Lublin Voivodeship (Polish: województwo lubelskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ luˈbɛlskʲɛ] ) is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin.

Lublin Voivodeship
Województwo lubelskie
Motto: 
Smakuj życie! (Taste life!)
Location within Poland
Location within Poland
Division into counties
Division into counties
Coordinates (Lublin): 51°14′53″N 22°34′13″E / 51.24806°N 22.57028°E / 51.24806; 22.57028
Country Poland
CapitalLublin
Counties
Government
 • BodyExecutive board
 • VoivodeKrzysztof Komorski (PO)
 • MarshalJarosław Stawiarski (PiS)
 • EPLublin constituency
Area
 • Total
25,155 km2 (9,712 sq mi)
Population
 (2019)
 • Total
2,112,216
 • Density84/km2 (220/sq mi)
 • Urban
981,166
 • Rural
1,131,050
GDP
 • Total€21.296 billion
 • Per capita€10,100
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codePL-06
Vehicle registrationL
HDI (2019)0.866[2]
very high · 12th
Primary airportLublin Airport
Highways
Websitehttp://www.lubelskie.pl/
  • further divided into 213 gminas

The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lublin, and its territory is made of four historical lands: the western and central part of the voivodeship, with Lublin itself, belongs to Lesser Poland, the eastern part of Lublin Area belongs to Cherven Cities/Red Ruthenia, and the northeast belongs to Polesie and Podlasie.[3] Lublin Voivodeship borders Subcarpathian Voivodeship to the south, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship to the south-west, Masovian Voivodeship to the west and north, Podlaskie Voivodeship along a short boundary to the north, Belarus (Brest Region) and Ukraine (Lviv and Volyn Regions) to the east. The region's population as of 2019 was 2,112,216. It covers an area of 25,155 square kilometres (9,712 sq mi).

History

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Lublin in the 17th century

The Polish historical region that encompasses Lublin, and approximates Lublin Voivodeship as it was before the Partitions of Poland, is known as Lubelszczyzna. Provinces centred on Lublin have existed throughout much of Poland's history; for details see the section below on Previous Lublin Voivodeships. Cities and towns of greatest historic importance are Lublin, Chełm, Kazimierz Dolny and Zamość. Lublin hosted several sessions of the Polish Parliament, including the session which established the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (see Union of Lublin), and was the seat of the Crown Tribunal for the Lesser Poland Province, the highest appeal court in the Kingdom of Poland, and Parczew also hosted one session of the Polish Parliament.[4] Horodło was the place of signing of the Polish–Lithuanian Union of Horodło, predating the Union of Lublin.

In the 17th century, there were sizeable Scottish communities in Lublin and Zamość,[5] and also a smaller one in Opole Lubelskie.[6] Lublin and Zamość also hosted Armenian minorities.[7]

The industry of the region was greatly expanded as part of the Central Industrial Region of Poland.

 
Zamość in the 1930s

The region was, before World War II, one of the world's leading centres of Judaism. Before the middle of the 16th century, there were few Jews in the area, concentrated in Lublin, Kazimierz Dolny, and perhaps Chełm; but the founding of new private towns led to a large movement of Jews into the region to develop trade and services. Since these new towns competed with the existing towns for business, there followed a low-intensity, long-lasting feeling of resentment, with failed attempts to limit the Jewish immigration. The Jews tended to settle mostly in the cities and towns, with only individual families setting up businesses in the rural regions; this urban/rural division became another factor feeding resentment of the newly arrived economic competitors. By the middle of the 18th century, Jews were a significant part of the population in Kraśnik, Lubartów and Łęczna.

By the 20th century, Jews represented greater than 70% of the population in eleven towns and close to 100% of the population of Łaszczów and Izbica. From this region came both religious figures such as Mordechai Josef Leiner of Izbica, Chaim Israel Morgenstern of Puławy, and Motele Rokeach of Biłgoraj, as well as famous secular author Israel Joshua Singer. Israel's brother, the Nobel prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer, was not born in Biłgoraj but lived part of his life in the city. The "Old Town" of the city of Lublin contained a famous yeshiva, Jewish hospital, synagogue, cemetery, and kahal, as well as the Grodzka Gate (known as the Jewish Gate).

Before the war, there were 300,000 Jews living in the region, which became the site of the Majdanek concentration camp, Bełżec extermination camp and Sobibór extermination camp as well as several labour camps (Trawniki, Poniatowa, Budzyn, Puławy, Zamość, Biała Podlaska, and the Lublin work camps Lipowa 7 camp, Flugplatz, and Sportplatz) which produced military supplies for the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe. This was once one of the biggest forced labour centres in German-occupied Europe, with approximately 45,000 Jewish prisoners. After the war, the few surviving Jews largely left the area; today there is some restoration of areas of Jewish historical interest, and a surge of tourism by Jews seeking to view their families' historical roots.

Polish people were also victims of German persecution and crimes, including the AB-Aktion, Aktion T4 and Operation Zamość with deportations to Nazi concentration camps, forced labour, kidnapping of children and massacres in the region.[8] It witnessed the Polish Zamość uprising against German occupation. There were also German prisoner-of-war camps for Polish, French, Italian, Dutch, Belgian, Senegalese and Soviet prisoners of war in Chełm, Dęblin, Biała Podlaska, Zamość, Kaliłów with several forced labour subcamps, where many died from starvation, epidemics or were massacred.[9][10][11]

Lublin Voivodeship was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, Chełm, Zamość, Biała Podlaska and (partially) Tarnobrzeg and Siedlce Voivodeships, pursuant to Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998.

Cities and towns

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Historic centre of Lublin
 
Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary in Chełm
 
The Zamość Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
 
Radziwiłł Castle Complex in Biała Podlaska
 
Czartoryski Palace in Puławy
 
Potocki Family Palace in Międzyrzec Podlaski
 
The town of Kazimierz Dolny is Poland's official national Historic Monument

The voivodeship contains 5 cities and 43 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2019:[12]

Cities (governed by a city mayor or prezydent miasta):
  1. Lublin (339,770)
  2. Zamość (63,511)
  3. Chełm (62,331)
  4. Biała Podlaska (57,264)
  5. Puławy (47,634)

Towns:

  1. Świdnik (39,217)
  2. Kraśnik (34,355)
  3. Łuków (29,885)
  4. Biłgoraj (26,309)
  5. Lubartów (21,948)
  6. Tomaszów Lubelski (19,050)
  7. Łęczna (18,884)
  8. Krasnystaw (18,675)
  9. Hrubieszów (17,634)
  10. Międzyrzec Podlaski (16,736)
  11. Dęblin (16,026)
  12. Radzyń Podlaski (15,709)
  13. Włodawa (13,167)
  14. Janów Lubelski (11,901)
  15. Parczew (10,602)
  16. Ryki (9,625)
  17. Poniatowa (9,144)
  18. Opole Lubelskie (8,421)
  19. Bełżyce (6,504)
  20. Terespol (5,537)
  21. Szczebrzeszyn (4,991)
  22. Bychawa (4,893)
  23. Rejowiec Fabryczny (4,406)
  24. Nałęczów (3,749)
  25. Tarnogród (3,333)
  26. Kock (3,293)
  27. Zwierzyniec (3,175)
  28. Krasnobród (3,091)
  29. Kazimierz Dolny (2,563)
  30. Piaski (2,553)
  31. Stoczek Łukowski (2,520)
  32. Annopol (2,515)
  33. Józefów (2,486)
  34. Lubycza Królewska (2,447)
  35. Łaszczów (2,139)
  36. Tyszowce (2,112)
  37. Ostrów Lubelski (2,078)
  38. Rejowiec (2,066)
  39. Urzędów (1,699)
  40. Modliborzyce (1,462)
  41. Frampol (1,428)
  42. Siedliszcze (1,413)
  43. Józefów nad Wisłą (915)
  44. Piszczac
  45. Izbica
  46. Kamionka
  47. Czemierniki
  48. Goraj
  49. Turobin

Administrative division

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Lublin Voivodeship is divided into 24 counties (powiats): 4 city counties and 20 land counties. These are further divided into 213 gminas.

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

English and
Polish names
Area
(km2)
Population
(2019)
Seat Other towns Total
gminas
City counties
Lublin 147 339,770 1
Zamość 30 63,511 1
Chełm 35 62,331 1
Biała Podlaska 49 57,264 1
Land counties
Lublin County
powiat lubelski
1,679 154,760 Lublin * Bełżyce, Bychawa 16
Puławy County
powiat puławski
933 113,441 Puławy Nałęczów, Kazimierz Dolny 11
Biała Podlaska County
powiat bialski
2,754 111,078 Biała Podlaska * Międzyrzec Podlaski, Terespol, Piszczac 19
Zamość County
powiat zamojski
1,872 106,526 Zamość * Szczebrzeszyn, Zwierzyniec, Krasnobród 15
Łuków County
powiat łukowski
1,394 107,144 Łuków Stoczek Łukowski 11
Biłgoraj County
powiat biłgorajski
1,678 101,152 Biłgoraj Tarnogród, Józefów, Frampol, Goraj, Turobin 14
Kraśnik County
powiat kraśnicki
1,005 95,618 Kraśnik Annopol, Urzędów 10
Lubartów County
powiat lubartowski
1,290 88,591 Lubartów Kock, Ostrów Lubelski, Kamionka 13
Tomaszów Lubelski County
powiat tomaszowski (lubelski)
1,487 83,148 Tomaszów Lubelski Tyszowce, Łaszczów, Lubycza Królewska 13
Chełm County
powiat chełmski
1,780 78,074 Chełm * Rejowiec Fabryczny, Rejowiec 15
Świdnik County
powiat świdnicki (lubelski)
469 71,897 Świdnik Piaski 5
Krasnystaw County
powiat krasnostawski
1,067 63,554 Krasnystaw Izbica 10
Hrubieszów County
powiat hrubieszowski
1,269 63,320 Hrubieszów 8
Opole Lubelskie County
powiat opolski (lubelski)
804 59,511 Opole Lubelskie Poniatowa, Józefów nad Wisłą 7
Radzyń Podlaski County
powiat radzyński
965 59,057 Radzyń Podlaski Czemierniki 8
Ryki County
powiat rycki
616 55,919 Ryki Dęblin 6
Łęczna County
powiat łęczyński
634 57,372 Łęczna 6
Janów Lubelski County
powiat janowski
875 45,845 Janów Lubelski Modliborzyce 7
Włodawa County
powiat włodawski
1,256 38,524 Włodawa Siedliszcze 8
Parczew County
powiat parczewski
953 34,809 Parczew 7
* seat not part of the county

Protected areas

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Łukie Lake in the Polesie National Park
 
Echo artificial lake in the Roztocze National Park

Protected areas in Lublin Voivodeship include two National Parks and 17 Landscape Parks. These are listed below.

Economy

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Bogdanka Coal Mine

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 18.5 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 3.7% of Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 14,400 euros or 48% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 54% of the EU average. Lublin Voivodship is the province with the lowest GDP per capita in Poland.[13]

The Lublin Coal Basin is located in the voivodeship, centered at the Bogdanka Coal Mine in Bogdanka near Łęczna.

Transportation

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Lublin Airport

The Lublin Airport is the region's sole airport. The S12, S17 and S19 highways pass through the voivodeship.

Sights and tourism

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There are seven Historic Monuments of Poland and one World Heritage Site in the voivodeship:

There are also many more castles and palaces in the region, including in Adampol, Biała Podlaska, Janowiec, Kock, Lubartów, Łabunie, Łabuńki Pierwsze, Radzyń Podlaski. The Chapel of the Holy Trinity at the Lublin Royal Castle contains some of the oldest and best preserved medieval frescoes in Poland. The region is rich in architecture, especially churches, built in the regional Lublin Renaissance style, and there is a dedicated Lublin Renaissance Trail.

Nałęczów and Krasnobród are spa towns. Krasnystaw is famous for its annual Chmielaki beer festival. Chełm contains the Chełm Chalk Tunnels, a system of tunnels dug into the chalk under the city, a unique structure in Europe, whereas Lublin offers an underground tourist route in historic cellars under the Old Town Market Square.

There are several museums, including the National Museum in Lublin, the Polish Air Force Museum in Dęblin, and museums dedicated to popular Polish writers in the towns of their birth or their former homes, i.e. to Józef Ignacy Kraszewski in Romanów, to Henryk Sienkiewicz in Wola Okrzejska, to Bolesław Prus and Stefan Żeromski in Nałęczów and to Wincenty Pol in Lublin. The Majdanek State Museum and Sobibór Museum are museums located at the sites of the former Nazi German concentration camps at Majdanek and Sobibór. There are also numerous World War II memorials scattered across the voivodeship, including Holocaust memorials and memorials at the sites of German massacres of Poles, including the largest massacres in Rury, Lublin, Borów, Aleksandrów, Sochy, Smoligów, Jamy, Kumowa Dolina and Olszanka. The Great Synagogue of Włodawa, one of the best preserved historic synagogues in Poland, and one of the few not destroyed by Nazi Germany, houses a museum.

Cuisine

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In addition to traditional nationwide Polish cuisine, Lublin Voivodeship is known for its variety of regional and local traditional foods and drinks, which include especially various honeys, meat products (incl. various types of kiełbasa, bacon and kaszanka), beverages and various dishes and meals, officially protected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland.

There are local types of pierogi, cakes, pastries (incl. pączki and poppy seed rolls) and racuchy.[20] Local specialities include the meringue of Ostrów Lubelski, cake puffs of Lublin, and chocolate pralines of Lublin.

Traditional beverages include nalewki from Janów Lubelski, Kraśnik, Opole Lubelskie and Gmina Końskowola, mead, raspberry vodka from Kraśnik[21] and cider from Mikołajówka. Traditional non-alcoholic drinks include various types of juices, tea, syrups, and hot chocolate from Lublin.

Sports

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Arena Lublin, home venue of Motor Lublin football club and one of the arenas of the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Football, motorcycle speedway, basketball and handball are the most popular sports in the province.

Professional sports teams
Club Sport League Trophies
Speed Car Motor Lublin Speedway Ekstraliga 3 Polish Championships (2022, 2023, 2024)
MKS Lublin Handball (women's) Polish Superliga 22 Polish Championships
11 Polish Cups
1 Women's EHF Cup (2001)
KS Azoty-Puławy Handball (men's) Polish Superliga 0
Padwa Zamość Handball (men's) Liga Centralna 0
Start Lublin Basketball (men's) Polish Basketball League 0
AZS UMCS Lublin Basketball (women's) Basket Liga Kobiet 1 Polish Championship (2023)
1 Polish Cup (2016)
Budowlani Lublin Rugby union Ekstraliga 1 Polish Cup (2002)
LUK Lublin Volleyball (men's) PlusLiga 0
Avia Świdnik Volleyball (men's) I liga 0
Arka Chełm Volleyball (men's) I liga 0
Górnik Łęczna Football (men's) I liga 0
Motor Lublin Football (men's) Ekstraklasa 0
Wisła Puławy Football (men's) II liga 0
Górnik Łęczna Football (women's) Ekstraliga 3 Polish Championships (2018, 2019, 2020)
2 Polish Cups (2018, 2020)
AZS UMCS Lublin Futsal (men's) I liga 0

Additionally, AZS UMCS Lublin is one of the top athletics clubs in the country.

Demographics

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Historical population
YearPop.±%
19882,209,221—    
20022,199,054−0.5%
20112,175,700−1.1%
20212,052,340−5.7%
Source: [22]

Population according to 2002 census:[23]

Most common surnames in the region

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  1. Wójcik: 12,937
  2. Mazurek: 9,644
  3. Mazur: 8,019

Previous Lublin Voivodeships

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Lublin Voivodeship 1474–1795

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Lublin Voivodeship within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Lublin Voivodeship (Latin: Palatinatus Lublinensis; Polish: Województwo Lubelskie) was an administrative region of the Kingdom of Poland created in 1474 out of parts of Sandomierz Voivodeship and lasting until the Partitions of Poland in 1795. It was part of the prowincja of Lesser Poland.

Lublin Voivodeship 1816–1837

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Lublin Voivodeship was one of the voivodeships of Congress Poland. It was formed in 1816 from Lublin Department, and in 1837 was transformed into Lublin Governorate.

Lublin Voivodeship 1919–1939

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Lublin Voivodeship (Województwo Lubelskie) was one of the administrative regions of the interwar Second Polish Republic. In early 1939 its area was 26,555 square kilometres (10,253 sq mi) and its population was 2,116,200.[24] According to the 1931 census, 85.1% of its population was Polish, 10.5% Jewish, and 3% Ukrainian.

Lublin Voivodeship 1945–1975

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Lublin Voivodeship (województwo lubelskie) was an administrative region of Poland between 1945 and 1975. In 1975 it was transformed into Chełm, Zamość, Biała Podlaska, Tarnobrzeg and Siedlce Voivodeships and a smaller Lublin Voivodeship.

Lublin Voivodeship 1975–1998

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Lublin Voivodeship 1975–1998

Lublin Voivodeship (województwo lubelskie) existed as one of Poland's 49 voivodeships from 1975 until 1998, when it was incorporated into the current (larger) Lublin Voivodeship.

References

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  1. ^ "EU regions by GDP, Eurostat". Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Subnational HDI - Global Data Lab". globaldatalab.org. Radboud University Nijmegen. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  3. ^ Arkadiusz Belczyk,Tłumaczenie polskich nazw geograficznych na język angielski Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine [Translation of Polish Geographical Names into English], 2002-2006.
  4. ^ Konopczyński, Władysław (1948). Chronologia sejmów polskich 1493–1793 (in Polish). Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności. pp. 133, 139–140, 160.
  5. ^ Feduszka, Jacek (2009). "Szkoci i Anglicy w Zamościu w XVI-XVIII wieku". Czasy Nowożytne (in Polish). Vol. 22. Zarząd Główny Polskiego Towarzystwa Historycznego. p. 53. ISSN 1428-8982.
  6. ^ Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom VII (in Polish). Warszawa. 1886. p. 560.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ Stopka, Krzysztof (2010). "Ormianie". In Kopczyński, Michał; Tygielski, Wojciech (eds.). Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej (in Polish). Warszawa: Muzeum Historii Polski, Bellona. p. 118. ISBN 978-83-11-11724-2.
  8. ^ Wardzyńska, Maria (2009). Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp. 247–249, 264–266.
  9. ^ Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 225, 291–292, 311, 315. ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1.
  10. ^ Raszewski, Piotr (2017). "Można na nas liczyć". Polska Zbrojna (in Polish). No. 8 (856). p. 59. ISSN 0867-4523.
  11. ^ Borek, Paweł (2004). "Obóz jeńców włoskich w Białej Podlaskiej wrzesień 1943 – czerwiec 1944". Podlaski Kwartalnik Kulturalny (in Polish). No. 2. Biała Podlaska. pp. 14–17. ISSN 1234-6160.
  12. ^ GUS. "Population. Size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2019. As of 30th June". stat.gov.pl. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
  13. ^ "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat.
  14. ^ Zarządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 8 września 1994 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii., M.P., 1994, vol. 50, No. 417
  15. ^ Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 25 kwietnia 2007 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Lublin - historyczny zespół architektoniczno-urbanistyczny", Dz. U., 2007, vol. 86, No. 574
  16. ^ Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 25 kwietnia 2007 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Kozłówka - zespół pałacowo-parkowy", Dz. U., 2007, vol. 86, No. 573
  17. ^ Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 31 maja 2021 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Puławy - zespół pałacowo-parkowy", Dz. U., 2021, No. 1019
  18. ^ Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 22 listopada 2017 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Janów Podlaski - stadnina koni", Dz. U., 2017, No. 2250
  19. ^ Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 26 stycznia 2023 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Jabłeczna - prawosławny klasztor św. Onufrego", Dz. U., 2023, No. 223
  20. ^ W krainie lubelskich produktów tradycyjnych (in Polish). pp. 140, 179, 184–197, 203–204. ISBN 978-83-7642-667-9.
  21. ^ W krainie lubelskich produktów tradycyjnych (in Polish). pp. 111, 142–143, 152–155, 160–163. ISBN 978-83-7642-667-9.
  22. ^ "Statistics Poland - National Censuses".
  23. ^ "Ethnic composition of Poland". pop-stat.mashke.org. Archived from the original on 2021-11-22. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  24. ^ Mały Rocznik Statystyczny (Concise Statistical Year-Book), Warsaw, 1939
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51°13′22″N 22°54′10″E / 51.22278°N 22.90278°E / 51.22278; 22.90278