Poland is divided into 16 Voivodships (provinces), which are in turn
divided into 314 Powiatu (counties) and 65 "miasta na prawach powiatu" (cities
with powiat status).
The counties are in turn divided into "gminy" (translated as districts
or communes), which are of 3 types:
gmina miejska, or urban district, consisting of a town
gmina miejsko-wiejska, or urban-rural, consisting of a town ("miasto") and the
surrounding rural area ("obszar wiejski")
gmina wiejska, or rural district, consisting of several villages.
In many cases two districts will share the same name, one
for the town, and one for the surrounding rural area.
On July 18, 1998, the Sejm, which is the lower house of Polish Parliament,
approved legislation transforming Poland's 49 provinces into 16 new ones,
a process which is part of an administrative reform. The Sejm voted 326-45-41
for the measure, one of many in a package of legislation aimed at doing
away with the communist era administration and shifting power to local
governments. On July 27, 1998, President Aleksander Kwasniewski signed
into law a bill dividing Poland into 16 new provinces. On August 7, 1998,
the government decided there will be 308 counties (powiaty) in Poland.
A number of cities (65 of them) will have county rights. The decentralization,
being a result of territorial reform which will take effect on January
1, 1999, has broad support. These decisions ended the argument concerning
administrative reform. (Info from this
site)
Jarig Bakker, 31 Aug 2000
Common patterns in county flags
Why do some Polish counties have a triangular fly and others do not? Do
they represent some specific region, and therefore the shape is indicative
of this situation?
Blas Delgado Ortiz, 30 Oct 2001
County flags have been designed only since the regional reorganization
of 1999, so it's quite early to look for common patterns. So far there
are two regional patterns:
1. Małopolskie voivodship: some counties,
but by no means all, use the civic Małopolskie
flag with the Coat of Arms of the county in the center.
2. Wielkopolskie voivodship: the Wielkopolskie
flag has the trapezoid pattern, now taken over by several (but not
all) counties.
Jarig Bakker, 30 Oct 2001
The development of the Polish city flags in the centuries
Throughout the centuries, banners were developed as symbols of municipal
self-government.
During the times of the 1st Republic, the municipal banners were, most
often, sort of the battle-recognition's signs and were commonly showing
the Arms on a
piece of cloth. In the 19th century it became more common to use the
colors taken from the Arms.
Between the two World Wars, in the reborn 2nd Republic, the municipal
were seen more and more often.
After World War II, during the so-called "People's Republic" and the
communist antipathy to anything heraldic, they didn't cease to exist somehow,
and after 1990, in the re-established independent 3rd Republic they continue
to appear in wide numbers.
Source: this
website.
Chris Kretowicz, 16 Jan 2006
