The province is one of rich cultural heritage. The Tricity urban area, consisting of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot, is one of the main cultural, commercial and educational centres of Poland. Gdańsk and Gdynia are two of the major Polish seaports, the first erected by Mieszko I of Poland in the Middle Ages, the latter built in the interwar period. Amongst the most recognisable landmarks of the region are the historic city centre of Gdańsk filled with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces, the Museum of the National Anthem in Będomin, located at the birthplace of Józef Wybicki, poet and politician, author of the national anthem of Poland, the largest medieval churches of Poland (the St. Mary's Church in Gdańsk and the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Pelplin) and the Malbork Castle. The voivodeship also includes the narrow Hel Peninsula and the Polish half of the Vistula Spit. Other tourist destinations include Wejherowo, Sopot, Jurata, Łeba, Władysławowo, Puck, Krynica Morska, Ustka, Jastarnia, Kuźnica, Bytów and many fishing ports, lighthouses, and marinas.
Ethymology
The name Pomerania derives from the Slavicpo more, meaning "by the sea" or "on the sea".[3]
Cities and towns
Gdańsk, principal seaport of Poland since the Middle Ages and the capital of Pomeranian VoivodeshipSłupsk, the largest city in the west of the voivodeshipTczew, the largest city in the ethnocultural region of KociewieWejherowo, one of the main centres of the ethnocultural region of KashubiaStarogard Gdański, the capital of KociewieSopot, a resort and one of the three cities of the Tricity
The voivodeship contains 7 cities and 35 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (official 2019 figures).[4]
Cities (governed by a city mayor or prezydent miasta):
Pomeranian Voivodeship is divided into 20 counties (powiats): 4 city counties, and 16 land counties. These are further divided into 123 gminas (communes).
The counties are listed below in order of decreasing population.
The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 29.2 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 5.9% of Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 20,800 euros or 69% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 74% of the EU average.[6]
The three busiest railway stations of northern Poland, and three of ten busiest railway stations of Poland overall, are located in the voivodeship. Those are Gdynia Główna, Gdańsk Główny and Gdańsk Wrzeszcz.[8]
The provincial capital of Gdańsk was the largest city of Poland for over 250 years, from the mid-15th century to the early 18th century, when it was surpassed by the national capital of Warsaw. Gdańsk has five sites listed as Historic Monuments of Poland, a joint record with Kraków, including its historic city center.[9]
During World War II, the Stalag II-B and Stalag XX-B major prisoner-of-war camps for Polish, British, French, Belgian, Serbian, Dutch, Soviet, Italian, American, Australian, New Zealander, Canadian, Senegalese, Malagasy, Tunisian, Moroccan, Algerian and other Allied POWs were operated in the territory by Nazi Germany. There are cemeteries of the POWs at the sites in Czarne and Malbork.
There are numerous memorials at the sites of Nazi massacres of Poles from World War II, including the largest massacres in Piaśnica, Szpęgawsk and Chojnice.
The Pomeranian Voivodeship is one of four first-level administrative divisions containing the name of the region of Pomerania, the other being the neighbouring West Pomeranian Voivodeship and Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.
References
^"EU regions by GDP". Eurostat. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
^Der Name Pommern (po more) ist slawischer Herkunft und bedeutet so viel wie "Land am Meer". Archived 2020-08-19 at the Wayback Machine (Pommersches Landesmuseum, German)
^GUS. "Population. Size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2019. As of 30th June". stat.gov.pl. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
^"Division of Poland". 2024-04-03.
^"Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat. Archived from the original on 2022-10-10.
^"Economy" (PDF). The Province of Pomerania. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-12-31. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
^"Wymiana pasażerska na stacjach". Portal statystyczny UTK (in Polish). Retrieved 19 May 2024.
^Zarządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 8 września 1994 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii., M.P. z 1994 r. Nr 50, poz. 415
^Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 20 kwietnia 2018 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Kwidzyn - zespół katedralno-zamkowy", Dz. U. z 2018 r. poz. 930
^Zarządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 8 września 1994 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii., M.P. z 1994 r. Nr 50, poz. 420
^Wijaczka, Jacek (2010). "Szkoci". In Kopczyński, Michał; Tygielski, Wojciech (eds.). Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej (in Polish). Warszawa: Muzeum Historii Polski, Bellona. pp. 201–202. ISBN 978-83-11-11724-2.
^Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 22 sierpnia 2003 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii, Dz. U. z 2003 r. Nr 148, poz. 1448
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Information about Pomeranian Voivodeship - official website (pl, en, ru)
Economy brochure (en)
The Pomorskie Voivodeship. The Greatest Tourist Attractions - Brochure (en)
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