Lódz Województwo

until 1975, an administrative and territorial unit in central Poland, in the basin of the Pilica, Bzura, and Warta rivers. Area, 17,100 sq km. The population totals 1.7 million persons (1972), of whom 37 percent are urban dwellers. The administrative center is Łódź. The northern part of the województwo is situated in the Mazovian-Podlasian Lowland, and the southern and southeastern part lies in the Łódź Upland, with a maximum elevation of 323 m. A large part of the województwo is under cultivation.

The województwo’s industries employ more than 200,000 persons. The main branch is textiles (cotton, wool, silk, tricot), concentrated around Łódź at Pabianice, Zgierz, Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Piotrków Trybunalski, and Sieradz. Together with Łódź, which is administered separately from the województwo, these cities constitute Poland’s principal textile region, also producing much of the country’s synthetic fibers (Tomaszów Mazowiecki) and dyes (Zgierz). Another important industry is machine building: electrical equipment is manufactured in Pabianice, Żychlin, and Kutno; textile machinery, in Zduńska Wola; and equipment for the chemical industry, in Skierniewice. The województwo also produces general metal goods, furniture (Radomsko), glass (Piotrków Trybunalski), and sugar (Kutno). Iron ore is mined near Łę czyca. Agricultural land occupies about three-fourths of the territory, or 1.3 million hectares, of which 61 percent is plowed. Forests cover 18.5 percent of the województwo. Almost three-fifths of the tilled land is planted to grain (one-third to rye), one-fifth to potatoes, and 2.4 percent to sugar beets (in the north). In 1972 livestock totaled 750,000 head of cattle, 1.1 million hogs, 300,000 sheep, and 170,000 horses. The województwo is crossed by electrified railroads, including the Trans-European Moscow-Berlin Railroad.

In 1975 the territory of Łódź Województwo was divided between -Lódz Urban Województwo, Piotrków Województwo, Sieradz Województwo, Skierniewice Województwo, and P łock Województwo.