Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Polish województwo warmińsko -mazurskie, with its capital Olsztyn ( Olsztyn ) is one of the 16 provinces of the Republic of Poland. It was formed in the wake of the Polish local government reform in 1999 from parts of the provinces of Olsztyn, Suwałki and Elbląg and includes the north-eastern part of Poland, historically the southern part of the former East Prussia. It is bounded from northwest to northeast to the voivodships Pomerania, Kujawy, Mazovia and Podlasie, in a quadrangle of Lithuania and to the north by the Russian exclave of the Kaliningrad Oblast as well as a short stretch of coast of the Vistula Lagoon.
- 4.1 Independent Cities
- 4.2 counties
- 4.3 Largest cities
- 6.1 External links
- 6.2 footnotes
Geography
The area of Warmia and Mazury corresponds with the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast essentially the former East Prussia. Large parts of the sparsely populated landscape are shaped by the Masurian Lakes, which has significance for tourism among others. The former diocese of Warmia in the west is the Catholic heartland of the region. The southwestern part of the province is called the Oberland.
Large parts of the floor are some of the soil classes 4 and 5 as raw materials sand and gravel for the construction industry and loam, peat and clay for the ceramic industry are interesting. Approximately 30 percent of the area is covered by forests.
Climate
Warmia and Mazury is located in the transition zone from continental climate to Oceanic climate. The annual average temperature is between 7 and 7.5 ° C. The average temperature in January is -2.5 to -3.5 ° C. The annual average rainfall is 600 mm, with July and August the most frequent rainfall, February and May have the least.
Population
The - after the expulsion of the Germans - living there since 1945, the population consists largely of the descendants of the resident in the region, Poland from Central and Eastern Poland. Next to it a large group of Ukrainians living in the region. A small portion of the population belongs to the German and the Masurian minorities.
Coat of arms
Description: In red, a gold confess änderter, gold -winning and gold reinforced silver eagle with golden clover stems over a red bleeding silver Agnus Dei with a golden chalice under the belly next to a gold crocheted changed, gold reinforced black eagle with golden clover stems and a gold -winning golden Majuskel -S. With black thread, the division and lower division is visible.
Symbolism of the coat of arms of the voivodeship is divided into three parts. The upper half contains a white, gold-crowned eagle, as a symbol of Poland. In the lower panel on the front, a white, heraldic silver lamb with a golden halo, bleeding, golden goblet and a golden rod with cross and banner can be seen. This field represents the coat of arms of the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, which enjoyed substantial independence between 1466-1772 under Polish sovereignty. The rear third of the bottom contains a black eagle with a golden crown on his neck and the letter S on the chest. The eagle corresponds to the Prussian eagle, however, is the big S for Sigismund I the Old, who was King of Poland from 1506 and comes from the noble family of the Jagiellonian. So This field corresponds with the exception of field color of the first version of the coat of arms of the Duchy of Prussia. Thus, references to the past of the areas as ermländisches Bishopric, Prussian territory and the current Polish membership are included. The evidence of the past emphasize the temporary dependencies of Poland. The coat of arms was designed by Paul Dudzinski officially by a decision of the Regional Council of 6 August 2002.
Administrative divisions
The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship is divided into 19 Powiats, where Olsztyn and Elblag remain acyclic. They develop under their name also a county, it does not belong to itself.
Independent Cities
Counties
In brackets the German name and the inhabitants June 30, 2012
Largest cities
The provincial capital Olsztyn has approximately 175,000 inhabitants, the largest city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. The only other major city of Elbląg.
Economy
Expressed in comparison with the gross domestic product of the EU in purchasing power standards reached the province in 2006 an index of 39.5 (total EU = 100). The unemployment rate in 2005 was 20.4%. In December 2009, she was almost unchanged at 20.2 percent, which corresponded to 109,200 people. This makes it the province with the highest unemployment.