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| Administrative division of Poland |
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Voivodeships |
The gmina or municipality (frequently translated commune), plural: gminy, is the principal unit (lowest level) of territorial division in Poland. As of 2004 there were 2,478 gminas. The word gmina is derived from the German word Gemeinde, meaning "commune" or "community".
Since 1972, when it replaced the smaller gromada, the gmina has been the basic unit of administrative division. There are three types of gmina (commune) in Poland:
- urban gmina (gmina miejska) - consists of just one city or town
- mixed (urban-rural) gmina (gmina miejsko-wiejska) - consists of a town and its surrounding villages
- rural gmina (gmina wiejska) - consists only of villages
Some rural gminas have their seat in a town which is outside the gmina. For example, the rural Gmina Augustów is administered from the town of Augustów, but does not include this town, as Augustów is an urban gmina in its own right.
An urban gmina is normally referred to by the name of the town in question. Other types of gmina are called Gmina Abcd, where Abcd is the town or village in which the gmina has its seat. However urban-rural gminas are more fully called Miasto i gmina Abcd ("Town and Gmina Abcd"). Gmina X is sometimes translated into English as "X Commune".
The legislative and controlling body of each gmina is the elected municipal council (rada gminy, or in a town rada miasta). Executive power is held by the directly elected mayor of the municipality, called wójt in rural gminas, burmistrz in most urban and urban-rural gminas, or prezydent in towns with more than 100,000 inhabitants and some others which traditionally use the title.
For a complete listing of all the gminas in Poland, see List of Polish gminas.
Numbers of gminas
| Number of gminas by voivodeship | |||||||||||||||||
| Voivodeship | LS | KP | LBL | LBS | ŁD | LP | MS | OP | SK | PL | PM | SL | ŚWK | WM | GP | WP | Poland |
| Urban gminas | 36 | 17 | 20 | 9 | 18 | 15 | 35 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 25 | 49 | 5 | 16 | 19 | 11 | 307 |
| Urban-rural gminas | 55 | 35 | 21 | 33 | 25 | 42 | 50 | 32 | 29 | 23 | 17 | 22 | 26 | 33 | 90 | 51 | 582 |
| Rural gminas | 78 | 92 | 172 | 41 | 134 | 125 | 229 | 36 | 114 | 82 | 81 | 96 | 71 | 67 | 117 | 52 | 1,589 |
| Total gminas | 169 | 144 | 213 | 83 | 177 | 182 | 314 | 71 | 159 | 118 | 123 | 167 | 102 | 116 | 226 | 114 | 2,478 |
| of which: rural gminas with their seat outside the gmina | 14 | 13 | 17 | 5 | 15 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 160 |
Abbreviations used for voivodeships:
LS: Lower Silesian Voivodeship, KP: Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, LBL: Lublin Voivodeship, LBS: Lubusz Voivodeship,
ŁD: Łódź Voivodeship, LP: Lesser Poland Voivodeship, MS: Masovian Voivodeship, OP: Opole Voivodeship,
SK: Subcarpathian Voivodeship, PL: Podlaskie Voivodeship, PM: Pomeranian Voivodeship, SL: Silesian Voivodeship,
ŚWK: Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, WM: Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, GP: Greater Poland Voivodeship, WP: West Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Largest and smallest gminas
| LARGEST | Population (2006 estimate) | Land area in km² | Population density per km² |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban commune | Warsaw (1,697,596) | Warsaw (517.22) | Świętochłowice (4,156.80) |
| Rural commune | Gmina Chełmiec (24,344) | Gmina Wałcz (574.89) | Gmina Buczkowice (542.70) |
| Urban-rural commune | Gmina Piaseczno (61,525) | Gmina Pisz (633.69) | Gmina Wołomin (801.69) |
| Urban-rural commune (town only) | Gmina Nysa: Nysa (47,545) | Gmina Szczytna: Szczytna (80.38) | Gmina Swarzędz: Swarzędz (3,469.23) |
| Urban-rural commune (rural part only) | Gmina Wieliczka: rural part (28,864) | Gmina Pisz: rural part (623.61) | Gmina Świątniki Górne: rural part (407.86) |
| SMALLEST | Population (2006 estimate) | Land area in km² | Population density per km² |
| Urban commune | Krynica Morska (1,364) | Górowo Iławeckie (3.32) | Krynica Morska (11.74) |
| Rural commune | Gmina Cisna (1,663) | Gmina Jejkowice (7.59) | Gmina Lutowiska (4.63) |
| Urban-rural commune | Gmina Nowe Warpno (1,559) | Gmina Świątniki Górne (20.35) | Gmina Nowe Warpno (7.88) |
| Urban-rural commune (town only) | Gmina Wyśmierzyce: Wyśmierzyce (892) | Gmina Stawiszyn: Stawiszyn (0.99) | Gmina Suraż: Suraż (28.94) |
| Urban-rural commune (rural part only) | Gmina Nowe Warpno: rural part (363) | Gmina Suchedniów: rural part (15.54) | Gmina Nowe Warpno: rural part (2.09) |
References
- Official report from the Central Statistical Office of Poland dated January 1, 2006, (pages 49 thru 151, in Polish)
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