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Basic Information on the Region

Update: 2010-05-21

Basic Information on the Region

Geographic location

Pomorskie (Pomerania) is one of 16 voivodeships in Poland and 3 voivodeships on the Baltic Sea. It neighbours the Scandinavian countries across the sea-border in the north, and the Kaliningrad Circuit of the Russian Federation in the east.

Domestically, the region borders on the following voivodeships: zachodniopomorskie (Western Pomerania ), wielkopolskie (Greater Poland ), kujawsko-pomorskie (Kujawy and Pomerania ), and warmińsko-mazurskie (Warmia and Mazury ). As concerns the size, the voivodeship occupies 18 300 square kilometers and accounts for 5.9% of the country area.

Population

Pomerania has 2.21 million inhabitants, i.e. 5.8% of the Polish population. The average settlement density here is 121 people per 1 square kilometer. In the country-wide perspective, it ranks among medium size voivodeships in terms of both the area, and the population.

Nevertheless, the region records the highest population growth rate in Poland-the rate for 2008 was 3.6 per 1000 inhabitants. It also records the top national ratios of internal and external migration. Due to the attributes of its natural environment the voivodeship is perceived one of the most attractive Polish regions to settle down. The foreigners purchasing real property and apartments in the region, constantly growing in number, share the opinion.

Cities and towns

Nearly 66% of Pomerania's population lives in its 42 cities and towns. The Tricity agglomeration comprising Gdańsk, Sopot, and Gdynia enjoys the unquestioned status of the heart of the region and northern Poland. The cities have naturally developed their functional specialisations. Gdańsk is the capital of the region and its largest city with 456 thousand inhabitants. Gdynia, the second largest city of the voivodeship, stands out in Poland as a symbol of local governance and dynamic economic development. Sopot has the status of a health resort and spa and as such combines the functions of a supra-regional centre of leisure and recreation, and the domicile of businesses operating in the modern services sector. The Tricity agglomeration forms an area inhabited by 744 thousand in total, which is more than one third of the entire voivodeship population. The agglomeration concentrates the economic potential of the region, it is the main transport hub, a centre of academic life, the heart of industry, and trade, a location of trade fairs, and the seat of foreign consular offices and secretariats of international organisations.

Słupsk is the third largest town in the region. With the population of 96.4 thousand, it plays the role of the main urban centre of the western expanse of the voivodeship. Wejherowo, Rumia, Reda and neighbouring areas, on the other hand, form the so-called "Miniature Tri-city" inhabited by almost 110.7 thousand.

Further down the line come the poviat capital towns, all playing an important role in the business and social life of the region. These are, e.g.: Tczew (60.2 thousand inhabitants), Starogard Gdański (48.3 thousand), Chojnice (39.9 thousand), Kwidzyn (38.1 thousand), and Malbork (38.1 thousand).

Natural and cultural values

The local landscape is highly diverse, from sand dunes and wandering sands in the north, through cliff sections of the sea coast, forest expanses, and numerous lakes, up to the highest glacial hill in the Central European Lowlands (Wieżyca, 328.6 m above sea level). Due to the diversity there are as many as 120 nature reserves in the region, including the Slowinski National Park included in the list of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. People desiring to take leisure in nature can indulge in an array of active forms of recreation, from windsurfing and kitesurfing on the Bays of Gdańsk and Puck, through canoeing along the Pomorskie rivers and across its lakes, skiing in the Szymbarskie Hills and down the Wieżyca slopes, to trekking and cycling along numerous tourist tracks.

Pomorskie Voivodeship is one of cultural and historical centres of Poland. The millennium-old Gdańsk with its Hanseatic tradition, the track of the Gothic castles which provide a physical illustration of the rich history of the Teutonic Order, the remains of the Mennonite culture in the eastern expanse of the voivodeship, the Kashubian Ethnographical Park, or the Slowinska Village Museum, all give an insight in the history and culture of the land. They also make the Pomorskie Voivodeship one of the most attractive tourist regions in Poland.

Climate

Pomerania lies within the zone prevailingly dominated by the maritime climate. Compared to the regions stretching deeper into the continent, it has a narrower 24-hour temperature amplitude, lower temperatures in the summer and higher in the winter, a large number of windy days, and records sea and land breezes. The temperature in the warmest months (July, August) averages plus 19.6°C, whereas the coldest months (January, February) get the temperatures averaging minus 1.4 °C. The total annual rainfall ranges between between 529.4 mm (near Gdańsk) to 979 mm (in the Lębork neighbourhood).