Pomeranian Voivodeship

Pomeranian Voivodeship, or Pomerania Province (in Polish województwo pomorskie ), is a voivodeship, or province, in north-central Poland. It comprises most of Pomerelia (the easternmost part of historical Pomerania), as well as an area east of the Vistula River. The western part of the province, around Słupsk, belonged historically to Farther Pomerania, while Pomerelia and the eastern bank of the Vistula belonged to the historical region of Prussia. The central parts of the province are also known as Kashubia, named after the Kashubian minority. The provincial capital is Gdańsk.

The voivodeship was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Gdańsk, Elbląg and Słupsk, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. It is bordered by West Pomeranian Voivodeship to the west, Greater Poland and Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeships to the south, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship to the east, and the Baltic Sea to the north. It also shares a short land border with Russia, on the Vistula Spit.

Gdańsk, the regional capital, forms part of the Tricity of Sopot, Gdańsk and Gdynia. The voivodeship also includes the narrow Hel Peninsula and the Polish half of the Vistula Spit. Other tourist destinations include Sopot, Jurata, Łeba, Władysławowo, Puck, Krynica Morska, Ustka, Jastarnia, Kuźnica, Bytów and many fishing ports and lighthouses.

Cities and towns
The voivodeship contains 42 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006 ):

Administrative division


Pomeranian Voivodeship is divided into 20 counties (powiats): 4 city counties and 16 land counties. These are further divided into 123 gminas.

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

Transport

 * SKM
 * Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport
 * Obwodnica Trójmiejska
 * Autostrada A1

Protected areas
Protected areas in Pomeranian Voivodeship include two National Parks and nine Landscape Parks. These are listed below.
 * Słowiński National Park (a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve)
 * Tuchola Forest National Park
 * Coastal Landscape Park
 * Iława Lake District Landscape Park (partly in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship)
 * Kashubian Landscape Park
 * Słupia Valley Landscape Park
 * Tricity Landscape Park
 * Tuchola Landscape Park (partly in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship)
 * Vistula Spit Landscape Park
 * Wdydze Landscape Park
 * Zaborski Landscape Park