West Pomeranian Voivodeship


West Pomeranian Voivodeship is a voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals, and in 2021, it was inhabited by 1,682,003 people.
It was established on 1 January 1999, out of the former Szczecin and Koszalin Voivodeships and parts of Gorzów, Piła and Słupsk Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. It borders on Pomeranian Voivodeship to the east, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the southeast, Lubusz Voivodeship to the south, the German federal-states of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Brandenburg to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the north.
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Geography and tourism

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.
This is a picturesque region of the Baltic Sea coast, with many beaches, lakes and woodlands. Szczecin, Świnoujście and Police are important ports. Other major seaside towns include Międzyzdroje, Dziwnów, Kołobrzeg, and Mielno.
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, 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.

Cities and towns

The voivodeship contains five cities and 61 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population :
The Polish districts of the historical region Western Pomerania had a population of about 520,000 in 2012 – while the German districts had a population of about 470,000 in 2012. 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 : three city counties and 18 land counties. These are further divided into 114 gminas.
The counties are listed in the following table :

Protected areas

Protected areas in West Pomeranian Voivodeship include two National Parks and seven Landscape Parks. These are listed below.

Cuisine

Apart from nationwide Polish cuisine, the region has its local traditional foods and beverages. The voivodeship is notable for production of honey, with several varieties listed as traditional foods by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland.
As a coastal province, there are several local fish dishes, including the Szczecin-style and Kołobrzeg-style herring. Szczecinek krówki, Szczecin gingerbread and Choszczno strucla are local delicacies.
Traditional beverages include mead, produced in Cedynia and Wolin, beer from Lipiany and Szczecin and nalewka from Dębina.

Demographics

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. German settlement in Pomerania dates back to the 12th century. In 1945 with the defeat of Nazi Germany, any German-speaking communities located east of the Oder-Neisse Line were expelled abruptly changing the demographic makeup of much of the region.
In 1948, 67 percent of the populace originated from central Poland, Greater Poland and Pomerelia while 25 percent came from the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union. Another 6 percent returned to Poland from Western Europe. About 50,000 Ukrainians were forcefully resettled to West Pomerania in the Operation Vistula in 1947.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, some Scots settled in several towns of the current West Pomeranian Voivodeship, i.e. Wałcz, Biały Bór, Człopa and Gryfice, whereas in the 17th and 18th centuries French Huguenots settled in Stargard, Kołobrzeg, Szczecin and Gryfino.

Education and science

Economy

The Gross domestic product 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.
The Świnoujście LNG terminal, Poland's main liquefied natural gas import terminal, is located in the province.

Industrial, science and technology parks

Transportation

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 and National road 6 (Poland) Szczecin-Koszalin-Słupsk-Gdańsk.
Most of the National road 3 in the voivodeship is in a standard of an expressway. The National road 6 between German border and Rzęśnica is in the standard of autostrada, whereas part between Rzęścnica and Goleniów and bypasses of Goleniów and Nowogard are in standards of an expressway.
Other important national roads are National road 10 (Poland) and National road 11 (Poland).
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, 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. 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 was converted to an airport licensed to service planes carrying not more than 20 passengers on board.

Sports

Football and basketball enjoy the largest following in the voivodeship.
ClubSportLeagueTrophies
Wilki Morskie SzczecinBasketball Polish Basketball League1 Polish Championship
Spójnia StargardBasketball I Liga0
SKK Kotwica KołobrzegBasketball I Liga1 Polish Cup
KPS Chemik PoliceVolleyball Tauron Liga11 Polish Championships
10 Polish Cups
Pogoń SzczecinFootball Ekstraklasa0
Pogoń SzczecinFootball Ekstraliga1 Polish Championship
Świt SzczecinFootball II liga0
AZS Politechnika KoszalinHandball Superliga1 Polish Cup
Pogoń SzczecinHandball Liga Centralna3 Polish Championships
4 Polish Cups
Pogoń SzczecinHandball Liga Centralna0