The Bielsko Voivodeship ( Polish: ''Województwo bielskie'') was a

voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in ...

(

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

) of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

from 1975 to 1989, and the Third Republic of Poland from 1989 to 1998. Its capital was

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 ...

. It was established on 1 June 1975, from the parts of the voivodeships of

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 ...

, and

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 ...

,''Ustawa z dnia 28 maja 1975 r. o dwustopniowym podziale administracyjnym Państwa oraz o zmianie ustawy o radach narodowych.'' In: ''1975 Journal of the Laws'', no. 16, position, 91.
and existed until 31 December 1998, when it was partitioned between then-established

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 ...

, and

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. 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 ...

s.Ustawa z dnia 24 lipca 1998 r. o wprowadzeniu zasadniczego trójstopniowego podziału terytorialnego państwa (Dz.U. z 1998 r. nr 96, poz. 603).

History

The Bielsko Voivodeship was established on 1 June 1975, as part of the administrative reform, and was one of the voivodeships (provinces) of the

. It was formed from the part of the territories of the voivodeships of

, and

. Its capital was located in the city of

. In 1975, it had a population of 779,300 people. On 9 December 1989, the Polish People's Republic was replaced by the Third Republic of Poland.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 1491. In 1997, the voivodeship had a population of 924,000 people, and had an area of 3,704 km². It existed until 31 December 1998, when it was partitioned between then-established

, and

Subdivisions

In 1997, the voivodeship was divided into 59

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 (

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

), including 8 urban municipalities, 10 urban-rural municipalities, and 18 rural municipalities. It had 18 cities and towns.
Rocznik statystyczny województw 1998
', Warsaw: Central Statistical Office, 1998, p. 40-41 (p. 41–42 of the PDF document). From 1990 to 1998, it was additionally divided into five district offices, each comprising several municipalities.

Demographics

Leaders

The leader of the administrative division was the

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

. Those were: * 1 June 1975 – February 1981: Józef Łabudek; * 10 March 1981 – 7 November 1987: Stanisław Łuczkiewicz; * 18 December 1987 – 2 April 1990: Franciszek Strzałka; * 9 April 1990 – 1 February 1994: Mirosław Styczeń; *24 February 1994 – 28 November 1997: Marek Trombski; * 9 December 1997 – 31 December 1998: Andrzej Sikora.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bielsko Voivodeship Former voivodeships of Poland (1975–1998) History of Silesian Voivodeship Bielsko-Biała States and territories established in 1975 States and territories disestablished in 1998 1975 establishments in Poland 1998 disestablishments in Poland