à Âódà º Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, à Âódà º (pronounced ).
à Âódà º Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian to the north and east, à ÂwiÃÂtokrzyskie to the south-east, Silesian to the south, Opole to the south-west, Greater Poland to the west, and Kuyavian-Pomeranian for a short stretch to the north. Its territory belongs to three historical provinces of Poland â Masovia (in the east), Greater Poland (in the west) and Lesser Poland (in the southeast, around Opoczno).
The voivodeship contains 11 cities and 35 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 31 December 2021):
à Âódà º Voivodeship is divided into 24 counties (powiats): 3 city counties and 21 land counties. These are further divided into 177 gminas.
The counties are listed in the following table (ordered within categories by descending population).
Protected areas in à Âódà º Voivodeship include seven Landscape Parks, as listed below.
The gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 26.7 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 6.0% of Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 19,800 euros or 66% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was also 66% of the EU average.
The territory formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century. The oldest medieval towns in the region include Biaà Âa Rawska, Brzeziny, Inowà Âódz, à ÂÃÂczyca, à Âowicz, PajÃÂczno, Radomsko, Rozprza, Sieradz, Wolbórz and à »arnów. à ÂÃÂczyca, Rawa Mazowiecka, Sieradz and Wieluà  became medieval ducal seats of the Piast dynasty. The current à Âódà º Voivodeship is roughly coextensive with the historic à ÂÃÂczyca Land and Sieradz Land combined, and thus the à ÂÃÂczyca and Sieradz voivodeships of the former Kingdom of Poland, although it also contains portions of Mazovia (in the north-east) and Lesser Poland (in the south-east). Piotrków Trybunalski, currently the second-largest city of the province, hosted many sessions of the Polish Parliament, the last in 1567, and was the seat of the Crown Tribunal for the Greater Poland Province, the highest appeal court in the Kingdom of Poland. The towns of Ozorków, Aleksandrów à Âódzki, Zduà Âska Wola, Stryków, Konstantynów à Âódzki, Zgierz, Tomaszów Mazowiecki, à Âódà º and Pabianice greatly developed during the Industrial Revolution after textile manufactures were founded there between 1807 and 1823, with à Âódà º eventually surpassing other towns in the region. Bolimów was the site of the Battle of Bolimów (31 January 1915) during World War I where gas weapons were used for the first time, when the German Army shelled Russian troops with xylyl bromide.
The capital of the à Âódà º Voivodeship has always been à Âódà º, but the area of land which it comprises has changed several times. The first was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Second Polish Republic in the years 1921âÂÂ1939. In 1938 some western counties were ceded to Greater Poland Voivodeship (see: Territorial changes of Polish Voivodeships on 1 April 1938).
After the change, à Âódà º Voivodeship's area was , and its population (as for 1931) was 2,650,100. It consisted of 15 powiats (counties):
The largest cities of the voivodeship were (population according to the 1931 census):
Source: Maà Ây rocznik statystyczny 1939, Nakà Âadem Glownego UrzÃÂdu Statystycznego, Warszawa 1939 (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939).
Wieluà  was the site of the Bombing of Wieluà  conducted by Germany on 1 September 1939, considered the first major bombing of World War II. During the war, the territory was occupied by Germany, with the occupiers committing their genocidal policies against Poles and Jews in the region, with expulsions, kidnapping of children, massacres of civilians and prisoners of war. Germany operated numerous prisons, including the particularly notorious in à Âódà º and Sieradz, and forced labour camps. The à Âódà º Ghetto, the second-largest Jewish ghetto in all of German-occupied Europe, was located in à Âódà º. Warta was the location of Aktion T4 murders of over 500 mentally ill people.
The next incarnation existed from 1945 until 1975 (although the city of à Âódà º was excluded as a separate City Voivodeship). This à Âódà º Voivodeship was then broken up, superseded by à Âódà º (see below), Sieradz, Piotrków Trybunalski, Skierniewice and partly Pà Âock Voivodeships.
à Âódà º Voivodeship, also known as à Âódà º Metropolitan Voivodeship (województwo miejskie à Âódzkie), existed from 1975 until 1998, after which it was incorporated into today's à Âódà º Voivodeship. Until 1990, the mayor of the city of à Âódà º was also the voivodeship governor.
As of 1995, major cities and towns in à Âódà º Metropolitan Voivodeship included (with their 1995 populations):
The current à Âódà º Voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former à Âódà º Voivodeship (1975âÂÂ1999) and the Sieradz, Piotrków Trybunalski and Skierniewice Voivodeships and part of Pà Âock Voivodeship, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. In July 2025 the voivodeship government purchased offices at the Brama Miasta office building at 66a Kilià Âskiego street with the intention of consolidating offices which are spread at different locations in the city.
The basic cultural activities in the à Âódà º Region are: monitoring activities of seven regional self-government cultural institutions, i.e., the Arthur Rubinstein à Âódà º Philharmonic, Museum of Art in à Âódà º (having one of the biggest modern art collections in Europe), the Opera House, Stefan Jaracz Theater, the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography, the Józef Pià Âsudski Regional and Municipal Public Library in à Âódà º, the Chamber of Culture in à Âódà º but also: supporting NGOâÂÂs, protection of monuments, awarding scholarships to young artists and rewards for the prominent artists. What is more, infrastructural projects are being undertaken. Among the most important investments are: the creation of four regional scenes in Stefan Jaracz Theatre, opening the new section of the Museum of Art in à Âódà º - msò or the reconstruction of medieval settlement in Tum in the vicinity of à ÂÃÂczyca.
As of 2020, there were 76,897 students in various institutions of higher education in à Âódà º Voivodeship. The major universities in the voivodeship are:
The excellent scientific staff of the higher education establishments in à Âódà º is complemented by à Âódà ºâÂÂs scientists from the Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and scientific ministerial institutes working within the field of the occupational medicine, textile, paper and leather industries.
There are five Historic Monuments of Poland in the voivodeship:
There are multiple either entirely or partly preserved castles in the province, including in Bàkowa Góra, Besiekiery, Bolesà Âawiec, Drzewica, Inowà Âódz, à ÂÃÂczyca, Opoczno, Oporów, Piotrków Trybunalski, Uniejów, and multiple palaces, including in PoddÃÂbice, Skierniewice, Sokolniki, Walewice, Wola-Chojnata and several in à Âódà º alone.
The province's sole spa town is Uniejów.
There are numerous World War II memorials, including a museum at the site of the former Nazi German Radogoszcz prison in à Âódà º, and monuments at the sites of German-perpetrated massacres and camps.
Football and volleyball enjoy the largest following in the province. à ÂKS à Âódà º and Widzew à Âódà º contest the à Âódà º Derby, one of the fiercest football rivalries in Poland.
Since the establishment of the province, several international sports competitions were co-hosted by the province, including the EuroBasket 2009, 2009 Women's European Volleyball Championship, EuroBasket Women 2011, 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, and 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.