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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship
Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Polish: województwo świętokrzyskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ ɕfjɛntɔˈkʂɨskʲɛ] ), also known as Holy Cross Voivodeship, is a voivodeship (province) in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland. The province's capital and largest city is Kielce.

Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship is bounded by six other voivodeships: Masovian to the north, Lublin to the east, Subcarpathian to the south-central, Lesser Poland to the south, Silesian to the southwest, and Łódź to the northwest.

The province covers an area of 11,672 square kilometres (4,507 sq mi), making it the second smallest province (after Opole). As at 2019, the total population of Świętokrzyskie Province was 1,237,369.

History

Sandomierz Royal Castle, a Historic Monument of Poland

Inhabited since pre-historic times, the area of Skarżysko-Kamienna and Wąchock contains several hundred former Paleolithic sites from 13,000-10,000 years ago, now known as the Rydno Archaeological Reserve. From 3900 BC to 1600 BC, striped flint was mined at Krzemionki, one of the largest known complexes of prehistoric flint mines in Europe, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Historic Monument of Poland.

The territory formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century. Sandomierz was mentioned as one of three centers of the Kingdom of Poland, along Kraków and Wrocław, in the early-12th-century Gesta principum Polonorum chronicle. Sandomierz and Wiślica, whose historic landmarks are designated Historic Monuments of Poland, are former medieval ducal seats of the Piast dynasty. In the early modern period the Old-Polish Industrial Region developed in the region. Following the late-18th-century Partitions of Poland, the region witnessed several uprisings against foreign rule, i.e. the November Uprising of 1830–1831 and January Uprising of 1863–1864. In the interbellum, the region was part of reborn independent Poland. Its industry was developed 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, massacring civilians, including at Skarżysko-Kamienna and Michniów, and operating numerous prisons and forced labour camps. The Polish resistance movement was active in the region, with the short-lived Republic of Pińczów liberated in 1944.

Holy Cross Province was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Kielce Voivodeship, eastern Częstochowa Voivodeship, and western Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998.

Cities and towns

Kielce is the capital of the voivodeship
Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski is the second most populous city
Historical population
YearPop.±%
19881,317,441—    
20021,297,477−1.5%
20111,280,721−1.3%
20211,196,557−6.6%
Source:

The voivodeship contains 4 cities and 39 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2019):

Cities (governed by a city mayor or prezydent miasta):
  1. Kielce (195,266)
  2. Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (68,641)
  3. Starachowice (48,646)
  4. Skarżysko-Kamienna (45,068)

Towns:

  1. Sandomierz (23,494)
  2. Końskie (19,176)
  3. Busko-Zdrój (15,832)
  4. Jędrzejów (15,076)
  5. Staszów (14,762)
  6. Pińczów (10,774)
  7. Włoszczowa (9,985)
  8. Suchedniów (8,347)
  9. Połaniec (8,098)
  10. Opatów (6,466)
  11. Sędziszów (6,451)
  12. Stąporków (5,639)
  13. Kazimierza Wielka (5,550)
  14. Ożarów (4,569)
  15. Chęciny (4,444)
  16. Małogoszcz (3,748)
  17. Chmielnik (3,681)
  18. Radoszyce (3,135)
  19. Ćmielów (3,012)
  20. Kunów (2,967)
  21. Daleszyce (2,896)
  22. Wąchock (2,766)
  23. Koprzywnica (2,470)
  24. Bodzentyn (2,233)
  25. Osiek (2,007)
  26. Oleśnica (1,849)
  27. Zawichost (1,771)
  28. Morawica (1,711)
  29. Łagów (1,580)
  30. Stopnica (1,420)
  31. Nowa Słupia (1,360)
  32. Skalbmierz (1,285)
  33. Pierzchnica (1,144)
  34. Pacanów (1,108)
  35. Szydłów (1,097)
  36. Nowy Korczyn (942)
  37. Działoszyce (907)
  38. Wiślica (516)
  39. Opatowiec (332)
  40. Piekoszów
  41. Łopuszno
  42. Klimontów
  43. Gowarczów
  44. Iwaniska
  45. Bogoria

Administrative division

Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship is divided into 14 counties (powiats): 1 city county and 13 land counties. These are further divided into 102 gminas.

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

English and
Polish names 		Area
(km) 		Population
(2019) 		Seat Other towns Total
gminas
City counties
Kielce 110 195,266 1
Land counties
Kielce County
powiat kielecki 		2,247 210,940 Kielce * Chęciny, Chmielnik, Daleszyce, Bodzentyn 19
Ostrowiec County
powiat ostrowiecki 		616 109,512 Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski Ćmielów, Kunów 6
Starachowice County
powiat starachowicki 		523 89,925 Starachowice Wąchock 5
Jędrzejów County
powiat jędrzejowski 		1,257 85,757 Jędrzejów Sędziszów, Małogoszcz 9
Końskie County
powiat konecki 		1,140 80,154 Końskie Stąporków, Radoszyce 8
Sandomierz County
powiat sandomierski 		676 77,352 Sandomierz Koprzywnica, Zawichost 9
Skarżysko County
powiat skarżyski 		395 74,343 Skarżysko-Kamienna Suchedniów 5
Staszów County
powiat staszowski 		925 72,000 Staszów Połaniec, Osiek, Szydłów, Oleśnica 8
Busko County
powiat buski 		967 71,807 Busko-Zdrój Pacanów, Nowy Korczyn 8
Opatów County
powiat opatowski 		912 52,336 Opatów Ożarów 8
Włoszczowa County
powiat włoszczowski 		906 45,137 Włoszczowa 6
Pińczów County
powiat pińczowski 		611 39,100 Pińczów Działoszyce 5
Kazimierza County
powiat kazimierski 		422 35,770 Kazimierza Wielka Skalbmierz 5
* seat not part of the county

Economy

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 11.6 billion € in 2018, accounting for 2.3% of the Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 15,400 € or 51% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 58% of the EU average. Świętokrzyskie Voivodship is the province with the fifth lowest GDP per capita in Poland.

Protected areas

Świętokrzyski National Park

Protected areas in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship include one National Park and nine Landscape Parks. These are listed below.

Sights and tourism

Sandomierz is one of the main tourist destinations in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship

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

Preserved old towns include Opatów and the fortified town of Szydłów. In Opatów and Sandomierz there are underground tourist routes in historic cellars under the old town market squares. There are multiple castles, including in Bodzentyn, Chęciny, Sandomierz and Szydłów, and palaces, including in Czyżów Szlachecki and Kurozwęki.

There are two spa towns: Busko-Zdrój and Solec-Zdrój.

There are numerous World War II memorials, including memorials at the site of Nazi massacres of Poles and Holocaust memorials.

Sports

Iskra Kielce celebrating victory in the 2015–16 EHF Champions League

Handball and football enjoy the largest following in the province.

Professional sports teams
Club Sport League Trophies
Barlinek Industria Kielce Handball (men's) Superliga 20 Polish Championships
17 Polish Cups
1 EHF Champions League (2016)
Korona Kielce Football (men's) Ekstraklasa 0
Korona Handball Kielce Handball (women's) Liga Centralna Kobiet 0

Curiosities

See also

References

  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 13 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Contact". The Marshal Office of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.
  4. ^ Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 22 listopada 2017 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Sandomierz - historyczny zespół architektoniczno-krajobrazowy", Dz. U., 2017, No. 2273
  5. ^ Nina Glińska. "Rezerwat archeologiczny Rydno - zespół paleolitycznych osad przemysłowych wraz z kopalnią hematytu". Zabytek.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  6. ^ Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 10 grudnia 2018 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Wiślica - zespół kolegiaty pod wezwaniem Narodzenia Najświętszej Maryi Panny wraz z reliktami kościoła pod wezwaniem św. Mikołaja oraz grodzisko", Dz. U., 2018, No. 2418
  7. ^ "Statistics Poland - National Censuses".
  8. ^ GUS. "Population. Size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2019. As of 30th June". stat.gov.pl. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat.
  10. ^ Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 20 kwietnia 2018 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Ujazd - ruiny zamku Krzyżtopór", Dz. U., 2018, No. 943
  11. ^ Wijaczka, Jacek (2010). "Szkoci". In Kopczyński, Michał; Tygielski, Wojciech (eds.). Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej (in Polish). Warszawa: Muzeum Historii Polski, Bellona. p. 203. ISBN 978-83-11-11724-2.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Świętokrzyskie.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.

50°45′56″N 20°46′25″E / 50.76556°N 20.77361°E / 50.76556; 20.77361

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