Łódź Voivodeship Województwo łódzkie
Voivodeship
Flag Coat of arms Brandmark
Location within Poland
Division into counties
Coordinates (Łódź): 51°40′N 19°26′E / 51.667°N 19.433°E / 51.667; 19.433
Country	Poland
Capital	Łódź
Counties	3 cities, 21 land counties* Łódź Piotrków Trybunalski Skierniewice Bełchatów County Brzeziny County Kutno County Łask County Łęczyca County Łódź East County Łowicz County Opoczno County Pabianice County Pajęczno County Piotrków County Poddębice County Radomsko County Rawa County Sieradz County Skierniewice County Tomaszów Mazowiecki County Wieluń County Wieruszów County Zduńska Wola County Zgierz County
Government
• Body	Executive board
• Voivode	Tobiasz Bocheński (PiS)
• Marshal	Grzegorz Schreiber (PiS)
• EP	Łódź constituency
Area
• Total	18,219 km2 (7,034 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2021)
• Total	2,416,902
• Urban	1,499,697
• Rural	917,205
GDP [1]
• Total	€34.757 billion
• Per capita	€14,100
ISO 3166 code	PL-10
Vehicle registration	E
HDI (2019)	0.875[2] very high · 7th
Website	www.lodzkie.pl
*Further divided into 177 gminas

The Łódź Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo łódzkie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ ˈwut͡skʲɛ] ^ⓘ), also known as the Łódź Province,^[3] is a voivodeship (province) of Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Łódź Voivodeship (1975–1999) and the Sieradz, Piotrków Trybunalski and Skierniewice Voivodeships and part of Płock Voivodeship, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced [wut͡ɕ].

Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian to the north and east, Świętokrzyskie to the south-east, Silesian to the south, Opole to the south-west, Greater Poland to the west, and Kuyavian-Pomeranian for a short stretch to the north. Its territory belongs to three historical provinces of Poland – Masovia (in the east), Greater Poland (in the west) and Lesser Poland (in the southeast, around Opoczno).

Cities and towns

The voivodeship contains 11 cities and 35 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 31 December 2021):^[4]

Administrative division

Łódź

Piotrków Trybunalski

Pabianice

Kutno

Palace in Wola-Chojnata

Łódź Voivodeship is divided into 24 counties (powiats): 3 city counties and 21 land counties. These are further divided into 177 gminas.

The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).^[4]

English and Polish names	Area (km²)	Population (31 December 2020)	Seat	Other towns	Total gminas
City counties
Łódź	293	664,071			1
Piotrków Trybunalski	67	71,252			1
Skierniewice	33	47,031			1
Land counties
Zgierz County powiat zgierski	854	165,110	Zgierz	Ozorków, Aleksandrów Łódzki, Głowno, Stryków	9
Pabianice County powiat pabianicki	491	118,616	Pabianice	Konstantynów Łódzki	7
Sieradz County powiat sieradzki	1,491	115,959	Sieradz	Złoczew, Warta, Błaszki	11
Tomaszów Mazowiecki County powiat tomaszowski	1,026	114,620	Tomaszów Mazowiecki		11
Bełchatów County powiat bełchatowski	969	111,784	Bełchatów	Zelów	8
Radomsko County powiat radomszczański	1,443	110,584	Radomsko	Przedbórz, Kamieńsk	14
Kutno County powiat kutnowski	886	94,363	Kutno	Żychlin, Krośniewice	11
Piotrków County powiat piotrkowski	1,429	90,727	Piotrków Trybunalski *	Sulejów, Wolbórz	11
Łowicz County powiat łowicki	987	76,820	Łowicz		10
Wieluń County powiat wieluński	928	75,167	Wieluń		10
Opoczno County powiat opoczyński	1,039	74,867	Opoczno	Drzewica	8
Łódź East County powiat łódzki wschodni	499	72,856	Łódź *	Koluszki, Tuszyn, Rzgów	6
Zduńska Wola County powiat zduńskowolski	369	65,568	Zduńska Wola	Szadek	4
Pajęczno County powiat pajęczański	804	50,461	Pajęczno	Działoszyn	8
Łask County powiat łaski	617	49,533	Łask		5
Łęczyca County powiat łęczycki	774	48,715	Łęczyca	Piątek	8
Rawa County powiat rawski	647	47,952	Rawa Mazowiecka	Biała Rawska	6
Wieruszów County powiat wieruszowski	576	41,759	Wieruszów	Lututów	7
Poddębice County powiat poddębicki	881	40,612	Poddębice	Uniejów	6
Skierniewice County powiat skierniewicki	756	37,915	Skierniewice *		9
Brzeziny County powiat brzeziński	359	30,560	Brzeziny		5
* seat not part of the county

Protected areas

Łódź Hills Landscape Park

Protected areas in Łódź Voivodeship include seven Landscape Parks, as listed below.

• Bolimów Landscape Park (partly in Masovian Voivodeship)
• Łódź Hills Landscape Park
• Przedbórz Landscape Park (partly in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship)
• Spała Landscape Park
• Sulejów Landscape Park
• Warta-Widawka Landscape Park
• Załęcze Landscape Park (partly in Silesian Voivodeship)

Economy

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 26.7 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 6.0% of Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 19,800 euros or 66% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was also 66% of the EU average.^[5]

History

Łódź Voivodeship 1921–1939

The capital of the Łódź Voivodeship has always been Łódź, but the area of land which it comprises has changed several times. The first was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Second Polish Republic in the years 1921–1939. In 1938 some western counties were ceded to Greater Poland Voivodeship (see: Territorial changes of Polish Voivodeships on April 1, 1938).

After the change, Łódź Voivodeship's area was 20,446 square kilometres (7,894 sq mi), and its population (as for 1931) was 2,650,100. It consisted of 15 powiats (counties):

• Brzeziny county,
• Końskie county,
• Kutno county,
• Łask county,
• Łęczyca county,
• Łowicz county,
• city of Łódź county (powiat łódzki grodzki),
• Łódź county,
• Opoczno county,
• Piotrków Trybunalski county,
• Radomsko county,
• Rawa Mazowiecka county,
• Sieradz county,
• Skierniewice county,
• Wieluń county.

The largest cities of the voivodeship were (population according to the 1931 census):

• Łódź (pop. 604,600),
• Piotrków Trybunalski (pop. 51,300),
• Pabianice (pop. 45,700),
• Tomaszów Mazowiecki (pop. 38,000),
• Zgierz (pop. 26,600),
• Kutno (pop. 23,400),
• Radomsko (pop. 23,000).

Source: Mały rocznik statystyczny 1939, Nakładem Glownego Urzędu Statystycznego, Warszawa 1939 (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939).

The next incarnation existed from 1945 until 1975 (although the city of Łódź was excluded as a separate City Voivodeship). This Łódź Voivodeship was then broken up, superseded by Łódź (see below), Sieradz, Piotrków Trybunalski, Skierniewice and partly Płock Voivodeships.

Łódź Voivodeship 1975–1998

Łódź Voivodeship, also known as Łódź Metropolitan Voivodeship (województwo miejskie łódzkie), existed from 1975 until 1998, after which it was incorporated into today's Łódź Voivodeship. Until 1990, the mayor of the city of Łódź was also the voivodeship governor.

As of 1995, major cities and towns in Łódź Metropolitan Voivodeship included (with their 1995 populations):

• Łódź (825,600);
• Pabianice (75,700);
• Zgierz (59,100);
• Ozorków (21,900);
• Aleksandrów Łódzki (20,400).

Culture and education

The Rector's Office of the Lodz University of Technology

National Film School in Łódź

The basic cultural activities in the Łódź Region are: monitoring activities of seven regional self-government cultural institutions, i.e., the Arthur Rubinstein Łódź Philharmonic, Museum of Art in Łódź (having one of the biggest modern art collections in Europe), the Opera House, Stefan Jaracz Theater, the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography, the Józef Piłsudski Regional and Municipal Public Library in Łódź, the Chamber of Culture in Łódź but also: supporting NGO’s, protection of monuments, awarding scholarships to young artists and rewards for the prominent artists. What is more, infrastructural projects are being undertaken. Among the most important investments are: the creation of four regional scenes in Stefan Jaracz Theatre, opening the new section of the Museum of Art in Łódź - ms² or the reconstruction of medieval settlement in Tum in the vicinity of Łęczyca.

As of 2020, there were 76,897 students in various institutions of higher education in Łódź Voivodeship.^[6] The major universities in the voivodeship are:

• University of Łódź
• Lodz University of Technology
• National Film School in Łódź
• Medical University of Łódź
• Higher School of National Economy in Kutno
• Academy of Fine Arts In Łódź
• Jan Kochanowski University in Piotrków Trybunalski

The excellent scientific staff of the higher education establishments in Łódź is complemented by Łódź’s scientists from the Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and scientific ministerial institutes working within the field of the occupational medicine, textile, paper and leather industries.

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Łódź (voivodship).

• Województwo Łódzkie Official website
• www.lodzkie.travel – tourists attractions of łódź voivodeship, a website produced by the Regional Tourist Organisation of the Łódź Voivodeship