Administrative division
West Pomeranian Voivodeship is divided into 21 counties (
powiats): 3 city counties and 18 land counties. These are further divided into 114
gminas.
The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population in 2019):
Protected areas
Protected areas in West Pomeranian Voivodeship include two
National Parks and seven
Landscape Parks. These are listed below.
*
Drawno National Park (partly in
Lubusz and
Greater Poland Voivodeships)
*
Wolin National Park
*
Barlinek-Gorzów Landscape Park (partly in Lubusz Voivodeship)
*
Cedynia Landscape Park
*
Drawsko Landscape Park
*
Ińsko Landscape Park
*
Lower Odra Valley Landscape Park
*
Szczecin Landscape Park
*
Ujście Warty Landscape Park (partly in Lubusz Voivodeship)
Demography
After Germany's defeat in
World War II, the region became part of Poland by way of the
Potsdam Agreement, which created territorial changes demanded by the
Soviet Union. Most Germans
fled or were expelled; the area was re-settled by Poles, most of whom had been expelled from the
Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union.
In 1948 67 percent of the populace originated from Central Poland,
Greater Poland and
Pomeralia while 25 percent came from the
Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union. Another 6 percent returned to Poland from Western Europe. About 50,000
Ukrainians were forcefully resettled to West Pomerania in the
Operation Vistula in 1947.
Education and science

*
University of Szczecin (Polish ''Uniwersytet Szczeciński'') with 35,000 students
*
Technical University in Koszalin with 14,000 students ()
*
West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin with 15,300 students (), formed as a result of merger of
Szczecin University of Technology () and
University of Agriculture in Szczecin ()
*
Pomeranian Medical University with 4,000 students ()
*
The Szczecin Academy of Arts ()
*
Maritime University of Szczecin ()
*
The West Pomeranian Business School with 3,000 students ()
*
Szczeciński Park Naukowo-Technologiczny (
science park in
Szczecin)
Economy
The
Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 18.3 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 3.7% of Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 17,700 euros or 59% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 67% of the EU average.
Industrial, science and technology parks
*
Goleniowski Park Przemysłowy (
industrial park in
Goleniów)
*
Infrapark Police (
industrial park in
Police, Poland)
*
Stargardzki Park Przemysłowy (
industrial park in
Stargard)
*
Szczeciński Park Naukowo-Technologiczny (
science park in
Szczecin)
Transportation
There are two main international road routes that pass through the voivodeship:
National road 3 (Poland) Świnoujście-Szczecin-Gorzów Wielkopolski-Zielona Góra-Legnica-Czech border (part of
European route E65 from Swedish
Malmö to
Chaniá in Greece) and
National road 6 (Poland) Szczecin-Koszalin-Słupsk-Gdańsk (part of
European route E28 from
Berlin to
Minsk).
Most of the National road 3 in the voivodeship is in a standard of an expressway (
Expressway S3 (Poland)). The National road 6 between German border and Rzęśnica is in the standard of autostrada (
A6 autostrada (Poland)), whereas part between Rzęścnica and Goleniów and bypasses of
Goleniów and
Nowogard are in standards of an expressway (
Expressway S6 (Poland)).
Other important national roads are
National road 10 (Poland) (German border-Szczecin-Piła-Bydgoscz-Toruń-Płońsk) and
National road 11 (Poland) (Kołobrzeg-Koszalin-Piła-Poznań-Bytom).
Apart from the above, some other national roads are located in the voivodeship. The voivodeship possesses also a well-developed network of regional roads.
Main railways in the province are line no. 351 Szczecin-Poznań, line no. 273 Szczecin-Wrocław (so-called “Odra railway”), line no. 202 Stargard-Gdańsk, line no. 401 Szczecin-Świnoujście and line no. 404 Kołobrzeg-Szczecinek.
The main railway stations of the province are Szczecin main station, Stargard and Koszalin. The stations are served by fast
PKP Intercity trains which connect them with the capital
Warsaw, as well as other major Polish cities.
In addition to these fast express services, inter-regional trains and intra-regional trains are operated by the firm
Przewozy Regionalne.
Szczecin main station possesses international train connections with
Berlin,
Schwerin and
Lübeck (operated by
DB Regio). Świnoujście has a direct train connection with
Stralsund, which is operated by
Usedomer Bäderbahn.
The only domestic and international airport in West Pomeranian Voivodeship is
Szczecin-Goleniów "Solidarność" Airport. Also, part of the runway of an abandoned airport in
Bagicz (near
Kołobrzeg) was converted to an airport licensed to service planes carrying not more than 20 passengers on board.
Gallery
File:Sadkowo kościół.JPG|Tychowo Parish
File:Golce Wal Pomorski 2007-05b.jpg|Plaque commemorating the battle of the Pomeranian Wall
File:2011-08 301 Spore, kościół Najświętszej rodziny (Sparsee Kirche).jpg|Church in Spore, West Pomeranian Voivodeship
File:Czaplinek rynek (1).jpg|Czaplinek was once settled by Templars
File:POL 2007 08 04 Jaroslawiec zachodniopomorskie 07.JPG|Jarosławiec (West Province)
File:Roscin church.JPG|St. Roch's Church in Roscin, Mysliborz county
File:Dworzec Krąg-Buszyno.jpg|Krąg-Buszyno station ruins
File:HerbKurBialyZSarkofaguHenrykaVonPodevils.jpg|Tumby relics
File:Przyborze-krzyze.jpg|The historic cemetery crosses at Przyborze
File:Motaniec Lapidarium.jpg|Lapidarium with remains of an old German cemetery in Motaniec, Poland
File:Kobylanka rzezba.jpg|Square in Kobylanka (West Pomeranian Province)
File:Trzesącz.JPG|Ruins of the church in Trzęsacz
File:Szczecin by night (as seen from Łasztownia).jpg|Szczecin - ''Wały Chrobrego''
File:Szczecin filharmonia (1).jpg|Szczecin Philharmonic
File:Klif-gosan-070620056.jpg|Gosań cliff, Wolin National Park
File:Kolobrzeg latarnia.jpg|Lighthouse in Kołobrzeg
File:Darlowo3.jpg|Pomeranian Dukes' Castle in Darłowo
File:Ścieżka.JPG|Dendrological Garden in Przelewice
File:Kamień Pomorski, Kathedrale St. Johannis, innen, y (2011-07-30) by Klugschnacker in Wikipedia.jpg|Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Kamień Pomorski
File:Wind turbines Cisowo 01.jpg|Wind turbines in Cisowo
File:Jezioro Ostrowiec niedaleko Głuska.JPG|Lake Ostrowiec
File:Borne Sulinowo - czołg.jpg|Borne Sulinowo
See also
*
Pomeranian (disambiguation)
*
Dukes of Pomerania
*
History of Pomerania
*
Prussia's
Province of Pomerania
*
Province of Pomerania (1653-1815)
References
External links
Westpomeranian System of Tourist InformationThe Parliament of the Westpomeranian VoivodeshipMarshal's Office of the Westpomeranian VoivodeshipVoivode's Office of the Westpomeranian VoivodeshipZrot : Official Tourism Site(Polish, English, German)
Zart : Good Tourism Site(Polish, English, German)
{{Authority control
Category:Pomerania