Lubusz Voivodeship

Lubusz Voivodeship
Województwo lubuskie
Voivodeship

Flag
Coat of arms

Location within Poland

Division into counties
Country  Poland
Seats Gorzów Wielkopolski (governor)
Zielona Góra (assembly)
Counties
Area
 • Total 13,987.89 km2 (5,400.75 sq mi)
Population (2015)
 • Total 1,020,307
 • Density 73/km2 (190/sq mi)
 • Urban 663,334
 • Rural 356,973
Car plates F
Website lubuskie.pl
  • further divided into 83 gminas

Lubusz Voivodeship, or Lubuskie Province[1] (in Polish, województwo lubuskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ luˈbuskʲɛ]), is a voivodeship (province) in western Poland.

It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province's name recalls the historic Lubusz Land [2] (Lebus or Lubus), although parts of the voivodeship belong to the historic regions of Silesia, Greater Poland and Lusatia. Until 1945, it mainly formed the Neumark within the Prussian Province of Brandenburg.

The functions of regional capital are shared between two cities: Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra. Gorzów serves as the seat of the centrally appointed voivode or governor, while Zielona Góra is the seat of the elected regional assembly (sejmik) and the executive elected by that assembly, headed by the marszałek.

The region is mainly flat, with many lakes and woodlands. In the south, around Zielona Góra, grapes are cultivated.

Lubusz Voivodeship borders West Pomeranian Voivodeship to the north, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the east, Lower Silesian Voivodeship to the south, and Germany (Brandenburg and Saxony) to the west.

History

By conquest the first leaders of the Polans, Mieszko I and especially Boleslaw I added a number of surrounding territories to the newly established core Polish state, and Lebus Land or Lubusz in Lusatia came under Polish rule. Part of the historic province was located on the western bank of the Oder River, where the main settlement Lubusz, later known as the German town of Lebus, was located.

In 1226 Lebus Land came under direct jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire, and around 1250 it was acquired by the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg. After World War II it was thus sometimes referred to as "the first Polish province to fall to German expansionism" (see Drang nach Osten). The Lebus Land stayed with Brandenburg throughout (as Electorate within the Holy Roman Empire until 1806, as Prussian Province of Brandenburg since 1815, with Prussia as part of the new Empire of Germany since 1871 till its end.

In 1945, the conquest of eastern Germany by the Soviet Red Army was followed by the redrawing of Poland's borders. The east part of the Lubusz (Lebus) region was transferred to Poland, where in communist propaganda it was referred to as part of the "Regained" or "Recovered Territories". That part of the population which had not fled west of the Oder or been killed was rapidly expelled, and replaced by Poles from central and former eastern Poland.

In the administrative reforms of 1998, the original proposals made no provision for a separate Lubusz voivodeship – Gorzów would have been part of West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Zielona Góra would have been in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, and other parts of the region were assigned to Greater Poland Voivodeship. However, as a result of popular protests, these proposals were eventually amended to increase the number of voivodeships to 16, leading to the creation of Lubusz Voivodeship.

Cities and towns

Gorzów Wielkopolski is the seat of the voivodeship governor
Zielona Góra is the seat of the provincial assembly
Nowa Sól is part of historic Lower Silesia
Żary is the largest town in the Polish part of Lusatia
Żagań is part of Lower Silesia

The voivodeship contains 42 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006[3] ):

  1. Gorzów Wielkopolski (124,554)
  2. Zielona Góra (119,197)
  3. Nowa Sól (40,351)
  4. Żary (38,967)
  5. Żagań (26,580)
  6. Świebodzin (22,138)
  7. Międzyrzecz (18,700)
  8. Słubice (18,148)
  9. Kostrzyn nad Odrą (17,725)
  10. Sulechów (17,642)
  11. Gubin (17,038)
  12. Lubsko (14,767)
  13. Wschowa (14,573)
  14. Szprotawa (12,613)
  15. Krosno Odrzańskie (12,100)
  16. Drezdenko (10,565)
  17. Strzelce Krajeńskie (10,143)
  18. Skwierzyna (10,010)
  19. Sulęcin (9,972)
  20. Kożuchów (9,784)
  21. Witnica (6,968)
  22. Rzepin (6,697)
  23. Zbąszynek (5,087)
  24. Nowogród Bobrzański (5,036)
  25. Jasień (4,526)
  26. Bytom Odrzański (4,444)
  27. Babimost (4,150)
  28. Czerwieńsk (4,138)
  29. Iłowa (4,048)
  30. Sława (3,942)
  31. Ośno Lubuskie (3,895)
  32. Kargowa (3,641)
  33. Małomice (3,623)
  34. Gozdnica (3,454)
  35. Dobiegniew (3,187)
  36. Cybinka (2,947)
  37. Nowe Miasteczko (2,885)
  38. Łęknica (2,641)
  39. Torzym (2,535)
  40. Trzciel (2,459)
  41. Lubniewice (2,032)
  42. Szlichtyngowa (1,348)

Administrative division

Lubusz Voivodeship is divided into 14 counties (powiats): 2 city counties and 12 land counties. These are further divided into 83 gminas.

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

English and
Polish names		 Area
(km²)		 Population
(2006)		 Seat Other towns Total
gminas
City counties
Gorzów Wielkopolski 86 125,204 1
Zielona Góra 58 118,201 1
Land counties
Żary County
powiat żarski		 1,393 98,929 Żary Lubsko, Jasień, Łęknica 10
Zielona Góra County
powiat zielonogórski		 1,571 89,543 Zielona Góra * Sulechów, Nowogród Bobrzański, Babimost, Czerwieńsk, Kargowa 10
Nowa Sól County
powiat nowosolski		 771 86,773 Nowa Sól Kożuchów, Bytom Odrzański, Nowe Miasteczko 8
Żagań County
powiat żagański		 1,131 82,226 Żagań Szprotawa, Iłowa, Małomice, Gozdnica 9
Gorzów County
powiat gorzowski		 1,213 65,546 Gorzów Wielkopolski* Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Witnica 7
Międzyrzecz County
powiat międzyrzecki		 1,388 58,335 Międzyrzecz Skwierzyna, Trzciel 6
Krosno Odrzańskie County
powiat krośnieński		 1,390 56,463 Krosno Odrzańskie Gubin 7
Świebodzin County
powiat świebodziński		 937 55,989 Świebodzin Zbąszynek 6
Strzelce-Drezdenko County
powiat strzelecko-drezdenecki		 1,248 50,151 Strzelce Krajeńskie Drezdenko, Dobiegniew 5
Słubice County
powiat słubicki		 1,000 46,777 Słubice Rzepin, Ośno Lubuskie, Cybinka 5
Wschowa County
powiat wschowski		 625 38,958 Wschowa Sława, Szlichtyngowa 3
Sulęcin County
powiat sulęciński		 1,177 35,329 Sulęcin Torzym, Lubniewice 5
* seat not part of the county

Protected areas

Ujście Warty National Park

Protected areas in Lubusz Voivodeship include two National Parks and eight Landscape Parks. These are listed below.

See also

The Muskau Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

References

  1. ↑ Arkadiusz Belczyk,Tłumaczenie polskich nazw geograficznych na język angielski [Translation of Polish Geographical Names into English], 2002-2006.
  2. ↑ It is likely that it was a response to the names of some German military units; they have been named after lands that since at least 1945 belong to Poland and the very city of Lubusz is located just outside the Polish border in Germany.
  3. ↑ http://www.stat.gov.pl/gus/45_655_PLK_HTML.htm
  West Pomeranian Voivodeship
 Brandenburg and  Saxony,  Germany  Greater Poland Voivodeship
    Lubusz Voivodeship  
 Lower Silesian Voivodeship

Coordinates: 52°11′43″N 15°20′51″E / 52.19528°N 15.34750°E / 52.19528; 15.34750

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