Subcarpathian Voivodeship

Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshal, it is governed by the Subcarpathian Regional Assembly. Historically, most of the province's territory was part of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and the Ruthenian Voivodeship. In the interwar period, it was part of the Lwów Voivodeship.
The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Krosno and (partially) Tarnów and Tarnobrzeg Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local-government reforms adopted in 1998. The name derives from the region's location near the Carpathian Mountains, and the voivodeship comprises areas of two historic regions of Eastern Europe — Lesser Poland (western and northwestern counties) and Red Ruthenia. During the interwar period (1918–1939), Subcarpathian Voivodeship belonged to "Poland B", the less-developed, more rural parts of Poland. To boost the local economy, the government of the Second Polish Republic began in the mid-1930s a massive program of industrialization, known as the Central Industrial Region. The program created several major armament factories, including PZL Mielec, PZL Rzeszów, Huta Stalowa Wola, and factories in other Subcarpathian towns such as Dębica, Nowa Dęba, Sanok, Tarnobrzeg and Nowa Sarzyna.
It is bordered by Lesser Poland Voivodeship to the west, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship to the north-west, Lublin Voivodeship to the north, Ukraine (Lviv Oblast and Zakarpattia Oblast) to the east and Slovakia (Prešov Region) to the south. It covers an area of , and has a population of 2,127,462 (as at 2019). The voivodeship is mostly hilly or mountainous (see Bieszczady, Beskidy); its northwestern corner is flat. It is one of the most wooded Polish voivodeships (35.9% of total area), within its borders there is whole Bieszczady National Park, and parts of Magura National Park.
History
Government
Subcarpathian Voivodeship's government powers are shared between the voivode (governor), the sejmik (regional assembly), and the marshal.
Cities and towns
The voivodeship contains 6 cities and 45 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures as of 2019)
Administrative division
Subcarpathian Voivodeship is divided into 25 counties (powiats): 4 city counties and 21 land counties. These are further divided into 160 gminas.
The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).
Protected areas
Protected areas in Subcarpathian Voivodeship include two national parks and 11 Landscape Parks. These are listed below.
Bieszczady National Park (part of the East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve)
Magura National Park (partly in Lesser Poland Voivodeship)
Cisna-Wetlina Landscape Park
Czarnorzeki-Strzyżów Landscape Park
Jaśliska Landscape Park
Janów Forests Landscape Park (partly in Lublin Voivodeship)
Pasmo Brzanki Landscape Park (partly in Lesser Poland Voivodeship)
Pogórze Przemyskie Landscape Park
Puszcza Solska Landscape Park (partly in Lublin Voivodeship)
San Valley Landscape Park
Słonne Mountains Landscape Park
South Roztocze Landscape Park (partly in Lublin Voivodeship)
Economy
The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 19.4 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 3.9% of Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 15,100 euros or 50% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 59% of the EU average. Podkarpackie Voivodship is the province with the third lowest GDP per capita in Poland.
Ethnic groups
Population according to 2002 census
Poles - 2,079,208 (98.8%)
Pogorzans
Ukrainians - 3,271 (0.2%)
Rusyns
Lemkos - 147
Boykos
Romani people - 717
Americans - 129
Russians - 128
Germans - 116
Italians - 108
No answer - 19,055 (0.9%)
Most popular surnames in the region
Mazur: 9,530
Nowak: 9,301
Baran: 8,020
Notable residents
Moe Drabowsky, American major league baseball pitcher
Stefan Turchak, Ukrainian conductor
Subcarpathia landscape pictures
See also
Second Polish Republic's Lwów Voivodeship
Galicia
References
Notes
External links
Subcarpathia photo gallery
Subcarpathian Voivodeship official website
Podkarpacki Urząd Wojewódzki Official website
The castles and palaces of Subcarpathian province
1999 establishments in Poland
States and territories established in 1999
Rusyn communities