Lesser Poland Voivodeship (Polish: województwo małopolskie[vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔmawɔˈpɔlskʲɛ]ⓘ) is a voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of 15,108 square kilometres (5,833 sq mi), and a population of 3,404,863 (2019).[3]
The province's name recalls the traditional name of a historic Polish region, Lesser Poland, or in Polish: Małopolska. Current Lesser Poland Voivodeship, however, covers only a small part of the broader ancient Małopolska region. Historic Lesser Poland is much larger than the current province. It stretches far north, to Radom, and Siedlce, also including such cities, as Lublin, Kielce, Częstochowa, and Sosnowiec.
The gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was €40.4 billion in 2018, accounting for 8.1% of the Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €19,700 or 65% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 72% of the EU average.[4]
The region's economy includes high technology, banking, chemical and metallurgical industries, coal, ore, food processing, and spirit and tobacco industries. The most industrialized city of the voivodeship is Kraków. The largest regional enterprise operates here, the Tadeusz Sendzimir Steelworks in Nowa Huta, employing 17,500 people. Another major industrial center is located in the west, in the neighborhood of Chrzanów (chiefly the production of railway engines) and Oświęcim (chemical works). Kraków Park Technologiczny, a special economic zone, has been established within the voivodeship. There are almost 210,000 registered economic entities operating in the voivodeship, mostly small and medium-sized, of which 234 belong to the state-owned sector. Foreign investment, growing in the region, reached approximately US$18.3 billion by the end of 2006.
A total of 130,000 students attend fifteen Kraków institutions of higher learning. The Jagiellonian University, the largest university in the city (44,200 students), was founded in 1364 as Cracow Academy. Nicolaus Copernicus and Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II) graduated from it. The AGH University of Science and Technology (29,800 students) is considered to be the best technical university in Poland. The Academy of Economics, the Pedagogical University, the Kraków University of Technology and the Agricultural Academy are also very highly regarded. There are also the Fine Arts Academy, the State Theatre University and the Musical Academy. Nowy Sącz has become a major educational center in the region thanks to its Higher School of Business and Administration, with an American curriculum, founded in 1992. The school has 4,500 students. There are also two private higher schools in Tarnów.
History
15th-century view of Kraków
In the Early Middle Ages, the territory was inhabited by the Vistulans, an old Polish tribe. It formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century, with the regional capital Kraków becoming the seat of one of Poland's oldest dioceses, est. in 1000, contributing to the Christianization of Poland. In 1038, Kraków became the capital of Poland by decision of Casimir I the Restorer, retaining its role for several centuries with short-term breaks. It also became the location of the Jagiellonian University, Poland's oldest university and one of world's oldest, established by King Casimir III the Great. In the Late Middle Ages, Oświęcim and Zator were ducal seats of local lines of the Piast dynasty. Following the late-18th-century Partitions of Poland, the region witnessed several uprisings against foreign rule, i.e. the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794, Kraków uprising of 1846 and January Uprising of 1863–1864, and Kraków remained one of the main cultural centers of partitioned Poland, taking advantage of the more relaxed policies of the Austrian partitioners than those of the Prussians and Russians. In the interbellum, the region was part of reborn independent Poland.
Located in Southern Poland, Lesser Poland is the warmest place in Poland with average summer temperatures between 23 °C (73 °F) and 30 °C (86 °F) during the day, often reaching 32 °C (90 °F) to 38 °C (100 °F) in July and August, the two warmest months of the year. The city of Tarnów, which is located in Lesser Poland, is the hottest place in Poland all year round, average temperatures being around 25 °C (77 °F) during the day in the three summer months and 3 °C (37 °F) during the day in the three winter months. In the winter the weather patterns alter each year; usually winters are mildly cold with temperatures ranging from −7 °C (19 °F) to 4 °C (39 °F), but the winter season changes often to a more humid and warmer winter, or more continental and cold, depending on the many various wind patterns that affect Poland from different regions of the world. Błędów Desert, the only desert in Poland, is located in Lesser Poland, where temperatures can often reach 38 °C (100 °F) in the summer.
The voivodeship is rich in historic architecture ranging from Romanesque and Gothic to Renaissance, Baroque and Art Nouveau. Numerous towns possess preserved historic market squares and town halls, as in Kraków and Tarnów. At Wadowice, birthplace of John Paul II (50 kilometers southwest of Kraków) is a museum dedicated to the late pope's childhood.
There are numerous World War II memorials in the province, including a museum at the site of the former Nazi concentration campsAuschwitz-I and Auschwitz-II-Birkenau, as well as the Auschwitz Jewish Center, visited annually by a million people. There are memorials at the sites of German-perpetrated massacres of Poles, German-operated forced labour camps, etc.
In February 2020, the French region of Centre-Val de Loire suspended its partnership with the Lesser Poland Voivodeship as a response to the anti-LGBT resolution passed by the voivodeship's authorities.[10][11][12] In September 2021, the voivodeships's authorities revoked the controversial declaration.[13]
^Banaś, Jan; Fijałkowska, Grażyna (2006). Miejsca Pamięci Narodowej na terenie Podgórza (in Polish). Kraków. p. 30.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 374. ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
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