The voivodeships of Poland from 1975 to 1998 were created as part of a two-tier method for administering the country and its regions. Between June 1, 1975, and December 31, 1998, pursuant to a law proclaimed on May 28, 1975, Poland was administratively divided into 49 voivodeships, consolidating and eliminating the intermediate administrative level of counties.

The scheme meant that most voivodeships had fewer than 1,000,000 inhabitants. Each voivodeship took its name from a small- or medium-sized town situated near its centre, which would become its capital.

An unstated reason for the reform was the desire of the Polish Central Committee to strengthen control over lower layers of the state apparatus. After Edward Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as first secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party, his clique maintained power by dividing the Politburo.

Through administrative reorganization and the new territorial division, Gierek was able to nominate his supporters to provincial committees and break the hold of older elements of the party.^[1]

On the date the system took effect (1 June 1975), the 49 voivodeships were further subdivided into 2,343 municipalities plus 814 cities, including four cities with special status — Warsaw, Łódź, Kraków and Wrocław — for a total of 3,157 municipal governments serving as secondary administrative units.

Warsaw Voivodeship had the status of a metropolitan voivodeship, and the Łódź and Kraków Voivodeships were called urban voivodeships. The appointed mayor of each voivodeship's capital city also served as the provincial governor. Initially, the city of Wrocław was a separate administrative division within the Wrocław Voivodeship.

During 1991 and 1992 the large municipalities were restructured, significantly changing the division of powers between the provincial cities and the surrounding rural communities (Laws of 1991, ch. 2, sec. 9, ch. 3, sec. 12 and ch. 87, sec. 397).

In the Polish administrative reform of 1999 Poland introduced a further reform of local government administration, establishing the present 16 voivodeships with new districts.

In 1975 many towns that had previously been large communal villages were incorporated as cities.

During the second half of the 1970s eight towns lost their civic rights and were merged into neighbouring cities, while several cities that had previously lost their identity and absorbed into metropolitan conurbations regained their independence: Poręba, Sławków, Międzyzdroje, Bieruń, Lędziny, Wojkowice, Rydułtowy, Pszów, Miasteczko Śląskie, Imielin, Radlin, Radzionków and Zagórz.

From 1975 until 1998 Poland was divided into the following voivodeships:

Map location	Voivodeship	Provincial capital	Area, km2 (1998)	Population (1998)	Cities	Gmina
	Biała Podlaska Voivodeship	Biała Podlaska	5,348	309,900	6	35
	Białystok Voivodeship	Białystok	10,055	701,400	17	49
	Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship	Bielsko-Biała	3,704	927,500	18	59
	Bydgoszcz Voivodeship	Bydgoszcz	10,349	1,136,900	27	55
	Chełm Voivodeship	Chełm	3,866	248,800	4	25
	Ciechanów Voivodeship	Ciechanów	6,362	437,400	9	45
	Częstochowa Voivodeship	Częstochowa	6,182	779,600	17	49
	Elbląg Voivodeship	Elbląg	6,103	495,100	15	37
	Gdańsk Voivodeship	Gdańsk	7,394	1,469,400	19	43
	Gorzów Wielkopolski Voivodeship	Gorzów, Wielkopolski	8,484	514,300	21	38
	Jelenia Góra Voivodeship	Jelenia Góra	4,379	523,700	24	28
	Kalisz Voivodeship	Kalisz	6,512	724,800	20	53
	Katowice Voivodeship	Katowice	6,650	3,894,900	43	46
	Kielce Voivodeship	Kielce	9,211	1,131,700	17	69
	Konin Voivodeship	Konin	5,139	480,800	18	45
	Koszalin Voivodeship	Koszalin	8,470	527,600	17	35
	Kraków Voivodeship	Kraków	3,254	1,245,000	10	38
	Krosno Voivodeship	Krosno	5,702	510,100	12	37
	Legnica Voivodeship	Legnica	4,037	525,600	11	31
	Leszno Voivodeship	Leszno	4,154	399,500	19	28
	Lublin Voivodeship	Lublin	6,792	1,027,300	16	62
	Łomża Voivodeship	Łomża	6,684	352,900	12	39
	Łódź Voivodeship	Łódź	1,524	1,099,700	8	11
	Nowy Sącz Voivodeship	Nowy Sącz	5,576	747,500	14	41
	Olsztyn Voivodeship	Olsztyn	12,327	778,200	21	48
	Opole Voivodeship	Opole	8,535	1,022,100	29	61
	Ostrołęka Voivodeship	Ostrołęka	6,498	411,600	9	38
	Piła Voivodeship	Piła	8,205	496,900	24	35
	Piotrków Voivodeship	Piotrków Trybunalski	6,266	642,200	10	51
	Płock Voivodeship	Płock	5,117	520,900	9	44
	Poznań Voivodeship	Poznań	8,151	1,363,600	33	57
	Przemyśl Voivodeship	Przemyśl	4,437	415,600	9	35
	Radom Voivodeship	Radom	7,294	763,300	15	61
	Rzeszów Voivodeship	Rzeszów	4,397	648,900	13	41
	Siedlce Voivodeship	Siedlce	8,499	661,400	12	66
	Sieradz Voivodeship	Sieradz	4,868	411,500	9	40
	Skierniewice Voivodeship	Skierniewice	3,960	423,700	8	36
	Słupsk Voivodeship	Słupsk	7,453	429,700	11	31
	Suwałki Voivodeship	Suwałki	10,490	489,200	14	42
	Szczecin Voivodeship	Szczecin	9,982	995,200	29	50
	Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship	Tarnobrzeg	6,283	609,100	14	46
	Tarnów Voivodeship	Tarnów	4,151	700,800	9	41
	Toruń Voivodeship	Toruń	5,348	674,800	13	41
	Wałbrzych Voivodeship	Wałbrzych	4,168	733,000	31	30
	Warszawa Voivodeship	Warsaw	3,788	2,419,800	27	32
	Włocławek Voivodeship	Włocławek	4,402	434,700	14	30
	Wrocław Voivodeship	Wrocław	6,287	1,136,700	16	33
	Zamość Voivodeship	Zamość	6,980	489,300	5	47
	Zielona Góra Voivodeship	Zielona Góra	8,868	679,300	26	50

• Voivodeships of Poland