Provinces of Poland (województwa poland)
Zachodniopomorskie (West Pomerania)
Since 1999, Poland’s administrative division stands on three subdivision levels. Poland’s territory is segregated into states; these states are further subdivided into counties. The counties are again divided into municipalities or communes. The prominent cities in Poland usually derive the status of both counties and municipalities.
Formerly, Poland was separated into 49 voivodships or provinces depending on the bigger cities. However, a series of acts were passed in 1998 by the Polish parliament which narrowed down the number of provinces. Currently, Poland is divided into 16 provinces i.e. Greater Poland, Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Lesser Poland, Lodz, Lower Silesia, Lublin, Lubusz/ Lubuskie, Masovian, Opole, Podlasie, Pomeranian, Silesian, Subcarpathian, Swietokrzyskie, Warmian-Masurian and Western Pomeranian. Besides, Poland also houses 2,479 communes and 379 rural districts.
The recent provinces of Poland are chiefly named after the historical as well as geographical areas of the country. On the other hand, those provinces that existed before 1998 derived their names from the cities where they were centered.
Of all the sixteen provinces, Masovian province is the most populated and records an approximate population of 5.16 million inhabitants. On the other hand, with only 1.024 million inhabitants, Lubusz/Lubuskie is considered to be the most thinly populated province in Poland.
For each province, the government of Poland appoints a governor who takes care of their respective administrative authority. Besides, there’s also an elected assembly and an executive chosen by this assembly who helps the governor in managing the administrative functions.