Masovian Voivodeship - online puzzles

Masovian Voivodeship

The Masovian Voivodeship (Polish: województwo mazowieckie, pronounced [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ mazɔˈvjɛt͡skʲɛ] ), also known as the Mazovia Province, is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. The voivodeship has an area of 35,579 square kilometres (13,737 sq mi) and, as of 2019, a population of 5,411,446, making it the largest and most populated voivodeship of Poland. Its principal cities are Warsaw (1.783 million) in the centre of the Warsaw metropolitan area, Radom (212,230) in the south, Płock (119,709) in the west, Siedlce (77,990) in the east, and Ostrołęka (52,071) in the north.

The province was created on 1 January 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Warsaw, Płock, Ciechanów, Ostrołęka, Siedlce and Radom, under the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province's name recalls the traditional name of the region, Mazovia, with which it is roughly coterminous. However, the southern part of the voivodeship, with Radom, historically belongs to Lesser Poland, while Łomża and its surroundings, even though historically part of Mazovia, now is part of Podlaskie Voivodeship.

It is bordered by six other voivodeships: Warmian-Masurian to the north, Podlaskie to the north-east, Lublin to the south-east, Świętokrzyskie to the south, Łódź to the south-west, and Kuyavian-Pomeranian to the north-west.

Mazovian Voivodeship is the center of science, research, education, industry and infrastructure in the country. It currently has the lowest unemployment rate in Poland and is classified as a very high-income province. Moreover, it is popular among holidaymakers due to the number of historical monuments and greenery; forests cover over 20% of the voivodeship's area, where pines and oaks predominate in the regional landscape. Additionally, the Kampinos National Park located within Masovia is a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve.