Łódź Voivodeship (1919–1939)

Łódź Voivodeship
Województwo łódzkie
Voivodeship of Poland
1919–1939

Łódź Voivodeship (red) on the map of Second Polish Republic

Map of the administrative division of the Voivodeship
CapitalŁódź
Area 
• 1921
19,034 km2 (7,349 sq mi)
• 1939
20,446 km2 (7,894 sq mi)
Population 
• 1921
2,252,769
• 1931
2,650,100
Government
 • TypeVoivodeship
Voivodes 
• 1919-1922
Antoni Kamieński
• 1938-1939
Henryk Józewski
Historical eraInterwar period
• Established
14 August 1919
1 April 1938
• Annexed
September 1939
Political subdivisions15 powiats (1939)
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Russian Empire
Reichsgau Wartheland

Łódź Voivodeship (Polish: Wojewodztwo Łódzkie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1919 to 1939. At the time, it covered a large portion of the mid-western part of the country, including such cities as Łódź, Piotrków Trybunalski, Sieradz and Radomsko. The capital of the Łódź Voivodeship was always Łódź, but the land that comprised it changed several times.

Location and area

In early 1939, the Voivodeship's area was 20,446 square kilometers. It was located in middle Poland, bordering Poznań Voivodeship to the west, Pomorze Voivodeship to the north, Warsaw Voivodeship to the east Kielce Voivodeship to the south and Germany to the southwest. Landscape was flat, forests covered only 14.7%, with the national average 22.2% (as of January 1, 1937).

In 1938 some western counties were ceded to Poznań Voivodeship (see: Territorial changes of Polish Voivodeships on April 1, 1938). After the change, it consisted of 15 powiats (counties):

  • Brzeziny county (area 1 100 km2, pop. 150 900),
  • Końskie county (area 1 619 km2, pop. 135 900),
  • Kutno county (area 922 km2, pop. 108 000),
  • Łask county (area 1 400 km2, pop. 171 900),
  • Łęczyca county (area 1 317 km2, pop. 127 600),
  • Łowicz county (area 1 258 km2, pop. 104 800),
  • city of Łódź county (powiat lodzki grodzki), (area 59 km2, pop. 604 600). It was the most populous county of interbellum Poland,
  • Łódź county (area 893 km2, pop. 161 700),
  • Opoczno county (area 1 773 km2, pop. 129 900),
  • Piotrków Trybunalski county (area 2 073 km2, pop. 222 200),
  • Radomsko county (area 2 149 km2, pop. 186 400),
  • Rawa Mazowiecka county (area 1 327 km2, pop. 93 500),
  • Sieradz county (area 1 618 km2, pop. 167 400),
  • Skierniewice county (area 831 km2, pop. 71 000),
  • Wieluń county (area 2 107 km2, pop. 214 300).

The most populous cities of the Voivodeship were (population according to the 1931 Polish census):

  • Łódź (pop. 604,600),
  • Piotrków Trybunalski (pop. 51,300),
  • Pabianice (pop. 45,700),
  • Tomaszów Mazowiecki (pop. 38,000),
  • Zgierz (pop. 26,600),
  • Kutno (pop. 23,400),
  • Radomsko (pop. 23,000).

Population

According to the 1921 census the voivodeship was inhabited by 2,252,769 people, of whom by nationality 1,873,629 were Poles (83.1%), 103,484 were Germans (4.6%), 270,437 were Jews (12.0%) and 5,219 were all others (0.3%). By religion - according to the census of 1921 - 1,734,117 were Roman Catholics (77.0%), 173,546 were Protestants of all kinds (7.7%), 326,973 were Jews (14.5%) and 18,133 were all others (0.8%).[1] The Jews and the Germans preferred to live in the cities and towns (especially the city of Łódź itself). In 1931 these two ethnic groups made up 37.6% of the Voivodeship's urban population. The illiteracy rate (in 1931) was 22.7%, slightly lower than the national average of 23.1%.

The detailed results of the 1931 census by county are presented in the table below:

Linguistic (mother tongue) and religious structure of Łódź Voivodeship according to the 1931 census[2][3]
County Pop. Polish % Yiddish & Hebrew % German % Other language % Roman Catholic % Jewish % Protestant % Other religion %
Łódź City 604629 356987 59.0% 191720 31.7% 53562 8.9% 0.4% 340179 56.3% 202497 33.5% 56159 9.3% 0.9%
Brzeziny 150923 115905 76.8% 24818 16.4% 10020 6.6% 0.1% 103067 68.3% 25396 16.8% 15022 10.0% 4.9%
Kalisz 195761 169363 86.5% 21625 11.0% 3821 2.0% 0.5% 160163 81.8% 23450 12.0% 10512 5.4% 0.8%
Koło 119370 101969 85.4% 9506 8.0% 7771 6.5% 0.1% 100411 84.1% 9783 8.2% 8820 7.4% 0.3%
Konin 207495 183237 88.3% 7129 3.4% 16787 8.1% 0.2% 180572 87.0% 7491 3.6% 18561 8.9% 0.4%
Łask 171885 142769 83.1% 15409 9.0% 10488 6.1% 1.8% 138595 80.6% 17004 9.9% 15366 8.9% 0.5%
Łęczyca 127585 111517 87.4% 11763 9.2% 4195 3.3% 0.1% 108277 84.9% 11937 9.4% 5951 4.7% 1.1%
Łódź County 161671 120095 74.3% 12815 7.9% 28450 17.6% 0.2% 117102 72.4% 13152 8.1% 29131 18.0% 1.4%
Piotrków 222195 192161 86.5% 20434 9.2% 8838 4.0% 0.3% 188184 84.7% 20902 9.4% 12044 5.4% 0.5%
Radomsko 186412 171787 92.2% 11734 6.3% 2601 1.4% 0.2% 169865 91.1% 12019 6.4% 3820 2.0% 0.4%
Sieradz 168051 147369 87.7% 15111 9.0% 5493 3.3% 0.0% 145689 86.7% 16042 9.5% 5714 3.4% 0.4%
Turek 101734 94370 92.8% 4155 4.1% 3176 3.1% 0.0% 92653 91.1% 4311 4.2% 4528 4.5% 0.2%
Wieluń 214299 200823 93.7% 13216 6.2% 113 0.1% 0.1% 196813 91.8% 14511 6.8% 2276 1.1% 0.3%
Total 2632010 2108352 80.1% 359435 13.7% 155315 5.9% 0.3% 2041570 77.6% 378495 14.4% 187904 7.1% 0.9%

Industry

The Voivodeship's biggest industrial center was the city of Łódź with its suburbs. Apart from this, it lacked other industrial cities. The construction of a huge public works program, called Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy, which started in the second half of the 1930s, missed this part of Poland. Railroad density was 4.8 per 100 km2, while the national average was 5.2. The biggest rail hubs were Koluszki, Kutno, Łowicz, Skierniewice, Zduńska Wola and Łódź.

Voivodes

See also

References

  1. ^ "Plik:Woj.łódzkie-Polska spis powszechny 1921.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia" (PDF). commons.wikimedia.org (in Polish). 1928. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  2. ^ "Plik:Woj.łódzkie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia" (PDF). commons.wikimedia.org (in Polish). 1938. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  3. ^ Statystyczny, Główny Urząd (1937), English: Dane spisu powszechnego 1931- Miasto Łódź (PDF), retrieved 2024-09-12
  • Maly rocznik statystyczny 1939, Nakladem Glownego Urzedu Statystycznego, Warszawa 1939 (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939).

51°46′27″N 19°27′27″E / 51.774305°N 19.457397°E / 51.774305; 19.457397