Powiat
Encyclopedia
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
and administration in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, equivalent to a county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
, district
District
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
or prefecture
Prefecture
A prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction or subdivision in any of various countries and within some international church structures, and in antiquity a Roman district governed by an appointed prefect.-Antiquity:...
(LAU-1
Local administrative unit
Generally, a local administrative unit is a low level administrative division of a country, ranked below a province, region, or state. Not all countries describe their locally governed areas this way, but it can be descriptively applied anywhere to refer to counties, municipalities, etc.In the...
, formerly NUTS-4
Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics
The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of countries for statistical purposes...
) in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as "county", although other terms are also sometimes used. It is arguably preferred to leave such national labels for levels of government untranslated to avoid the false suggestion of resemblance to e.g. the UK structure of government (Bankauskaite et al. 2007).
A powiat is part of a larger unit or province called a voivodeship
Voivodeships of Poland
The voivodeship, or province, called in Polish województwo , has been a high-level administrative subdivision of Poland since the 14th century....
(Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
województwo). In turn a powiat is usually subdivided into gmina
Gmina
The gmina is the principal unit of administrative division of Poland at its lowest uniform level. It is often translated as "commune" or "municipality." As of 2010 there were 2,479 gminas throughout the country...
s (sometimes called municipalities or communes). However the more important towns and cities function as separate counties in their own right, with no subdivision into gminas. These are called city counties (Polish powiaty grodzkie, or more formally miasta na prawach powiatu, meaning "towns with the rights of a powiat") and have roughly the same status as former county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
s in the UK. The other, true powiats are called land counties (Polish powiaty ziemskie).
As of 2008 there are 379 powiat-level entities in Poland: 314 land counties and 65 city counties. For a complete alphabetical listing, see List of counties in Poland. For tables of counties by voivodeship, see the articles on the individual voivodeships (Greater Poland Voivodeship
Greater Poland Voivodeship
Wielkopolska Voivodeship , or Greater Poland Voivodeship, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Poznań, Kalisz, Konin, Piła and Leszno Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998...
etc.).
History
The history of Polish powiats goes back to the second half of the 14th century. They remained the basic unit of territorial organization in Poland, then in the Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthPolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
, until the latter's partitioning
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
in 1795.
In the 19th century, the powiats continued to function in the part of Poland that had been incorporated into the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
("Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
") and, as the Polish equivalent of the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
"Kreis" in the German-governed Grand Duchy of Poznań
Grand Duchy of Poznan
The Grand Duchy of Posen, or the Grand Duchy of Poznań was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. Per agreements derived at the Congress of Vienna it was to have...
.
After Poland regained independence in 1918, the powiats again became the basic territorial units throughout the country.
Powiats were abolished in 1975 in favour of a larger number of voivodeships
Voivodeships of Poland
The voivodeship, or province, called in Polish województwo , has been a high-level administrative subdivision of Poland since the 14th century....
, but were reintroduced on 1 January 1999. This reform also created 16 larger voivodeships.
Functioning
Legislative power within a powiat is vested in an elected council (rada powiatu), while local executive power is vested in the starostaStarosta
Starost is a title for an official or unofficial position of leadership that has been used in various contexts through most of Slavic history. It can be translated as "elder"...
, who is elected by that council. The administrative offices headed by the starosta are called the starostwo. However in city counties these institutions do not exist separately their powers and functions are exercised by the city council (rada miasta), the directly-elected mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
(burmistrz or prezydent), and the city offices (urząd miasta).
In some cases a powiat has its seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
outside its own territory. For example, Poznań County
Poznan County
Poznań County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat is the city of Poznań, although the city...
(powiat poznański) has its offices in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, although Poznań is itself a city county, and is therefore not part of Poznań County.
Powiats have relatively limited powers, since many local and regional matters are dealt with either at gmina
Gmina
The gmina is the principal unit of administrative division of Poland at its lowest uniform level. It is often translated as "commune" or "municipality." As of 2010 there were 2,479 gminas throughout the country...
or voivodeship
Voivodeships of Poland
The voivodeship, or province, called in Polish województwo , has been a high-level administrative subdivision of Poland since the 14th century....
level. Some of the main areas in which the powiat authorities have decision-making powers and competences include:
- education at high-school level (primary and middle schools are run by the gminas)
- healthcare (at county level)
- public transport
- maintenance of certain designated roads
- land surveying
- issuing of work permits to foreigners
- vehicle registration (see Polish car number platesPolish car number platesIn common with many countries, Polish car number plates indicate the region of registration of the vehicle encoded in the number plate.-General:...
)
Names and English equivalents
The PolishPolish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
name of a land county consists of the word powiat followed by a masculine-gender adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
(since powiat is a masculine noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
). In most cases this is the adjective formed from the name of the town or city where the county has its seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
. Thus the county with its seat at the town of Kutno
Kutno
Kutno is a town in central Poland with 48,000 inhabitants and an area of 33,6 km2. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship , previously in Płock Voivodeship . It is the capital of Kutno County....
is named powiat kutnowski (Kutno County
Kutno County
Kutno County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Łódź Voivodeship, central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Kutno, which lies north of the...
). Note that in modern Polish both parts of the name are written in lower case; however, names of powiats in Grand Duchy of Poznań
Grand Duchy of Poznan
The Grand Duchy of Posen, or the Grand Duchy of Poznań was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. Per agreements derived at the Congress of Vienna it was to have...
were written in upper case. If the name of the seat comprises a noun followed by an adjective, as in Maków Mazowiecki
Maków Mazowiecki
Maków Mazowiecki is a town in Poland, in the Masovian Voivodship. It is the powiat capital of Maków County . Its population is 10,850....
("Mazovia
Mazovia
Mazovia or Masovia is a geographical, historical and cultural region in east-central Poland. It is also a voivodeship in Poland.Its historic capital is Płock, which was the medieval residence of first Dukes of Masovia...
n Maków"), the adjective will generally be formed from the noun only (powiat makowski
Maków County
Maków County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Masovian Voivodeship, east-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Maków Mazowiecki, which...
). There are also a few counties whose names are derived from the names of two towns (such as powiat czarnkowsko-trzcianecki, Czarnków-Trzcianka County
Czarnków-Trzcianka County
Czarnków-Trzcianka County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat is the town of Czarnków,...
), from the name of a city and a geographical adjective (powiat łódzki wschodni, Łódź East County), or a mountain range (powiat tatrzański, Tatra County
Tatra County
Tatra County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland, on the Slovak border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and only town is...
).
There is more than one way to render such names in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. A common method is to translate the names as "(something) County", as in the examples above. (This is the system used as standard in Wikipedia.) Thus in most cases the English name for a powiat consists of the name of the city or town which is its seat, followed by the word County.
Note that different counties sometimes have the same name in Polish, since the names of different towns may have the same derived adjective. For example, the counties with their seats at Grodzisk Wielkopolski
Grodzisk Wielkopolski
Grodzisk Wielkopolski is a town in western Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship , with a population of 13,703 . It is south-west of Poznań, the voivodeship capital. It is the seat of Grodzisk Wielkopolski County, and also of the smaller administrative district called Gmina Grodzisk Wielkopolski...
and Grodzisk Mazowiecki
Grodzisk Mazowiecki
Grodzisk Mazowiecki is a town in central Poland with 26,881 inhabitants in 2006. It is 30 km. southwest of Warsaw.Between 1975 and 1998 it was situated in the Warszawa Voivodeship but since 1999 it has been situated in the Masovian Voivodeship. It is the capital of Grodzisk Mazowiecki...
are both called powiat grodziski, and those with seats at Brzeg
Brzeg
Brzeg is a town in southwestern Poland with 38,496 inhabitants , situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the left bank of the Oder...
and Brzesko
Brzesko
Brzesko is a town in southern Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It lies approximately west of Tarnów and east of the regional capital Kraków. Since Polish administrative reorganization , Brzesko has been the administrative capital of Brzesko County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship...
are both called powiat brzeski. In English this ambiguity either does not occur (Brzeg County
Brzeg County
Brzeg County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Opole Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Brzeg, which lies north-west...
and Brzesko County
Brzesko County
Brzesko County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Brzesko, which lies ...
) or can be avoided by using the complete name of the seat (Grodzisk Wielkopolski County
Grodzisk Wielkopolski County
Grodzisk Wielkopolski County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is...
and Grodzisk Mazowiecki County
Grodzisk Mazowiecki County
Grodzisk Mazowiecki County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Masovian Voivodeship, east-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Grodzisk...
).