West Pomeranian Voivodeship[a] is a voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin.[3] Its area equals 22,892.48 km2 (8,838.84 sq mi),[4] and in 2021, it was inhabited by 1,682,003 people.[5]
West Pomeranian Voivodeship is the fifth largest voivodeship of Poland in terms of area. The largest cities in the region are the capital Szczecin, as well as Koszalin, Stargard, Kołobrzeg and Świnoujście.
West Pomerania is considered one of the greenest regions of Poland, and one of the most attractive for tourists. It is characterized by incredible diversity of the landscape: beaches, hundreds of lakes, and forests full of wildlife (e.g. Wkrzanska Forest), spreading mainly up the hills of the glacial lakes areas, and Poland's two largest islands, Wolin and Usedom.
Church of the Virgin Mary, Queen of the World, in Stargard
West Pomerania is also rich in various forms and styles of architecture that were built during the Middle Ages as well as the Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. Darłowo, the birthplace of Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, contains a preserved old town with the Gothic Our Lady of Częstochowa church, which holds the king's sarcophagus. The St. Mary's Church in Stargard and Saint John Co-Cathedral in Kamień Pomorski are considered two of the most precious Gothic churches of entire Poland, and as such are listed as Historic Monuments of Poland,[6][7] whereas the Saint Stanislaus Kostka church in Chwarszczany is a nationally unique former Knights Templar church. In Cedynia, the westernmost town of Poland, there is a memorial commemorating the Battle of Cedynia of 972, the oldest recorded battle in the history of Poland. The Świnoujście Lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the world. The War Cemetery in Stargard is the burial place of over 5,000 Allied soldiers and prisoners of war from both world wars, including Polish, French, Serbian/Yugoslav, Russian/Soviet, Italian, Romanian, Belgian, British, Moroccan, Portuguese and Dutch. There are also numerous World War II memorials, including memorials to Allied POWs from World War II at the former Oflag II-B, Oflag II-D and Stalag Luft IV German POW camps in Choszczno, Kłomino and Tychowo, and a memorial to British pilots of the No. 617 Squadron RAF shot down by Germany in Karsibór, Świnoujście.
There is a diverse repertoire of theaters, festivals, museums and galleries. During a few-day long annual Sea Festival in Szczecin, a number of free open-air concerts take place. In Świnoujście during the summer, the FAMA Academic Youth Arts Festival takes place – an event with several years of tradition, which attracts not only young people but also older alumni. In Międzyzdroje, there is a Festival Of The Stars, which draws many popular actors. In Wolin, a Viking Festival takes place, which draws "Vikings" from all across Europe.
Another draw to the area is a wide array of health resorts. Brine and peloid, discovered in the 19th century, together with geothermal water resources, are popular attractions in Świnoujście, Kamień Pomorski and Połczyn Zdrój.
A notable phenomenon on a worldly scale is the Crooked Forest outside the town of Gryfino.
The voivodeship contains five cities and 61 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2019):[8]
Cities (governed by a city mayor or prezydent miasta):
The Polish districts of the historical region Western Pomerania (the three westernmost districts of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship) had a population of about 520,000 in 2012 (cities of Szczecin, Świnoujście and Police County combined) – while the German districts had a population of about 470,000 in 2012 (Vorpommern-Rügen and Vorpommern-Greifswald combined). Overall, about 1 million people live in the historical region of Western Pomerania today, while the Szczecin agglomeration reaches even further.
Administrative division
West Pomeranian Voivodeship is divided into 21 counties (powiats): three city counties and 18 land counties. These are further divided into 114 gminas.
The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population in 2019):[8]
After Germany's defeat in World War II, the region became again part of Poland by way of the Potsdam Agreement, which created territorial changes demanded by the Soviet Union.
The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 18.3 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 3.7% of Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 17,700 euros or 59% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 67% of the EU average.[14]
The Świnoujście LNG terminal, Poland's main liquefied natural gas import terminal, is located in the province.
There are two main international road routes that pass through the voivodeship: National road 3 (Poland) Świnoujście-Szczecin-Gorzów Wielkopolski-Zielona Góra-Legnica-Czech border (part of European route E65 from Swedish Malmö to Chaniá in Greece) and National road 6 (Poland) Szczecin-Koszalin-Słupsk-Gdańsk (part of European route E28 from Berlin to Minsk).
Most of the National road 3 in the voivodeship is in a standard of an expressway (Expressway S3 (Poland)). The National road 6 between German border and Rzęśnica is in the standard of autostrada (A6 autostrada (Poland)), whereas part between Rzęścnica and Goleniów and bypasses of Goleniów and Nowogard are in standards of an expressway (Expressway S6 (Poland)).
Other important national roads are National road 10 (Poland) (German border-Szczecin-Piła-Bydgoscz-Toruń-Płońsk) and National road 11 (Poland) (Kołobrzeg-Koszalin-Piła-Poznań-Bytom).
Apart from the above, some other national roads are located in the voivodeship. The voivodeship possesses also a well-developed network of regional roads.
Main railways in the province are line no. 351 Szczecin-Poznań, line no. 273 Szczecin-Wrocław (so-called "Odra railway"), line no. 202 Stargard-Gdańsk, line no. 401 Szczecin-Świnoujście and line no. 404 Kołobrzeg-Szczecinek.
The main railway stations of the province are Szczecin main station, Stargard and Koszalin. The stations are served by fast PKP Intercity trains which connect them with the capital Warsaw, as well as other major Polish cities.
In addition to these fast express services, inter-regional trains and intra-regional trains are operated by the firm Przewozy Regionalne.
Szczecin main station possesses international train connections with Berlin, Schwerin and Lübeck (operated by DB Regio). Świnoujście has a direct train connection with Stralsund, which is operated by Usedomer Bäderbahn.
The only domestic and international airport in West Pomeranian Voivodeship is Szczecin-Goleniów "Solidarność" Airport. Also, part of the runway of an abandoned airport in Bagicz (near Kołobrzeg) was converted to an airport licensed to service planes carrying not more than 20 passengers on board.
^Alina Hutnikiewicz: "Proces Osadnictwa na Pomorzu Zachodnim po 1945 r" in Zeszyty Kulickie 5: Rodzinne Pomorze – dawniej i dziś, pp. 67 ff. (in Polish)
^Wijaczka, Jacek (2010). "Szkoci". In Kopczyński, Michał; Tygielski, Wojciech (eds.). Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej (in Polish). Warszawa: Muzeum Historii Polski, Bellona. pp. 202, 204. ISBN978-83-11-11724-2.
^Skrycki, Radosław (2011). "Z okresu wojny i pokoju – "francuskie" miejsca w Szczecinie z XVIII i XIX wieku". In Rembacka, Katarzyna (ed.). Szczecin i jego miejsca. Trzecia Konferencja Edukacyjna, 10 XII 2010 r. (in Polish). Szczecin. p. 95. ISBN978-83-61233-45-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^"Kalendarium". Gryfino.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
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