Administrative Division Of The People's Republic Of Poland
Administrative division of People's Republic of Poland was subject to several reforms. The first of those established administrative division over the Polish territories that had shifted significantly westwardly. The People's Republic of Poland administrative division was reformed in: 1946, 1950, 1957 and 1975. The 1975 division survived the fall of communism in 1990 and was replaced only in 1999 by the most current administrative division of Poland.
After World War II, Poland lost 77,000 km² of eastern regions (Kresy), gaining instead the smaller but much more industrialized so-called "Regained Territories" east of the Oder-Neisse line.
The People's Republic of Poland was divided into several voivodeships (the Polish unit of administrative division). After World War II, the new administrative divisions were based on the pre-war ones. The areas in the East that were not annexed by the Soviet Union had their borders left almost unchanged. Newly acquired territories in the west and north were organised into the voivodeships of Szczecin, Wrocław, Olsztyn and partially joined to Gdańsk, Katowice and Poznań voivodeships. Two cities were granted voivodeship status: Warsaw and Łódź.
In 1950 new voivodeships were created: Koszalin - previously part of Szczecin, Opole - previously part of Katowice, and Zielona Góra - previously part of Poznań, Wrocław and Szczecin voivodeships. In addition, three other cities were granted voivodeship status: Wrocław, Kraków and Poznań.
In 1973, Polish voivodeships were changed again. This reorganization of administrative division of Poland was mainly a result of local government reform acts of 1973 to 1975. A three-level administrative division (voivodeship, county, commune) was replaced with a two-level administrative division (49 small voidships and communes). The three smallest voivodeships: Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź had a special status of municipal voivodeship; the city president (mayor) was also province governor.
The system of division remained in effect after the fall of the People's Republic, until 1999, when a system of larger voivodeships and powiats was again introduced (see Administrative division of Poland).
Read more about Administrative Division Of The People's Republic Of Poland: Poland's Voivodeships 1945-75 (14+2 Voivodeships, Then 17+5), Poland's Voivodeships 1975-98 (49 Voivodeships)
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