Lower Silesian Voivodeship

Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province (in Polish, województwo dolnośląskie ), is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is currently divided. It lies in southwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Wrocław, on the middle Odra (Oder) river.

History and Geography
The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbrzych and Jelenia Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. It covers an area of 19946 km2, and as at 2006 has a total population of 2,884,248, comprising an urban population of 2,047,151 and rural population of 837,097.

Although much of the region is relatively low-lying it also includes part of the Sudetes mountain range running along the Polish/Czech border. Popular ski resorts in Lower Silesian Voivodeship include Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba in the Karkonosze mountains. The town of Kudowa Zdrój, also in the Sudetes (west of Kłodzko near the Czech border), is a traditional spa town often visited by heart patients. Other important tourist destinations in the voivodeship include the chief city, Wrocław, as well as the towns of Jelenia Góra and Legnica. The town of Boleslawiec is famed for its pottery.

Lower Silesian Voivodeship is bordered by Lubusz Voivodeship to the north-west, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the north-east, Opole Voivodeship to the south-east, the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany, (Federal-State of Saxony) to the west.

Economy
Lower Silesia is one of the richest regions in Poland. GDP per capita in 2007 accounted for 108.7% of the average for the country. GDP per capita in the region is similar to the GDP in the poorest regions of Spain, Greece and Portugal, and slightly lower than the poorest regions of Italy. Since 2005, the voivodeship recorded the highest in the country economic growth rate (around 10% per annum).

GDP per capita in Lower Silesia Voivodeship: GDP in Poland:

Cities and towns
The voivodeship contains 91 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006 ):

Administrative division
Lower Silesian Voivodeship is divided into 29 counties (powiats), three of which are urban, and the rest rural. These are further divided into 169 gminas.

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

Protected areas
Protected areas in Lower Silesian Voivodeship include two National Parks, 12 Landscape Parks and many areas of Natura 2000.


 * Karkonosze National Park (part of a UNESCO trans-border biosphere reserve)
 * Table Mountains National Park


 * Barycz Valley Landscape Park (partly in Greater Poland Voivodeship)
 * Bóbr Valley Landscape Park
 * Bystrzyca Valley Landscape Park
 * Chełmy Landscape Park
 * Jezierzyca Valley Landscape Park
 * Książ Landscape Park
 * Owl Mountains Landscape Park
 * Przemków Landscape Park
 * Rudawy Landscape Park
 * Ślęża Landscape Park
 * Śnieżnik Landscape Park
 * Sudety Wałbrzyskie Landscape Park