Dolnośląskie

Dolnośląskie, województwo (province), southwestern Poland. It was established in 1999 when the provinces of Poland were consolidated from 49 into 16. It is bordered by the provinces of Lubuskie and Wielkopolskie to the north, Opolskie to the east, the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west. It comprises the former provinces (created 1975) of Wrocław, Legnica, Jelenia Góra, and Wałbrzych, as well as portions of the former provinces of Leszno and Kalisz. The provincial capital is Wrocław. Area 7,702 square miles (19,947 square km). Pop. (2011) 2,915,238.

Geography

The relief structure of the Dolnośląskie province is varied. To the north is the Śląska Lowland; in the centre are the Western Sudeten Foothills and the Sudeten Foreland; and to the south are the Sudety (Sudeten Mountains). The highest point in the province is Mount Śnieżka (5,256 feet [1,602 metres]) in the Giant Mountains (Karkonosze). The main rivers are the Oder (Odra), Neisse (comprising the Nysa Łużycka and Nysa Kłodzka), Kaczawa, and Bystrzyca. Forests, composed mainly of coniferous trees, cover approximately one-fourth of the province. In the lowlands winters are mild and short, and summers are long and warm. The mean annual temperature is 49 °F (9.5 °C), and average annual precipitation is 22–28 inches (550–700 mm). Temperatures are lower and precipitation is higher in the mountains.

Following World War II the region experienced an influx of migrants from central Poland and of many immigrants: repatriates from France and Belgium; ethnic Poles from Lviv, Ukraine, and Vilnius, Lithuania; and Ukrainians and Ruthenians (Lemks) who were displaced within the framework of Operation Vistula, a massive relocation program in 1947. Population density in Dolnośląskie is high, though the province has experienced some depopulation, particularly in the Sudeten region, which has accompanied the recent decline of heavy industry. Nearly three-fourths of the population is urban, centred on Wrocław, Wałbrzych, Legnica, and Jelenia Góra.

Climatic conditions and good soil favour agriculture. The chief crops are wheat, rapeseed, sugar beets, potatoes, and vegetables. Animal breeding, with a focus on poultry, is of minor importance. Dolnośląskie is one of the most industrialized provinces in Poland. Major industries include copper mining, coal (lignite) mining, nonferrous metallurgy, textile production, transport vehicle manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, machine making, chemical production, glassmaking, logging, and papermaking. Though mineral extraction has declined, areas such as the Turoszów Coal Basin remain important.

The local transport network is well-developed, with busy railway lines, a river port on the Oder in Wrocław, and an international airport at Wrocław-Strachowice. Dolnośląskie is an important tourist and recreational region. The high peaks and glacial cirques of Karkonosze National Park in the Sudety draw hikers in the summer and skiers in the winter, and the gateway resort towns of Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba cater to tourists. Also in the Sudety is Góry Stołowe Mountains National Park, known for its unusual eroded sandstone formations. Popular health resorts include Polanica Zdrój, Duszniki Zdrój, and Kudowa Zdrój, which is the largest spa in the region. Kudowa Zdrój is also the site of the Chapel of Skulls, built in 1776 and decorated with more than 3,000 skulls and bones from the victims of the Thirty Years’ War and other wars.

Wrocław features buildings of historical interest, such as the cluster of churches at Ostrów Tumski (“Cathedral Island”), the Gothic town hall, and the Aula Leopoldina, a Baroque assembly hall at Wrocław University. Also of note are the Benedictine abbey at Legnickie Pole, the Cistercian abbeys at Krzeszów and Lubiąż, and the 12th-century Vang Chapel, a wooden church that originally stood in Norway before it was purchased in 1841 and painstakingly reassembled at Karpacz without using a single nail. The latter is a rare example of Nordic Romanesque architecture in Poland.

The main cultural centre, Wrocław, hosts the “Wratislavia Cantans,” an oratorio and cantata festival that ranks as one of the most important music events in Poland, and the “Jazz on the Oder” festival. The Frédéric Chopin Festival attracts pianists to Duszniki Zdrój. Notable museums include the Museum of Copper in Legnica and the Museum of the Papermaking Industry in Duszniki Zdrój.

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History

The historic region of Lower Silesia (Dolny Śląsk) was inhabited by the Slavic tribes of the Ślężanie, Bobrzanie, and Trzebowianie. In the late 10th century it was incorporated into the Polish state. In the year 1000 Bolesław I established a bishopric in Wrocław. In the aftermath of hostilities between the Silesian Piasts, the region was divided into the duchy of Wrocław (Lower Silesia) and the duchy of Opole-Racibórz (Upper Silesia). In the 13th century the duchy of Wrocław enjoyed a period of economic prosperity. By the 14th century, Lower Silesia had split into a dozen or so weak duchies, which were then seized by the Czech Luxembourgs and eventually came under the rule of the Austrian Habsburgs.

Economically and politically weakened by religious conflicts and the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48), Lower Silesia was subdued by Prussia in the 18th century in a series of wars. Rapid industrial development occurred in both the early 1800s and the early 1900s. After World War I, Lower Silesia, as a peripheral region of the German Reich, was of only minor economic importance. With the conclusion of World War II, Dolny Śląsk was incorporated into the Polish state. Between 1945 and 1947 the remaining German population therein was gradually replaced by Poles.