I admit... I live in this voivodeship of Poland! But I can't tell where exactly, let it remain a mystery
So let's move to rather west Poland in this post
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2. GREATER POLAND
Greater Poland Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo Wielkopolskie), also known as Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Wielkopolska Province, or Greater Poland Province - is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999 out of the former Poznan, Kalisz, Konin, Pila (Polish: Piła) and Leszno Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province is named after the region called Greater Poland or Wielkopolska. The modern province includes most of this historic region, except for some western parts.
Greater Poland Voivodeship is second in area and third in population among Poland's sixteen voivodeships, with an area of 29,826 square kilometres (11,516 sq mi) and a population of close to 3.5 million. Its capital city is Poznan; other important cities include Kalisz, Konin, Piła, Ostrow Greater Poland (Polish: Ostrów Wielkopolski), Gniezno (an early capital of Poland) and Leszno. It is bordered by seven other voivodeships: West-Pomeranian to the northwest, Pomeranian to the north, Kuyavian-Pomeranian to the north-east, Lodzkie (Polish: Łódzkie) to the south-east, Opole to the south, Lower Silesian to the southwest and Lubusz to the west.
The city of Poznan has international twinning arrangements with the English county of Nottinghamshire.
Only Polish
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COAT OF ARMS
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NAME OF THE REGION
Because Greater Poland was the settlement area of the Polans and the core of the early Polish state, the region was at times simply called "Poland" (Latin Poland). The more specific name is first recorded in the Latin from Polonia Maior in 1257, (and in Polish "w Wielkiej Polszcze") in 1449. Its original meaning was the Older Poland, at opposed to Lesser Poland (Polish: Małopolska, Polonia Łacińska Mniejsza), a region in south-eastern Poland with its capital at Cracow which became the main center of the state later.
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HISTORY
Greater Poland formed the heart of the 10th-century early Polish state, sometimes being called the "cradle of Poland". Poznan and Gniezno were early centres of royal power, but following devastation of the region by pagan rebellion in the 1030s, and the invasion of Bretislaus I of Bohemia in 1038, the capital was moved by Casimir I the Restorer (Polish: Kazimierz I Odnowiciel) from Gniezno to Cracow.
In the Testament of Boleslaw III Wrymouth (Polish: Bolesław III Krzywousty), which initiated the period of fragmentation of Poland (1138-1320), the western part of Greater Poland (including Poznan) was granted to Mieszko III the Old (Polish: Mieszko III Stary). The eastern part, with Gniezno and Kalisz, was part of the Duchy of Cracow, granted to Wladyslaw II (Polish: Władysław II). However, for most ot the period the two parts were under a single ruler, and were known as the Duchy of Greater Poland (although at times there were separately ruled duchies of Poznan, Gniezno, Kalisz and Ujscie (Polish: Ujście). The region came under the control of Wladyslaw I Elbow-high (Polish: Władysław I Łokietek) in 1314, and thus became part of the reunited Poland of which Władysław was crowned king in 1320.
In the reunited kingdom, and later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the country came to be divided into administrative units called voivodeships. In the case of Greater Poland region these were Poznan Voivodeship and Kalisz Voivodeship. The Commonwealth also that larger subdivisions known as province (Polish: Prowincja) covered a larger area than the Greater Poland region itself, also taking in Mazovia and Royal Prussia. This division of Crown Poland into two entities called Lesser and Greater Poland had its roots in the Statutes of Casimir the Great of 1346-1362, where the laws of "Greater Poland" – the northern part of the country – were codified in the Piotrkow (Polish: Piotrków) statute, with those of "Lesser Poland" in the separate Wislica (Polish: Wiślica) statute.
Read more here → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Poland
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CITIES AND TOWNS
The voivodeship contains 109 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006):
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GEOLOGY
The main mineral energy resources in Greater Poland are lignite, natural gas, oil and peat.
Brown coal deposits are currently mined in the Konin area, and form the basis for the province's power industry (the Patnow-Adams-Konin (Polish: Pątnów-Adams-Konin) coal-fired power stations account for more than 10% of the national electricity production). The region also has significant quantities of peat deposits; it is calculated that there are ca. 886 thousand hectares of land covered with an average thickness of 1.5 m of peat. An abundance of raw materials used in the production of numerous medicines was recently discovered in the muds of Blazejewo (Polish: Błażejowo), Oderbank and Mechnacz. In addition, very large deposits of brown coal have been discovered in the vicinity of Koscian (Polish: Kościan), these however are not currently being extracted and probably never will be extracted, due to the expense that would be incurred in adapting the site to build a coal mine and the need to resettle thousands of people.
Rock salt is mined intensively at a salt mine in Klodawa (Polish: Kłodawa) (this mine alone accounts for about 20% of domestic production).
Throughout the province there are significant deposits of aggregates, gypsum, ceramic materials, and lacustrine chalk. In Kościan the largest and most modern, a natural gas production site is in operation. It supplies raw material for Earth Koscian (Polish: Kościańska Ziemia), and Zielona Gora (Polish: Zielona Góra) CHP. It is estimated that at the rate local gas reserves are being exploited, the reserves in Kościan will be enough for about 20 years of operation, thus practically allowing for local independence against the effects of gas crises.
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CLIMATE
Greater Poland is influenced by oceanic air masses that affect the mildness of the climate. The farther east one travels the more distinctly continental the climate becomes. The number of days with snow can reach up to 57 days in and around the Kalisz district.
The growing season is one of the longest in Poland. On the province's southern plains this season constitutes around 228 days, while north of Gniezno and Szamotuły this gradually declines to 216 days.
Precipitation ranges from 500 to 550 mm. Despite this the region is still faced with a deficit in rainfall, particularly in the eastern part of the province (around Slupcy, Casimir Biskupi, Kleczew (Polish: Słupcy, Kazimierz Biskupi, Kleczew)) where sometimes experience only 450 mm of rainfall per year, this threatens steppization of the region. Throughout the province there is typically a prevailing westerly wind.
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TRANSPORTATION
Greater Poland is a major transport hub within Poland; a great deal of traffic from Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union passes through Poznan and Konin to reach Germany and other EU member states. To the south runs the international route from Gdansk via Poznan and Leszno to Prague and then to the south of Europe. There is also a major highway in the province, the A2 motorway, which when completed will run from the western border of Poland with Germany, through Poznan to Warsaw and then via Belarus to Moscow.
The main railway hubs located in Greater Poland are Poznan, Pila and Ostrow Greater Poland (Polish: Poznań, Piła i Ostrów Wielkopolski). PKP Intercity operate a number of trains a day between Warsaw and Berlin which provide a fast connection for the two cities also to Poznan. This route was the first in Poland, adapted for use by the European high-speed transportation system. In the near future the government expects to construct a high-speed rail line in the shape of a Y connecting Kalisz and Poznań from Łódź, Warsaw and Wroclaw.
Poznan is the port of arrival for most international travellers as it plays host to Lawica (Polish: Ławica) International Airport, which has recently seen the second-highest passenger growth rate in the country.
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ECONOMY
The Gross domestic product (GDP. In Polish PKB) of the province was 40.4 billion € in 2018, accounting for 8.1% of Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 19,700 € or 65% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 72% of the EU average.
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POLITICS
The Greater Poland voivodeship's government is headed by the province's voivode (governor) who is appointed by the Polish Prime Minister. The voivode is then assisted in performing his duties by the voivodeship's marshal, who is the appointed speaker for the voivodeship's executive and is elected by the sejmik (provincial assembly). The current voivode of Greater Poland is Piotr Florek, whilst the present marshal is Marek Woźniak.
The Sejmik of Greater Poland consists of 39 members.
| Party | Mandates | |
| 1 | Citizens' Coalition (Polish: Koalicja Obywatelska) | 15 |
| 2 | Law and Jusitce (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) | 14 |
| 3 | Polish People's Party (Polish: Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe) | 7 |
| 4 | Left Together (Polish: Lewica Razem) | 3 |
| Independent | 1 | |
| Total | 39 |
Governors
| Name | Period |
| Maciej Musial (Polish: Musiał) | 1 January 1999 – 20 June 2000 |
| Stanislaw Tamm (Polish: Stanisław) | 20 June 2000 – 22 October 2001 |
| Andrzej Nowakowski | 22 October 2001 – 28 December 2005 |
| Tadeusz Dziuba | 28 December 2005 – 29 November 2007 |
| Piotr Florek | 29 November 2007 – ? |
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ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION
Greater Poland Voivodeship is divided into 35 counties (powiats): 4 city counties and 31 land counties. These are further divided into 226 gminas.
The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).
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PROTECTED AREAS
- Drawno National Park (Polish: Drawiński Park Narodowy) - partly in Lubusz and West Pomeranian Voivodeships
- Greater Poland National Park (Polish: Wielkopolski Park Narodowy)
- Barycz Valley Landscape Park (Polish: Krajobrazowy Park Doliny Baryczy)
- Chlapowski Landscape Park (Polish: Chłapowski Park Krajobrazowy)
- Lednica Landscape Park
- Powidz Landscape Park
- Promno Lanscape Park
- Przemęt Landscape Park (Polish: Przemęcki Park Krajobrazowy) - partly in Lubusz Voivodeship
- Pszczew Landscape Park - partly in Lubusz Voivodeship
- Wilderness Zielonka Landscape Park (Polish: Park Krajobrazowy Puszcza Zielonka)
- Rogalin Landscape Park
- Sierakow Landscape Park (Polish: Sierakowski Park Krajobrazowy)
- Warta Landscape Park
- Zerkow-Czeszewo Landscape Park (Polish: Żerkowsko-Czeszewski Park Krajobrazowy)
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Photos and more information about the history can be found on the pages to which links can be found above. You can also enter "Greater Poland" or "Greater Poland Voivodeship" in the Internet search engine
The next voivodeship will appear in the next entry
CREDTIS TO ARTIST for photos and articles on Wikipedia
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