Misplaced Pages

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25-570: It was divided into 7 counties : The Augustów Canal was built between 1823 and 1837 in the Augustów Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland . From the time it was first built, the canal was described by experts as a technological marvel, with 22 sluices and 18 locks contributing to its aesthetic appeal. It was the first summit level canal in Central Europe to provide a direct link between

50-463: A gubernator . In Poland , a starosta administered crown territory or a district called a starostwo . In the early Middle Ages, a starosta could head a settled urban or rural community or other community, as in the case of a church starosta or an artel starosta. A starosta also functioned as a master of ceremonies . In the Czech Republic and Slovakia starosta is the title of

75-457: A county , district or prefecture ( LAU-1 [formerly NUTS-4 ]) in other countries. The term " powiat " is most often translated into English as "county" or "district" (sometimes "poviat"). In historical contexts, this may be confusing because the Polish term hrabstwo (an administrative unit administered/owned by a hrabia ( count ) is also literally translated as "county". A powiat is part of

100-520: A mayor of a town or village. Mayors of major cities use the title primátor . The term corresponds to the Austrian or German Bürgermeister . Historically, the title "Starost" was also used in parts of the Holy Roman Empire . The German word Starostei referred to the office or crown land district of a Starost. In German, the title starost/starosta is also translated as Hauptmann and analogous to

125-609: A gubernator. In the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , the Starosta was from the 15th century the office of a territorial administrator, usually conferred on a local landowner and member of the nobility, Szlachta . Until the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, there were two types of Starosta: There were also general starosts who were provincial governors. All starosts disappeared after

150-482: A larger unit, the voivodeship ( Polish województwo ) or province . A powiat is usually subdivided into gminas (in English, often referred to as " communes " or " municipalities "). Major towns and cities, however, function as separate counties in their own right, without subdivision into gmina s. They are termed " city counties " ( powiaty grodzkie or, more formally, miasta na prawach powiatu ) and have roughly

175-407: A law was adopted that more clearly defined the status and powers of the starosta. Also, this law introduced the concept of starosta okruhs ( elderships )―the territory on which the starost is elected and over which his powers extend. The starosta okruhs were to be formed by the amalgamated territorial hromada council and could consist of several settlements, in addition to the administrative center of

200-429: A powiat is vested in an elected council ( rada powiatu ), while local executive power is vested in an executive board ( zarząd powiatu ) headed by the starosta , elected by the council. The administrative offices headed by the starosta are called the starostwo . However, in city counties these institutions do not exist separately – their powers and functions are exercised by the city council ( rada miasta ),

225-486: Is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages , it has designated an official in a leadership position in a range of civic and social contexts throughout Central and Eastern Europe . In reference to a municipality, a starosta was historically a senior royal administrative official, equivalent to a county sheriff or seneschal , and analogous to

250-464: Is to translate the names as "(something County)", as in the examples above. (This system is the standard used in Misplaced Pages.) Thus in most cases, the English name for a powiat consists of the name of the city or town which is its seat, followed by the word County . Different counties sometimes have the same name in Polish, since the names of different towns may have the same derived adjective. For example,

275-555: The Kosciuszko Insurrection in 1794 and were not reinstated until after World War I when their role was altered. In contemporary Poland , starosta designates a district administrator, who heads the district administration starostwo and manages a powiat district, akin to the leader of a town or rural council. In the Ukrainian State during 1918, gubernatorial and povitian starostas controlled who represented

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300-524: The German-governed Grand Duchy of Poznań , as the Polish equivalent of the German Kreis . After Poland regained independence in 1918 , the powiats were again the second-level territorial units. Powiats were abolished in 1975 in favour of a larger number of voivodeships but were reintroduced on 1 January 1999. This reform also created 16 larger voivodeships. Legislative power within

325-400: The amalgamated territorial hromada. It was also fixed for the starostas the right to a guaranteed speech at the meetings of the amalgamated territorial hromada council and its standing commissions on issues related to their starosta okruh, as well as added control functions over the use of communal property objects and the state of improvement in their okruh. According to the monitoring of

350-507: The central government in regions. In 2014–2015, administrative and territorial reform began in Ukraine , during which adjacent territorial communities began to unite into larger amalgamated territorial hromadas . In order for the interests of residents of all villages, towns and cities in united territorial communities to be properly represented, the law "On Voluntary Unification of Territorial Communities" adopted on February 5, 2015, introduced

375-574: The counties with their seats at Grodzisk Wielkopolski and Grodzisk Mazowiecki are both called powiat grodziski , and those with seats at Brzeg and Brzesko are both called powiat brzeski . In English, this ambiguity either does not occur ( Brzeg County and Brzesko County ) or can be avoided by using the complete name of the seat ( Grodzisk Wielkopolski County and Grodzisk Mazowiecki County ). Starosta Starosta / ˈ s t ɑːr ɒ s t ə / or starost ( Cyrillic : старост/а , Latin : capitaneus , German: Starost, Hauptmann )

400-521: The directly elected mayor ( burmistrz or prezydent ), and the city office/town hall ( urząd miasta ). Sometimes, a powiat has its seat outside its territory. For example, Poznań County ( powiat poznański ) has its offices in Poznań , although Poznań is itself a city county, and is therefore not part of Poznań County. Powiats have relatively limited powers since many local and regional matters are dealt with either at gmina or voivodeship level. Some of

425-449: The executive body of the council and back. By the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers dated July 22, 2016, the starosta was assigned to the fifth category of positions in local self-government bodies, and later by the law dated February 9, 2017 to the sixth category. This made it possible to streamline the structure and terms of payment for the newly elected starostas. On February 9, 2017,

450-468: The institute of starosta, who were to be elected by residents of the respective settlements and represent their interests in the executive bodies of the council of the amalgamated territorial hromada. The mayor, in particular, is a member of the executive committee of the amalgamated territorial hromada council ex officio, he must help the residents of his settlements with the preparation of submitting documents to local self-government bodies, participate in

475-426: The main areas in which the powiat authorities have decision-making powers and competences include: The Polish the name of a county, in the administrative sense, consists of the word powiat followed by a masculine-gender adjective (because powiat is a masculine noun ). In most cases, this is the adjective formed from the name of the town or city where the county has its seat . Thus the county with its seat at

500-433: The noun only ( powiat makowski ). There are also a few counties whose names are derived from the names of two towns (such as powiat czarnkowsko-trzcianecki , Czarnków-Trzcianka County ), from the name of a city and a geographical adjective ( powiat łódzki wschodni , Łódź East County ), or a mountain range ( powiat tatrzański , Tatra County ). There is more than one way to render such names into English . A common method

525-490: The preparation of the amalgamated territorial hromada budget in the part that concerns his settlements, and also perform other duties specified in Regulations on the starosta, which were approved by the council of the amalgamated territorial hromada. In particular, the council of the amalgamated territorial hromada could authorize the starosta to perform notarial acts on his own, or to transfer relevant documents from residents to

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550-513: The same status as former county boroughs in the UK . The other type of powiat s are termed "land counties" ( powiaty ziemskie ). As of 2018, there were 380 powiat -level entities: 314 land counties, and 66 city counties. For a complete alphabetical listing, see " List of Polish counties ". For tables of counties by voivodeship, see the articles on the individual voivodeships (e.g., Greater Poland Voivodeship ). The history of Polish powiats goes back to

575-583: The second half of the 14th century. They remained the basic unit of territorial organization in Poland, then in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , until the latter's partitioning in 1795. In the 19th century, the powiats continued to function in the part of Poland that had been incorporated into the Russian Empire and in the confederated " Congress Kingdom of Poland "—the equivalent of the Russian uyezd –and, in

600-511: The town of Kutno is named powiat kutnowski ( Kutno County ). (In modern Polish both parts of the name are written in lower case ; however, names of powiats in the Grand Duchy of Poznań were written in upper case .) Suppose the name of the seat comprises a noun followed by an adjective, as in Maków Mazowiecki (" Mazovian Maków"). In that case, the adjective will generally be formed from

625-712: The two major rivers, Vistula River through the Biebrza River – a tributary of the Narew River , and the Neman River through its tributary – the Czarna Hancza River . This Polish history –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Powiat A powiat ( [ˈpɔvjat] ; pl.   powiaty ) is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland , equivalent to

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