West Pomeranian region

The West Pomeranian region (also known as Zachodniopomorskie voivodship or Western Pomerania) is part of the region located near to the Baltic Sea, 150 km north-east from Berlin (capital of Germany).
The location of the Zachodniopomorskie voivodship is a significant factor for its development.

The region has a surface of 22,892 km2, that is 7.32% of Poland (the fifth biggest in the country). The natural border in the north is the Baltic Sea. In the west the region borders with Germany (Brandeburg and Meklenburg Vornpommern lands), and in the south and east with the Lubuskie, Wielkopolskie and Pomorskie voivodships.
Due to the location on the border, the region lies at the intersection of important international transport routes:

• from Scandinavia to southern and south-eastern Europe;
• from western Europe to the eastern European countries and Asia.

The location of the voivodship on the border is also a determining factor in cooperation projects within e.g. the Community Initiative INTERREG (Baltic Sea Region Programme, South Baltic Programme, INTERREG IV, etc.). The Euroregion Pomerania plays a major role in the cross-border cooperation with German and Swedish partners.

The voivodship has 114 communes (including 11 urban, 51 urban-rural, 52 rural communes), 18 counties and 3 urban counties. Until 1999, the region was divided into Szczecin and Koszalin subregions.

The settlement pattern is composed of 64 towns and more than 3000 villages as well as other settlement units.
Szczecin, the capital of the voivodship, is situated in the western part of the region, near the border with Germany. The most important town in the north-eastern part is Koszalin, which fulfils the role of a complementary economic centre. In addition, there are a few towns of regional significance like Stargard Szczecinski, Kolobrzeg, Swinoujscie, Szczecinek and Police. They are all situated along the borders of the Zachodniopomorskie.

The 10 biggest cities are listed below in descending order of population (As of year 2012):

Coat of Arms	Name	Inhabitants
	Szczecin	409 596
	Koszalin	109 233
	Stargard Szczecinski	69 771
	Kolobrzeg	47 078
	Swinoujscie	41 516
	Szczecinek	40 799
	Police	33 940
	Walcz	26 466
	Bialogard	24 861
	Goleniow	22 844

Western Pomerania cooperates with particular regions from the European Union. Moreover, it also has a cooperation agreement with non-EU regions, like Province Guangdong in China or Mikolajew district in Ukraine. Regional authorities, business support institutions, universities and other public and non-public bodies have lots of international cooperation projects in fields like cooperation networks, exchange of experiences, joint information and promotion campaigns, creating joint databases, portals, digital platforms etc.
A dynamic international cooperation is established with the following regions:

Flag	Name	From when
	Bayern	2008
	Brandenburg	2001
	Meklenburg-Vorpommern	2000
	Guangdong	2001
	Puglia	2007
	Loire-Atlantique	1999
	Gironde	2004
	Калининград	2004
	Миколаїв	2002
	Overijssel	2006
	Skane	1999
	Nemenčinė	2009
	Ourense	2008
	Minsk	2010

Thanks to the specific and convenient localization of the voivodship capital the citizens have very good connections with neighbouring countries (e.g. Germany -Berlin, Denmark - Copenhagen, Sweden - Stockholm and Czech Republic - Prague) and other main cities in Poland (Poznan, Gdansk, Warsaw).
West Pomerania has all the possible forms of transport. People and businesses use numerous ports, railway rolling stock, and roads. It is possible to travel by air, taking advantage of domestic and international flights to Norway, Spain, Great Britain, Ireland and Egypt (Szczecin-Goleniow Airport). The region also offers ferry connections with Scandinavia (Ystad, Copenhagen, Ronne, Bornholm).

Key Facts and Figures (Source: Central Statistical Office / As of year 2012)

West Pomerania region
Population	1 722 100 inhabitants
Urban areas	1 185 000 inhabitants
Rural areas	536 000 inhabitants
Number of districts	21
Number of communities	114

Movie about the region (2008)– would you like to learn more about West Pomerania, please open the link.