wojewodów

Wojewodowie, with the genitive form wojewodów, are the governors of Poland's voivodeships. In the modern Polish administrative system, a wojewoda is the representative of the central government in a voivodeship and heads the voivodeship's state administration. They are appointed by the Prime Minister on the request of the Council of Ministers and work under the supervision of the minister of interior and administration. The office operates through the Voivodeship Office (Urząd Wojewódzki) and serves as the main link between the central government and local self-government.

The main tasks of a wojewoda include ensuring the proper application of national law in the voivodeship, supervising the legality of decisions made by local government bodies, coordinating state tasks delegated to local authorities, and representing the state in the voivodeship in relations with other institutions. They oversee state functions at the regional level, such as administration, public order, transport, health, and education, and may issue supervisory measures or initiate actions to protect the legality of local-government acts, including referring matters to administrative courts when necessary.

Historically, the term wojewoda referred to a high-ranking provincial governor in the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who wielded political, military, and judicial authority within a province. The modern office was preserved after the administrative reform of 1999, which created 16 voivodeships. Today, the wojewoda is distinct from the elected marshall of a voivodeship and from regional self-government bodies, serving as the central government’s representative in the region.