Kraków Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in years 1919–1939. It occupied a large area of the southern part of the country, including such cities as

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 ...

, Jaworzno and Tarnów. Its capital city was

Location and area

In early 1939, Voivodeship's area was 17,560 square kilometers. It was located in southern Poland, bordering Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship to the west, Kielce Voivodeship to the north,

Lublin Voivodeship Lublin Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin. The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lu ...

, Lwów Voivodeship to the east and

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. Landscape was hilly in the northern part and mountainous in south, with the Tatra Mountains located in the very south of the area. Forests covered 20.9%, with the national average 22.2% (as for January 1, 1937).

Industry

Kraków Voivodeship was very divided in industrial terms. Its western part, with such cities as Jaworzno, Chrzanów or Trzebinia, was to a large degree industrialized and urbanized, with some coalmines. Also Kraków and Tarnów were big industrial centers. The eastern part, on the other hand, was backward, with little industry and underdeveloped agriculture. In mid-1930s Polish government started a huge public works program, called Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy (COP), which was a great boost to overpopulated and poor central and eastern counties. The province was unofficially divided into three regions: southern (tourist), western (industrial), and eastern, with its developing industry of the COP. In 1938, the voivodeship was visited by 217,000 tourists. In early 1939, local government began a program of creation of three model tourist villages: Sol in Zywiec County, Tymbark in Limanowa County, and Szymbark in Gorlice County. Furthermore, regulation of the Vistula began in 1938, with levees built along its shores. The road connecting Kraków with Zakopane was to be completed by the end of 1939, after which funds were to be assigned to modernization of the main road from Kraków to Lwow. Due to the outbreak of

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 ...

, none of the projects were finished.

Cities and administrative divisions

In 1938, the Kraków Voivodeship consisted of 18 powiats (counties). These were as follows: * Biala Krakowska county (area 635 km², population 139,100), * Bochnia county (area 877 km², population 113,800), * Brzesko county (area 849 km², population 102,200), * Chrzanów county (area 722 km², population 138,100), * Dąbrowa Tarnowska county (area 650 km², population 66,700), * Dębica county (area 1 141 km², population 110,900), * Gorlice county (area 1 082 km², population 104,800), * Jasło county (area 1 055 km², population 116,100), * city of

county (powiat krakowski grodzki), (area 48 km², population 219,300), *

county (area 884 km², population 187,500), * Limanowa county (area 944 km², population 87,300), * Mielec county (area 901 km², population 77,500), * Myślenice county (area 988 km², population 102,700), * Nowy Sącz county (area 1 572 km², population 183,900), * Nowy Targ county (area 2 069 km², population 131,800), * Tarnów county (area 881 km², population 142,400), * Wadowice county (area 1 109 km², population 145,100), * Żywiec county (area 1 337 km², population 130,900). According to the 1931 census, biggest cities within the Voivodeship's boundaries were: * Kraków (pop. 219,300), * Tarnów (pop. 44,900), * Nowy Sącz (pop. 30,300), * Biala Krakowska (pop. 22,700), * Jaworzno (pop. 19,100), * Chrzanów (pop. 17,900), * Zakopane (pop. 16,300), * Bochnia (pop. 12,100), * Oświęcim (pop. 12,000).

Population

According to the 1921 census the voivodeship was inhabited by 1,992,810 people, of whom by nationality 1,853,654 were Poles (93.0%), 77,069 were Jews (3.9%), 49,896 were Ruthenians (2.5%), 9,570 were Germans (0.5%) and 2,621 were all others (0.1%). By religion 1,779,389 were Roman Catholics (89.3%), 152,926 were Jews (7.7%), 54,243 were Greek Catholic or Orthodox (2.7%), 5,841 were Protestants (0.3%) and 411 were all others. According to the 1931 Polish census, the population was 2,297,802, with approximately 25% living in towns and cities. Poles were 91.3% of the population,

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

were 5.6%,

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

were 2.6% and Germans were 0.4%. The Jews preferred to live in the cities and towns; in 1931 they made 19.2% of Voivodeship's urban population. Illiteracy rate (in 1931) was 13.7%, lower than the national average of 23.1%. In early 1939, population density of the province was 130 people per sq. kilometer, which was much higher than Poland's average of 83. The detailed results of the 1931 census by county are presented below:

Voivodes

* Kazimierz Junosza-Gałecki 1 September 1921 – 19 December 1923 * Karol Olpiński 6 November 1923 – 16 November 1923 (acting) * Władysław Kowalikowski 16 November 1923 – 7 July 1926 (acting till 19 December 1923 or 8 March 1924 ?) * Ludwik Darowski 1 July 1926 – 31 December 1928 * Mikołaj Kwaśniewski 1 January 1929 – 25 June 1935 * Władysław Raczkiewicz 10 August 1935 – 13 October 1935 * Kazimierz Świtalski 3 December 1935 – 20 April 1936 * Michał Gnoiński 22 April 1936 – 8 September 1937 * Józef Tymiński 9 September 1937 – September 1939

References