Subdivisions of the Polish People's Republic explained

The subdivisions of the Polish People's Republic changed several times from the Republic's inception in 1946 to the latest revision in 1999. The first subdivisions of the Republic involved the territories that were acquired in the west after World War II. They were subsequently reformed in 1946, 1950, 1957 and 1975. The 1975 division survived the fall of communism in 1990. The current administrative subdivisions were finalised in 1999. While they closely resemble the 1945–75 scheme, they have different names since the Communists tended to simply name the voivodeships after their capitals, whereas the current ones use more historical names. In some cases, there were border adjustments.

After World War II, Poland lost of eastern regions (Kresy), gaining instead the smaller but much more industrialized so-called "Regained Territories" east of the Oder–Neisse line. This annexation of German territory was agreed by the Allied Powers at the Potsdam Conference in 1945.

The Polish People's Republic was divided into several voivodeships (the Polish unit of administrative division). After World War II, the new administrative divisions were based on the pre-war ones. The areas in the East that were not annexed by the Soviet Union had their borders left almost unchanged. Newly acquired territories in the west and north were organised into the voivodeships of Szczecin, Wrocław, Olsztyn and partially joined to Gdańsk, Katowice and Poznań voivodeships. Two cities were granted voivodeship status: Warsaw and Łódź.

In 1950 new voivodeships were created: Koszalin—previously part of Szczecin, Opole—previously part of Katowice, and Zielona Góra—previously part of Poznań, Wrocław and Szczecin voivodeships.^[1] In addition, three other cities were granted voivodeship status: Wrocław, Kraków and Poznań.

In 1973, Polish voivodeships were changed again. This reorganization of administrative division of Poland was mainly a result of local government reform acts of 1973 to 1975. A three-level administrative division (voivodeship, county, commune) was replaced with a two-level administrative division (49 small voivodeships and communes). The three smallest voivodeships: Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź had a special status of municipal voivodeship; the city president (mayor) was also province governor.

The system of division remained in effect after the fall of the People's Republic, until 1999, when a system of larger voivodeships and powiats was again introduced (see Administrative divisions of Poland).^[2]

Poland's voivodeships 1945–1975 (14+2 voivodeships, then 17+5)

After World War II, the new administrative division of the country was based on the prewar one. The areas in the east that had not been annexed by the Soviet Union had their borders left almost unchanged. The newly acquired territories in the west and north were organized into the voivodeships of Szczecin, Wrocław and Olsztyn, and partly joined to Gdańsk, Katowice and Poznań voivodeships. Two cities were granted voivodeship status: Warsaw and Łódź.^[3]

In 1950, new voivodeships were created: Koszalin (previously part of Szczecin), Opole (previously part of Katowice), and Zielona Góra (previously part of Poznań, Wrocław and Szczecin voivodeships). In addition, three more cities were granted voivodeship status: Wrocław, Kraków and Poznań.

Polish administrative divisions 1945–1975! Car plates
(since 1956)! Voivodeship! Capital! Area
km² (1965)! Population
(1965)

A	Białystok	Białystok	23,136	1,160,400
B	Bydgoszcz	Bydgoszcz	20,794	1,837,100
G	Gdańsk	Gdańsk	10,984	1,352,800
S	Katowice	Katowice	9,518	3,524,300
C	Kielce	Kielce	19,498	1,899,100
E	Koszalin¹	Koszalin	17,974	755,100
K	Krakow	Kraków	15,350	2,127,600
F	Łódz	Łódź	17,064	1,665,200
L	Lublin	Lublin	24,829	1,900,500
O	Olsztyn	Olsztyn	20,994	956,600
H	Opole ¹	Opole	9,506	1,009,200
P	Poznań	Poznań	26,723	2,126,300
R	Rzeszów	Rzeszów	18,658	1,692,800
M	Szczecin	Szczecin	12,677	847,600
T	Warsaw	Warsaw	29,369	2,453,000
X	Wrocław	Wrocław	18,827	1,967,000
Z	Zielona Góra ¹	Zielona Góra	14,514	847,200
car plates (since 1956)	Separate city		Area km^2 (1965)	Population (1965)
I	Łódź		214	744,100
W	Warsaw		446	1,252,600
K	Kraków ²		230	520,100
P	Poznań ²		220	438,200
X	Wrocław ²		225	474,200
– new voivodeships created in 1950; – cities separated in 1957

Poland's voivodeships 1975–1998 (49 voivodeships)

See main article: Voivodeships of Poland (1975–1998).

This reorganization of the administrative division of Poland was mainly a result of the local government reform acts of 1973 - 1975. In place of the three-level administrative division (voivodeship, county, commune), a new two-level administrative division was introduced (49 small voivodeships, and communes). The three smallest voivodeships—Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź—had the special status of municipal voivodeships; those cities' presidents (mayors) were also their provincial governors.

Polish voivodeships and separate cities 1975–1998! Abbreviation! Voivodeship! Capital! Area
km² (1998)! Population
(1980)! No. of cities! No. of communes

bp		Biała Podlaska	5,348	286,400	6	35
bk		Białystok	10,055	641,100	17	49
bb		Bielsko-Biała	3,704	829,900	18	47
by		Bydgoszcz	10,349	1,036,000	27	55
ch		Chełm	3,865	230,900	4	25
ci		Ciechanów	6,362	405,400	9	45
cz		Częstochowa	6,182	747,900	17	49
el		Elbląg	6,103	441,500	15	37
gd		Gdańsk	7,394	1,333,800	19	43
go		Gorzów Wielkopolski	8,484	455,400	21	38
jg		Jelenia Góra	4,378	492,600	24	28
kl		Kalisz	6,512	668,000	20	53
ka		Katowice	6,650	3,733,900	43	46
ki		Kielce	9,211	1,068,700	17	69
kn		Konin	5,139	441,200	18	43
ko		Koszalin	8,470	462,200	17	35
kr		Kraków	3,254	1,167,500	10	38
ks		Krosno	5,702	448,200	12	37
lg		Legnica	4,037	458,900	11	31
le		Leszno	4,254	357,600	19	28
lu		Lublin	6,793	935,200	16	62
lo		Łomża	6,684	325,800	12	39
ld		Łódź	1,523	1,127,800	8	11
ns		Nowy Sącz	5,576	628,800	14	41
ol		Olsztyn	12,327	681,400	21	48
op		Opole	8,535	975,000	29	61
os		Ostrołęka	6,498	371,400	9	38
pi		Piła	8,205	437,100	24	35
pt		Piotrków Trybunalski	6,266	604,200	10	51
pl		Płock	5,117	496,100	9	44
po		Poznań	8,151	1,237,800	33	57
pr		Przemyśl	4,437	380,000	9	35
rs		Radom	7,295	702,300	15	61
rz		Rzeszów	4,397	648,900	13	41
se		Siedlce	8,499	616,300	12	66
si		Sieradz	4,869	392,300	9	40
sk		Skierniewice	3,959	396,900	8	36
sl		Słupsk	7,453	369,800	11	31
su		Suwałki	10,490	422,600	14	42
sz		Szczecin	9,981	897,900	29	50
tg		Tarnobrzeg	6,283	556,300	14	46
ta		Tarnów	4,151	607,000	9	41
to		Toruń	5,348	610,800	13	41
wb		Wałbrzych	4,168	716,100	31	30
wa		Warsaw	3,788	2,319,100	27	32
wl		Włocławek	4,402	413,400	14	30
wr		Wrocław	6,287	1,076,200	16	33
za		Zamość	6,980	472,100	5	47
zg		Zielona Góra	8,868	609,200	26	50

Notes and References

1. Book: Churski . Paweł . Three Decades of Polish Socio-economic Transformations: Geographical Perspectives . Kaczmarek . Tomasz . 2022 . Springer Nature . 978-3-031-06108-0 . 114 . en.
2. Kaczmarek . Tomasz . 2016-04-19 . Administrative division of Poland - 25 years of experience during the systemic transformation . EchoGéo . 35 . 10.4000/echogeo.14514 . 1963-1197. free .
3. Book: Czerny, Miroslawa . Poland in the Geographical Centre of Europe: Political, Social and Economic Consequences . 2006 . Nova Publishers . 978-1-59454-603-7 . 57 . en.