Małopolskie

Małopolskie, województwo (province), southern Poland. It is bounded by the provinces of Świętokrzyskie to the north, Podkarpackie to the east, and Śląskie to the west. The country of Slovakia is located along its southern border. Created in 1999 as one of 16 new provinces, it comprises the former provinces (1975–98) of Kraków, Tarnów, and Nowy Sącz, as well as portions of the former provinces of Bielsko-Biała, Katowice, Kielce, and Krosno. The provincial capital is Kraków. Area 5,862 square miles (15,183 square km). Pop. (2011) 3,337,471.

Geography

Małopolskie consists mainly of uplands and mountains. Mount Rysy (8,199 feet [2,499 metres]), in the Tatra Mountains, is the highest peak in Poland. Other elevated features are the Krakowsko-Częstochowska Upland, the Carpathian Foothills, the West Beskid Mountains (the Beskidy), the Middle Beskids, and the Podhale, which includes the Pieniny Mountains. The main rivers are the Vistula (Wisła), Skawa, Raba, Prądnik, Dunajec, Poprad, and Biała. A third of the province is forested. The climate is mild in the northern portion of the province but much more severe in the mountains to the south.

Half the population of Małopolskie lives in urban areas. The largest cities are Kraków, Tarnów, Nowy Sącz, Oświęcim, and Olkusz. Despite the province’s large urban population, some two-thirds of it consists of agricultural land. The chief crops are cereals, potatoes, fodder, tobacco, fruit, and vegetables. In addition, cattle breeding, chicken farming, horse breeding, and sheep raising are of importance. Industry in Małopolskie is diverse and includes iron and steel production, zinc and lead metallurgy, electronics manufacturing, petroleum refining, chemicals and textiles production, and food processing. The province has an excellent rail and road network. A river port on the Vistula operates in Kraków, and there is an international airport at Kraków-Balice.

In addition to the tourist attractions of Kraków, Małopolskie is a region of great natural beauty and one of the country’s most visited. Six national parks lie within its boundaries. Notable among them are Tatra National Park, which contains jagged granite peaks, postglacial lakes, and hundreds of caves; Ojców National Park, also known for its caves, including the 755-foot- (230-metre-) long Ciemna Cave, which bears traces of human settlement dating back more than 100,000 years; and Pieniny National Park, the site of the spectacular Dunajec River Gorge, cut by the Dunajec River, which spills into the spa town of Szczawnica, a much-frequented health resort. Mineral springs at Krynica and Muszyna are also tourist destinations, and Zakopane, in the Tatra Mountains, is Poland’s premier winter sports centre.

Kraków, perhaps even more so than Warsaw, is the hub of Polish culture, with more than 6,000 monuments of cultural and historical significance. Among the city’s most important structures are its castle, once the residence of the Jagiellonian kings, and cathedral, a Gothic structure that has been the site of countless coronations and royal funerals. The city’s old town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, contains St. Mary’s Church, which is considered by some to be Poland’s best architectural treasure. To the south of the old town is the district of Kazimierz, part of which was once the city’s Jewish quarter. The city also has a number of outstanding museums, including the National Museum; the Jagiellonian University Museum, housed in the 14th-century Collegium Maius; and the Czartoryski Museum. Just outside Kraków in Wieliczka is a working salt mine dating to at least the 14th century; it is also a World Heritage site. An immense Baroque castle overlooks the town of Nowy Wiśnicz and is known for its set of trompe l’oeil windows. The town of Oświęcim was the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex, where as many as 1.5 million people died during World War II. The site is now a memorial, and much of it has been preserved and reconstructed as a museum.

History

In the 9th century the historic region of Małopolska was inhabited by the Slavic tribe of Wiślanie. Initially, the region was heavily dependent on Bohemia, but in the late 10th century it was subdued by the Piasts, who incorporated it into the Polish state. In 1038 Casimir I moved the Polish capital to Kraków. Starting in the 1200s, the mining of silver, lead, and rock salt generated wealth and contributed to the development of trade. Towns grew as Germans and Jews settled in the region. Starting in the 14th century, the region established itself as the political, cultural, and scientific centre of the country. In 1364 Casimir III founded the Academy of Kraków (now Jagiellonian University), the first institution of higher learning in Poland. In 1596 King Sigismund III Vasa moved the Polish capital from Kraków to Warsaw. Wars with Sweden, Saxony, and Russia, accompanied by raging epidemics, took a severe toll on the region, ruining the economy and depleting the population.

Following the Partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, and 1795), Małopolska came under Austrian rule as part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. In 1809 the northern portion of the region (Olkusz, Miechów, and Proszowice) was incorporated into the Duchy of Warsaw. At the Congress of Vienna (1814–15) it was annexed to the Kingdom of Poland, which had strong ties with Russia. Between 1867 and 1873 Galicia enjoyed self-rule, and Kraków emerged once again as a centre of Polish scientific and cultural activity. By the late 1800s, however, the region’s economy was in decline. To escape famine and poverty, many rural residents emigrated, moving to North and South America. Following the reestablishment of an independent Poland in 1918, the region’s economy recovered, but during World War II much of the area was annexed to the occupying Nazi German regime. After the war, large industrial plants were opened in the Kraków area.