Opole County

Opole County (Polish: powiat opolski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Opole Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat is the city of Opole, although the city is not part of the county (it constitutes a separate city county). The county contains three towns: Ozimek, 20 km (12 mi) east of Opole, Niemodlin, 24 km (15 mi) west of Opole, and Prószków, 11 km (7 mi) south-west of Opole.

The county covers an area of 1,586.82 square kilometres (612.7 sq mi). As of 2006 its total population is 134,874, out of which the population of Ozimek is 9,944, that of Niemodlin is 6,849, that of Prószków is 2,713, and the rural population is 115,368.

Neighbouring counties

Apart from the city of Opole, Opole County is also bordered by Namysłów County and Kluczbork County to the north, Olesno County to the north-east, Strzelce County to the south-east, Krapkowice County and Prudnik County to the south, Nysa County to the south-west, and Brzeg County to the north-west.

Opole

Opole [ɔˈpɔlɛ] (German: Oppeln, Silesian German: Uppeln, Silesian: Uopole) is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River (Odra). It has a population of 125,992 (June 2009) and is the capital of the Opole Voivodeship and, also the seat of Opole County. Today, many German Upper Silesians and Poles of German ancestry live in the Opole region; in the city itself, however, Germans make up less than 3% of the population. It was also the capital of the historical region of Upper Silesia.

Name

The name "Opole" likely originated from the medieval Slavic term for a group of settlements.

History

In Medieval Poland

Opole's history begins in the 8th century. At this time, according to the archeological excavations, the first Slavic settlement was founded on the Ostrówek - the northern part of the Pasieka island in the middle of the Odra river. In the early 10th century it developed into one of the main gróds of the Slavic Opolanie. At the end of the century Silesia became part of Poland and was ruled by the Piast dynasty; the land of the pagan Opolanie was conquered by Duke Mieszko I in 992. From the 11th-12th centuries it was also a castellany. After the death of Duke Władysław II the Exile, Silesia was divided in 1163 between two Piast lines- the Wrocławska line in Lower Silesia and the Opolsko-Raciborska of Upper Silesia. Opole would became a duchy in 1172 and would share much in common with the Duchy of Racibórz, with which it was often combined. In 1281 Upper Silesia was divided further between the heirs of the dukes. The Duchy of Opole was temporarily reestablished in 1290.

Opole (administrative)

The opole (Latin: vicinia) is a historical unit of administration in Poland. An opole was characterised by close geographical ties between a group of settlements and common legal responsibilities collectively affecting all of them. The institution of the opole predates the Kingdom of Poland, and began disappearing around the 13th to 15th centuries. It was the lowest unit of administration in the medieval Polish kingdom, subordinate to the castellany.

A particular opole would be named after its largest, capital settlement. Most notably, the term survived as a name of a major city in Poland, Opole, and is also associated with the Opolans tribe.

History and function

The organization of the opole predates the first Polish state, the Kingdom of Poland. Opoles were characteristic of the Slavic tribes and had their genesis in ties between neighbourhoods. In the loose organizational structure of those times, the opole stood as an intermediate stage between an extended family and the wider tribe;Henryk Łowmiański refers to opoles as the "constituent units of the tribe". At first, depending on the density of inhabitants, an opole could cover an area of between few dozen to a few hundred square kilometers, with an average area of about 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi). Opoles would comprise both larger settlements and individual manors.

Opole (parliamentary constituency)

Opole is a Polish parliamentary constituency that is coterminous with the Opole Voivodeship. It elects thirteen members of the Sejm and three members of the Senate.

The district has the number '21' for elections to the Sejm and '20' for elections to the Senate, and is named after the city of Opole. It includes the counties of Brzeg, Głubczyce, Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Kluczbork, Krapkowice, Namysłów, Nysa, Olesno, Opole, Prudnik, Strzelce, and the city county of Opole.

List of members

Senate

Sejm

Footnotes