Województwo Lubelskie

Województwo Lubelskie Geographic Location

Lublin Voivodeship is one of the largest of the Polish regions, in terms of surface area it is in third place, and covers an area of 25.15 sq Km, which represents 8% of the total area of the country.

Województwo Lubelskie is located in the central-eastern part of Poland, with national borders on the east with Belarus and Ukraine. This is also the border of the European Union. Adjacent to the Lublin voivodship are the regions of Podkarpackie, Świętokrzyskie, Mazowieckie and Podlaskie.

In the past most of Województwo Lubelskie, except the Chelm area, belonged to the historic province, ‘Little Poland'. The Chelm region use to be part of the Halicz Ruthenia province. The river Wieprz runs through the province and the rivers Vistula and Bug mark the regions borders. Lubelski has two National Parks: the Polesie and Roztocze.

Administrative Divisions

In the province of Lublin in March 2008, the population was 2.1646 million people with the urban population being 46.5% of the population, 51.5% were female.

It has 40 towns and about 4,200 villages. The Lublin Voivodeship is divided into 20 Powiats (districts). These are further divided into 213 communes (gminas). Lublin, Biala Podlaska, Chełm and Zamość have the status of municipal councils, (urban districts).

Border Crossings

In Województwo Lubelskie there are six road, four railways and two air international border crossings, which are maintained on behalf of the Governor of Lublin Board of border crossings in Chelm. The source of funding for regular maintenance of road crossings is the responsibility of the State, while investments for improvements are financed both by the State and with aid measures from the European Union.

International airports are to be found at: Swidnik and Biala Podlaska.

International road links on the border with Belarus are located at Kukurykach, Terespol and Slawatycze. International railway borders are at Terespol. On the Ukraine border road crossing are at Dorohuskor, Hrebenne and Zosinie with railway crossings at Dorohuskor, Hrubieszow and Hrebenne.

Agriculture

The province of Lubin has good growing conditions for agricultural production with good quality mainly sandy fertile soil. The region is a major producer of cereals, especially wheat, oats and barley. Potatoes, sugar beet, vegetables, hops, tobacco is grown at Urszulin.

The region is also an important producer of milk, honey and herbs. Województwo Lubelskie is a leading Polish producer of soft fruits, especially raspberries. It is also known for breeding swine, cattle and horses with the famous stud farm in Janow Podlaski.

Industry

The main industrial centres within the region can be found at: Lublin, Swidnik, Pulawy, Chelm, Krasnystaw, Zamosc, Bilgoraj, Biala Podlaska and Krasnik. Industries in the region include: food, chemical, the production of vehicles, machinery and other equipment and the coal mining districts of łeczna and Chełm.

Business

Entrepreneurship is focused mainly in the capital of the region but also in urban centres. This sector of the economy is dominant in such areas of trade and repairs, estate agency and business services including the construction, hotels and restaurants. The average monthly gross salary in July 2008 stood at 2673.57 PLN.

Education

Województwo Lubelskie has a good network of schools and learning centers at all levels. In Lublin, there are five public universities: University of Maria Curie Sklodowska University, Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II, Technical University of Lublin, Medical University and the University of Life Sciences.

In the capital there is also the European College of Polish and the Ukrainian Universities as well as many private schools.

Culture and Tourism

Województwo Lubelskie is a picturesque region of Poland and has many historic towns, different cultures, religions and the place of important historical events, it figures prominently in Polish and European culture. In Lublin it includes, historical buildings; castles, palaces, mansions and temples. Particularly important is Trinity at the Lublin Castle and the Monastery. Dominicans in Lublin, the residence of the Zamoyski Kozłówka or Old Town in Zamość, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tourists can enjoy such sites as: Kazimierz Dolny on the Vistula River, the place of folklore festivals, Pulawy, the former seat of the Czartoryski family, Nałęczów, famous for its spa. Worth seeing are the Roztocze Hills and the crystal lakes of the Polesie Lubelskie lowland.

Province website (the website can be a bit sticky sometimes, you may need to try the link a few times)