Gmina

	Administrative; division of Poland
	Voivodeships; Powiats (list); Gminas (list)
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Division of Poland into gminas

The gmina (Polish pronunciation [ˈgmina], plural gminy [ˈgminɨ]) is the principal unit (lowest uniform level) of territorial division in Poland. It is frequently translated as "commune" or "municipality." As of 2004 there were 2,478 gminas. The word gmina is derived from the German word Gemeinde, meaning "commune" or "community."

Since 1972, when it replaced the smaller gromada, the gmina has been the basic unit of administrative division. There are three types of gmina in Poland:

urban gmina (gmina miejska), consisting of just one city or town
mixed (urban-rural) gmina (gmina miejsko-wiejska), consisting of a town and its surrounding villages and countryside
rural gmina (gmina wiejska), consisting only of villages and countryside

Some rural gminas have their seat in a town which is outside the gmina. For example, the rural Gmina Augustów is administered from the town of Augustów, but does not include this town, as Augustów is an urban gmina in its own right.

An urban gmina is normally referred to by the name of the city or town in question. Other types of gmina are called Gmina Xxx, where Xxx is (in the vast majority of cases) the town or village in which the gmina has its seat. Gmina Xxx is sometimes translated into English as "Xxx Commune".

The legislative and controlling body of each gmina is the elected municipal council (rada gminy, or in a town rada miasta). Executive power is held by the directly elected mayor of the municipality, called wójt in rural gminas, burmistrz in most urban and urban-rural gminas, or prezydent in towns with more than 100,000 inhabitants and some others which traditionally use the title.

A gmina may create auxiliary units (jednostki pomocnicze), which play a subordinate administrative role. In rural areas these are called sołectwos; in towns they may be dzielnicas or osiedles. In an urban-rural gmina, the town itself may be designated as an auxiliary unit.

For a complete listing of all the gminas in Poland, see List of Polish gminas.

[edit] Numbers of gminas

Number of gminas by voivodeship
Voivodeship	LS	KP	LBL	LBS	ŁD	LP	MS	OP	SK	PL	PM	SL	ŚWK	WM	GP	WP	Poland
Urban gminas	36	17	20	9	18	15	35	3	16	13	25	49	5	16	19	11	307
Urban-rural gminas	55	35	21	33	25	42	50	32	29	23	17	22	26	33	90	51	582
Rural gminas	78	92	172	41	134	125	229	36	114	82	81	96	71	67	117	52	1,589
Total gminas	169	144	213	83	177	182	314	71	159	118	123	167	102	116	226	114	2,478
of which: rural gminas with their seat outside the gmina	14	13	17	5	15	9	15	0	12	12	13	0	1	15	11	8	160

Abbreviations used for voivodeships:
LS: Lower Silesian Voivodeship, KP: Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, LBL: Lublin Voivodeship, LBS: Lubusz Voivodeship,
ŁD: Łódź Voivodeship, LP: Lesser Poland Voivodeship, MS: Masovian Voivodeship, OP: Opole Voivodeship,
SK: Subcarpathian Voivodeship, PL: Podlaskie Voivodeship, PM: Pomeranian Voivodeship, SL: Silesian Voivodeship,
ŚWK: Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, WM: Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, GP: Greater Poland Voivodeship, WP: West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

[edit] Largest and smallest gminas

LARGEST	Population (2006 estimate)	Land area in km²	Population density per km²
Urban	Warsaw (1,697,596)	Warsaw (517.22)	Świętochłowice (4,156.80)
Rural	Gmina Chełmiec (24,344)	Gmina Wałcz (574.89)	Gmina Buczkowice (542.70)
Urban-rural	Gmina Piaseczno (61,525)	Gmina Pisz (633.69)	Gmina Wołomin (801.69)
Town in urban-rural gmina	Gmina Nysa: Nysa (47,545)	Gmina Szczytna: Szczytna (80.38)	Gmina Swarzędz: Swarzędz (3,469.23)
Rural part of urban-rural gmina	Gmina Wieliczka: rural part (28,864)	Gmina Pisz: rural part (623.61)	Gmina Świątniki Górne: rural part (407.86)
SMALLEST	Population (2006 estimate)	Land area in km²	Population density per km²
Urban	Krynica Morska (1,364)	Górowo Iławeckie (3.32)	Krynica Morska (11.74)
Rural	Gmina Cisna (1,663)	Gmina Jejkowice (7.59)	Gmina Lutowiska (4.63)
Urban-rural	Gmina Nowe Warpno (1,559)	Gmina Świątniki Górne (20.35)	Gmina Nowe Warpno (7.88)
Town in urban-rural gmina	Gmina Wyśmierzyce: Wyśmierzyce (892)	Gmina Stawiszyn: Stawiszyn (0.99)	Gmina Suraż: Suraż (28.94)
Rural part of urban-rural gmina	Gmina Nowe Warpno: rural part (363)	Gmina Suchedniów: rural part (15.54)	Gmina Nowe Warpno: rural part (2.09)