Masovian Voivodeship (, )Another English rendering of the province's name derived from the name Mazowsze is "Mazowsze Voivodship" or "Mazowsze Province". is a voivodeship, or province, in east-central Poland, containing Poland's capital, Warsaw.
Masovian Voivodeship has an area of and had a 2019 population of 5,411,446, making it Poland's largest and most populous province. Its principal cities are Warsaw (1.783 million) in the center of the Warsaw metropolitan area, Radom (212,230) to the south, Płock (119,709) to the west, Siedlce (77,990) to the east, and Ostrołęka (52,071) to the north. It borders six other provinces: Warmian-Masurian to the north, Podlaskie to the northeast, Lublin to the southeast, Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) to the south, Łódź to the southwest, and Kuyavian–Pomeranian to the northwest.
The name of the province recalls the region's traditional name, Mazovia (in Polish Mazowsze, also spelled Masovia), with which it is roughly coterminous. However, the province's southern part, including Radom, historically belonged to Lesser Poland; while Łomża with environs, though historically part of Mazovia, is now part of Podlaskie Voivodeship.
Masovian Voivodeship is Poland's prime center of science, research, education, industry, and infrastructure. It has Poland's lowest unemployment rate and is a very high-income province. It is also popular with tourists due to the many historical monuments and its over 20% forested area of pine and oak. The province's Kampinos National Park is a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
History
In the Early Middle Ages, the territory was inhabited by the Masovians, an old Polish tribe. It formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century, with the then-regional capital Płock being the capital of Poland from 1079 to 1138. The Wzgórze Tumskie ("Cathedral Hill") in Płock with the Płock Castle and the Catholic Cathedral, seat of one of the oldest Polish dioceses, est. in 1075, which contains the sarcophagi of a number of Polish monarchs, is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland. Later, Płock, Warsaw and Czersk were medieval ducal seats of the Piast dynasty.
In 1505, Radom hosted the session of the Sejm (Polish Parliament), which enacted the Nihil novi act, and in the 16th century, Warsaw hosted several sessions of the Sejm, before King Sigismund III Vasa moved the Polish capital from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596.
Following the late-18th-century Partitions of Poland, the region witnessed several uprisings against foreign rule: the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794, the November Uprising of 1830–1831, and the January Uprising of 1863–1864.
In the interbellum, the region was part of reborn independent Poland. In 1920, the region was invaded by Soviet Russia, but Poland secured its freedom in the victorious Battle of Warsaw. The southern part of the current province was rapidly industrialized as part of the Central Industrial Region of Poland.
During World War II, it was occupied by Germany, with the occupiers committing their genocidal policies against Poles and Jews in the region, with expulsions, massacres of civilians and prisoners of war, including at Ciepielów, Śladów, Zakroczym, Ostrów Mazowiecka, Palmiry, Firlej, Skłoby, Nur, Ochota, Wola, and Lipniak-Majorat. Germany operated numerous prisons, forced labour camps, the Treblinka extermination camp, in which some 700,000–900,000 people were murdered, and several prisoner-of-war camps for Polish, Italian, French, Soviet, and Romanian prisoners of war.
Masovian Province was created on 1 January 1999, under the Polish local-government reforms adopted in 1998, out of the former provinces of Warsaw, Płock, Ciechanów, Ostrołęka, Siedlce, and Radom.
Administrative division Masovian Voivodeship is divided into 42 counties, including five city counties and 37 land counties. These are subdivided into 314 gminas (municipalities), which include 85 urban gminas.
The counties, shown on the numbered map, are described in the table below. English andPolish namesAreaPopulationSeatOther townsTotalgminasCity counties 1 WarsawWarszawa 1,783,3211 (2) Ostrołęka52,0711 (3) Płock 119,7091 (4) Radom 212,2301 (5) Siedlce77,9901Land counties 2Ostrołęka Countypowiat ostrołęcki 88,717Ostrołęka *Myszyniec113Płock Countypowiat płocki110,987Płock *Gąbin, Drobin, Wyszogród, Bodzanów, Staroźreby15 4Radom Countypowiat radomski 152,190Radom *Pionki, Iłża, Skaryszew, Jedlnia-Letnisko, Przytyk13 5Siedlce Countypowiat siedlecki81,265Siedlce *Mordy13 6Żuromin Countypowiat żuromiński38,688ŻurominBieżuń, Lubowidz6 7Mława Countypowiat mławski 72,906Mława10 8Przasnysz Countypowiat przasnyski 52,676PrzasnyszChorzele7 9Ciechanów Countypowiat ciechanowski 89,460CiechanówGlinojeck9 10Sierpc Countypowiat sierpecki 52,077Sierpc7 11Maków Countypowiat makowski 45,076Maków MazowieckiRóżan10 12Ostrów Countypowiat ostrowski 72,558Ostrów MazowieckaBrok, Małkinia Górna11 13Płońsk Countypowiat płoński 87,183PłońskRaciąż, Sochocin, Nowe Miasto, Czerwińsk nad Wisłą12 14Pułtusk Countypowiat pułtuski 51,862Pułtusk7 15Wyszków Countypowiat wyszkowski 74,094Wyszków6 16Gostynin Countypowiat gostyniński 45,060GostyninSanniki5 17Nowy Dwór Countypowiat nowodworski 79,256Nowy Dwór MazowieckiNasielsk, Zakroczym6 18Legionowo Countypowiat legionowski 117,751LegionowoSerock5 19Wołomin Countypowiat wołomiński 247,288WołominZąbki, Marki, Kobyłka, Zielonka, Radzymin, Tłuszcz, Jadów12 20Węgrów Countypowiat węgrowski66,037WęgrówŁochów9 21Sokołów Countypowiat sokołowski 53,992Sokołów PodlaskiKosów Lacki9 22Sochaczew Countypowiat sochaczewski 85,024Sochaczew8 23Warsaw West Countypowiat warszawski zachodni117,783Ożarów MazowieckiŁomianki, Błonie7 24Mińsk Countypowiat miński 154,054Mińsk MazowieckiSulejówek, Halinów, Kałuszyn, Mrozy, Siennica, Cegłów, Dobre, Latowicz, Stanisławów13 25Łosice Countypowiat łosicki 30,895Łosice6 26Żyrardów Countypowiat żyrardowski 75,787ŻyrardówMszczonów, Wiskitki5 27Grodzisk Countypowiat grodziski 94,962Grodzisk MazowieckiMilanówek, Podkowa Leśna6 28Pruszków Countypowiat pruszkowski 165,039PruszkówPiastów, Brwinów6 29Piaseczno Countypowiat piaseczyński 186,460PiasecznoKonstancin-Jeziorna, Góra Kalwaria, Tarczyn6 30Otwock Countypowiat otwocki 124,241OtwockJózefów, Karczew, Osieck8 31Grójec Countypowiat grójecki 98,334GrójecWarka, Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą, Mogielnica10 32Garwolin Countypowiat garwoliński 108,909GarwolinŁaskarzew, Pilawa, Żelechów, Maciejowice14 33Białobrzegi Countypowiat białobrzeski 33,524BiałobrzegiWyśmierzyce6 34Kozienice Countypowiat kozienicki 60,253KozieniceMagnuszew, Głowaczów7 35Przysucha Countypowiat przysuski41,721PrzysuchaOdrzywół, Gielniów8 36Zwoleń Countypowiat zwoleński 36,222ZwoleńKazanów5 37Szydłowiec Countypowiat szydłowiecki39,766SzydłowiecJastrząb5 38Lipsko Countypowiat lipski 34,028LipskoSolec nad Wisłą, Sienno, Ciepielów6* seat not part of the county
Cities and towns The voivodeship contains 10 cities and 78 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2019):
Politics
The Masovian voivodeship's government is headed by the province's (governor) who is appointed by the Polish Prime Minister. The 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 (provincial assembly). The current of Masovia is Mariusz Frankowski.
The Sejmik of Masovia consists of 51 members.
Voivodes Term startTerm endVoivodePartyOther high offices held1 January 199920 October 2001Antoni PietkiewiczAWSVoivode of Kalisz (1990–1991)21 October 200110 January 2006Leszek MizielińskiSLDMasovian vice-marshal (1998–2001)10 January 200617 January 2007Tomasz KozińskiPiSMayor of Praga-Południe (2002–2006)18 January 20071 February 2007Wojciech DąbrowskiPiSMayor of Żoliborz (2004–2006)15 February 200729 November 2007Jacek SasinPiSDeputy PM (since 2019), MP (since 2011)29 November 20078 December 2015Jacek KozłowskiPOVice-chairman of Poland 20508 December 201511 November 2019Zdzisław SipieraPiSMayor of Wola (2005–2006), MP (2019–2023)25 November 201931 March 2023Konstanty RadziwiłłPiSMinister of Health (2015–2018), MP (2015–2019)31 March 202313 December 2023Tobiasz BocheńskiPiSŁódź Voivode (2019–2023)13 December 2023IncumbentMariusz FrankowskiPODeputy director of strategy and regional development of the Masovian Vovoideship in the Marshal's Office (2007–2011) Warsaw city councilor (2018–2023),
Protected areas
Protected areas include one National Park and nine Landscape parks. These are shown below.
Kampinos National park (a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve) Bolimów Landscape park (partly in Łódź Voivodeship) Brudzeń Landscape Park Bug Landscape Park Chojnów Landscape Park Górzno-Lidzbark Landscape Park (partly in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeships) Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park (partly in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship) Kozienice Landscape Park Masovian Landscape Park Podlaskie Bug Gorge Landscape Park (partly in Lublin Voivodeship)
Historical Masovian Voivodeship (1526–1795)
Masovia Voivodeship, 1526–1795 () was an administrative region of the Kingdom of Poland, and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from the 15th century until the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1795). Together with Płock and Rawa Voivodeships, it formed the province (prowincja) of Masovia.
Masovian Voivodeship (1816–1837) Masovian Voivodeship was one of the voivodeships of Congress Poland. It was formed from the Warsaw Department and transformed into the Masovia Governorate.
Transport
Three major international road routes pass through the voivodeship: Cork–Berlin–Poznań–Warszawa–Minsk–Moscow–Omsk (European route E30), Prague–Wrocław–Warsaw–Białystok–Helsinki (E67) and Pskov–Gdańsk–Warsaw–Kraków–Budapest (E77).
Currently, there are various stretches of highways in the area, with the A2 highway connecting the region, and therefore the capital city, with the rest of Europe. The highway passes directly through the voivodeship from west to east, connecting it with Belarus and Germany. However, the A2 is yet to be built east of Warsaw to connect Poland with Belarus. The S7 expressway runs through Poland from the north to the south passing through Warsaw, the S8 connects Warsaw with Białystok, in the neighboring north-eastern province, also forming part of the Via Baltica which heads on to Lithuania, and to Wrocław in the south-west, and the S17 being built to connect Warsaw with Lublin in the south-east and on to Ukraine.
The two main railway carriers operating in the region are the regional Masovian Railways and nationwide PKP Intercity. Three of ten busiest railway stations of Poland are located in the voivodeship: Warszawa Centralna, Warszawa Wschodnia, Warszawa Zachodnia.
The main international airport in the region is Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport.
Economy Masovian Voivodeship is the wealthiest province in Poland. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was PLN 596 billion in 2021, accounting for 22.8% of the Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was around PLN123,000 in the same year.
Unemployment The unemployment rate stood at 4.8% in 2017 and was higher than the national and the European average. Year200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017unemployment rate(in %)12.3 9.16.06.07.47.98.08.07.26.45.54.8
Sights and tourism
The top tourist destination of the voivodeship is the capital city of Warsaw with its Old Town and Royal Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Historic Monument of Poland. Further Historic Monuments in Warsaw include the Royal Route with several palaces and parks, most notably the Łazienki Palace and Wilanów Palace, and the Warsaw Water Filters.