August 6, 2000 No. 32 (615)

Podkarpacie

Podkarpacie Province

Important Facts and Places of Interest

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION:

Situated in southeastern Poland, the province's territory completely overlaps that of the former Rzeszów province, abolished in 1975, except for Gorlice county.

BORDERS:

• Ukraine, for 237 km • Slovakia,for 135 km • Małopolska, Świętokrzyskie and Lublin provinces

AREA: 17,926 sq km (5.7% of Poland's area)

POPULATION: 2,125,000 (5.5% of the country's total)

AVERAGE POPULATION DENSITY: 118/sq km

URBAN POPULATION: 41% of the province's total

INCLUDES: 20 rural and 4 urban counties encompassing:

• 160 communes • 45 towns

PROVINCIAL CAPITAL: Rzeszów (165,000 inhabitants), the seat of local and provincial government bodies. It is also the region's economic, educational, cultural and transportation center.

TEN LARGEST TOWNS (including Rzeszów):

• Stalowa Wola (72,000 inhabitants) • Przemyśl (69,000 inhabitants) • Mielec (65,000 inhabitants) • Tarnobrzeg (51,000 inhabitants) • Krosno (50,000 inhabitants) • Dębica (48,000 inhabitants) • Jarosław (41,000 inhabitants) • Sanok (42,000 inhabitants) • Jasło (39,000 inhabitants)

GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS:

• Carpathian Mountains: Bieszczady Mountains, Beskid Niski Mountains • plateaus: Strzyżowsko-Dynowskie and Przemyskie • Sandomierska Valley

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE:

• international routes: 1) E-40 highway: Dresden (Germany)-national border-Wrocław-Cracow-Rzeszów-national border-Lviv, Kiev (Ukraine) 2) E-371 highway: Radom-Rzeszów-national border-Kosice (Slovakia)

• airports: 1) domestic: Rzeszów-Jasionka, adapted to service international passenger traffic 2) local: Mielec, Krosno, Turbia near Stalowa Wola, and Krajna in Bircza commune

• main border crossings: 1) road traffic: Medyka, Korczowa and Barwinek 2) railroad traffic: Przemyśl, Werchrata, Krościenko and Łupków 3) local border traffic: Malihowice and Krościenko 4) tourist traffic: Ożenna, Czeremcha, Roztoki Górne, Balnica

NATURE AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION:

• 2 national parks: Bieszczadzki and Magurski • 10 scenic parks, including the San River valley, Cieśnieńsko-wetliński, Jaśliski, and the Słonne Mountains • 16 protected landscape areas • 70 nature reserves • 365 former manor parks • 1,243 natural monuments

Various forms of natural protection cover 45 percent of the area of Podkarpacie province

PODKARPACIE PROVINCE HAS 3 MAIN RIVERS:

• San-444 km long • Wisłok-228 km long • Wisłoka-168 km long

The province borders the Vistula River in the northwest

RESERVOIRS:

• Lake Soliński-22 sq km • Myczkowski Reservoir-2 sq km • Lake Sieniawski-1.3 sq km • smaller reservoirs in Rzeszów, Ożanna, Brzóza Królewska and Grodzisk Dolny in Leżajsk county; Wilcza Wola near Raniżów, Rzemień near Mielec, Kamionka near Sędziszów Małopolski, Werynia near Kolbuszowa, Przybyłów near Gorzyce, Zaklików and Radymno

MAIN BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY:

• food processing • mechanical and electrical engineering • chemicals • automobiles • aircraft • minerals • light industry • furniture

INVESTMENT AND BUSINESSOPPORTUNITIES IN PODKARPACIE PROVINCE:

• Euro-Park Wisłosan Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone, covering four sub-zones: Stalowa Wola, Tarnobrzeg, Staszów and Nowa Dęba • Euro-Park Mielec Special Economic Zone

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION:

1. Exports:

Main export partners of Podkarpacie province:

2. Imports:

Main import partners of Podkarpacie province:

3. Regional cooperation

• the province has signed inter-regional cooperation agreements with the Presov region in Slovakia, and the Lviv and Volhynia regions in Ukraine • agreements are ready to be signed with the Ivano-Frankovsk, Ternopol, Transcarpathian and Lugansk regions in Ukraine, in addition to the Saratov region and the Bashkortostan Republic in the Russian Federation • continued cooperation with Molise and Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Italy • participation in international fairs • organization of economic missions • cooperation within the Carpathia Euroregion

TOURISM AND RECREATION

• many hilly and mountainous localities, with picturesque natural landscapes • vast forest complexes • many, often unique, monuments of material culture • rich folklore traditions from the region's multicultural heritage • abundant mineral and medicinal water springs at the Iwonicz-Zdrój, Rymanów-Zdrój, Horyniec-Zdrój, Polańczyk-Zdrój, Komańcza, Czarna and Lesko spas • many species of game and plenty of fish

MAJOR CULTURAL EVENTS

• World Festival of Polish Expatriate Folk Ensembles in Rzeszów • Music Festival in Łańcut • International Guitar Meetings in Sanok • Adam Didur Vocal Music Festival in Sanok • Ghitaralia international festivals and classical guitar chamber music competitions in Przemyśl • Organ and Chamber Music Festival in Leżajsk • international organ music festivals in Mielec • the Crock international country music festival in Ustrzyki Dolne and the Country w Bieszczadach festival in Lesko • Pieśni Naszych Korzeni (Songs of Our Roots) International Festival of Ancient Music in Jarosław • International Theater Poster Biennial in Rzeszów • Meetings of Polish Theaters from Abroad in Rzeszów • International Theater Collage in Sanok • the Fotoodlot International Unconventional Photography Competition in Rzeszów • the Rzeszowskie Fanfary international brass band show • The Od Rusal do Jana festival of Łemkis culture and traditions in Zyndranowa • Open-air Folk Festival in Mokre • Łemkis Keremesz in Olchowiec • Ukrainian Culture Days in Przemyśl

INTERESTING MONUMENTS OF MATERIAL CULTURE

• the Lubomirski and Potocki palaces in Łańcut, one of the best-preserved aristocratic residences in Poland, with a valuable park complex • the renaissance Leszczyński palace in Baranów Sandomierski • Krasicki castle in Krasiczyn, a pearl of Polish renaissance architecture after Wawel and Baranów Sandomierski • Poland's oldest stone Orthodox church in Posada Rybotycka • Poland's oldest wooden Orthodox church in Ulucz, from the early 16th century • Poland's oldest wooden church, and the world's largest wooden gothic church, in Haczów • presbytery complex with a wooden church from the 16th century in Blizne, including a unique polychromy with the so-called plebeian Bible • the Sanok living history museum, including the unique Carpathian Icons exposition • the synagogue in Łańcut with a unique collection of Jewish items

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN PODKARPACIE PROVINCE

• Bieszczadzka Ciuchcia-a narrow-gauge railway from Majdan to Przysłup (cowboy holdups available on request) • passage through Poland's longest narrow-gauge railway tunnel, at 602 meters, in Szklary on the Przeworsk-Dynów route • hiking, cycling, horseback riding, as well as water sports on artificial lakes Soliński and Myczkowski • lessons and courses for glider and paraglider pilot licenses at the gliding center in Bezmiechowa, near Lesko • horseback riding lessons for sport and pleasure at equestrian centers and racing stables in Julin, Stubno, Zabajka, at the Huculski (East Carpathian) Horse Preservation Stable of the Bieszczadzki National Park in Wołosate, and at the Experimental Animal Husbandry Institute in Odrzechowa

Katarzyna Fornal and Anna Richter-Sadza