Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Województwo warmińsko-mazurskie
—  Voivodeship  —
Flag Coat of arms
Location within Poland
Division into counties
Coordinates (Olsztyn): 53°47′N 20°30′E / 53.783, 20.5
Country	Poland
Capital	Olsztyn
Counties	2 cities, 19 land counties * Elbląg Olsztyn Bartoszyce County Braniewo County Działdowo County Elbląg County Ełk County Giżycko County Gołdap County Iława County Kętrzyn County Lidzbark County Mrągowo County Nidzica County Nowe Miasto County Olecko County Olsztyn County Ostróda County Pisz County Szczytno County Węgorzewo County
Area
- Total	24,191.8 km² (9,340.5 sq mi)
Population (2006)
- Total	1,427,091
- Density	59/km² (152.8/sq mi)
- Urban	856,559
- Rural	570,532
Car plates	N
* further divided into 116 gminas
Website: http://www.$

Logo of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship

Neo-baroque City Hall in Iława

Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (also known as Warmia-Masuria Province^{citation needed}, or by its Polish name województwo warmińsko-mazurskie [vɔjɛˈvut​͡stfɔ varˈmiɲskɔ maˈzurskjɛ] or simply Warmińsko-Mazurskie) is a voivodeship, or province, in north-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn. The voivodeship has an area of 24,192 square kilometres (9,341 sq mi) and a population of 1,427,091 (as of 2006).

Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Olsztyn Voivodeship and parts of Suwałki and Elbląg Voivodeships, pursuant to the 1998 Local Government Reorganization Act. The province's name derives from two historic regions, Warmia and Masuria (Polish Mazury).

The province borders Podlaskie Voivodeship to the east, Masovian Voivodeship to the south, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship to the south-west, Pomeranian Voivodeship to the west, the Vistula Lagoon to the north-west, and the Kaliningrad Oblast (an exclave of Russia) to the north. The region closely corresponds to the southern part of the former East Prussia (part of Germany), which was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union in 1945.

The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship has the largest number of ethnic Ukrainians living in Poland^[1] due to forced relocations (such as Operation Wisła) caried out by the Soviet and Polish Communist authorities.

Cities and towns

The voivodeship contains 49 cities and towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006 [1]):

Administrative division

Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship is divided into 21 counties (powiats): 2 city counties and 19 land counties. These are further divided into 116 gminas.

The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).

Protected areas

Protected areas in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship include eight areas designated as Landscape Parks, as listed below:

• Brodnica Landscape Park (partly in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship)
• Dylewo Hills Landscape Park
• Elbląg Upland Landscape Park
• Górzno-Lidzbark Landscape Park (partly in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Masovian Voivodeships)
• Iława Lake District Landscape Park (partly in Pomeranian Voivodeship)
• Masurian Landscape Park
• Puszcza Romincka Landscape Park
• Wel Landscape Park

The Łuknajno Lake nature reserve (part of Masurian Landscape Park) is a protected wetland site under the Ramsar convention, as well as being designated by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve.

References

External links

• Official website of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship

v • d • e Counties of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship City counties Olsztyn (capital) • Elbląg Land counties Bartoszyce • Braniewo • Działdowo • Elbląg • Ełk • Giżycko • Gołdap • Iława • Kętrzyn • Lidzbark • Mrągowo • Nidzica • Nowe Miasto • Olecko • Olsztyn • Ostróda • Pisz • Szczytno • Węgorzewo

v • d • e Voivodeships of Poland Greater Poland · Kuyavian-Pomeranian · Lesser Poland · Łódź · Lower Silesian · Lublin · Lubusz · Masovian · Opole · Podlaskie · Pomeranian · Silesian · Subcarpathian · Świętokrzyskie · Warmian-Masurian · West Pomeranian

Coordinates: 53°51′25″N, 20°50′10″E