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.
| Łódź Voivodeship
Województwo łódzkie
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| VoivodeshipofPoland | |||||||||
| 1919–1939 | |||||||||
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 Łódź Voivodeship (red) on the map of Second Polish Republic | |||||||||
 Map of the administrative division of the Voivodeship | |||||||||
| Capital | Łódź | ||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||
| • Type | Voivodeship | ||||||||
| Voivodes | |||||||||
• 1919-1922 | Antoni Kamieński | ||||||||
• 1938-1939 | Henryk Józewski | ||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
• Established | 14 August 1919 | ||||||||
| 1 April 1938 | |||||||||
• Annexed | September 1939 | ||||||||
| Political subdivisions | 15 powiats (1939) | ||||||||
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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):
The most populous cities of the Voivodeship were (population according to the 1931 Polish census):
According to the 1931 Polish census, the population was 2,650,100. Poles made up 81% of the population, Jews 13.8% and Germans 4.9%. The Jews and the Germans preferred to live in the cities and towns (especially Łódź itself). In 1931 these two ethnic groups made up 37.6% of the Voivodeship's cities’ inhabitants. The illiteracy rate (in 1931) was 22.7%, slightly lower than the national average of 23.1%.
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.
51°46′27″N 19°27′27″E / 51.774305°N 19.457397°E / 51.774305; 19.457397
