About the poviat

city : Łańcut (18 194 inhabitants)

communes : Białobrzegi (7 978 inhabitants), Czarna (10 751), Łańcut (20 067), Markowa (6 780), Rakszawa (7 319),  Żołynia (6 786).

villages: 31

area: 451,97 km²

population: 77 875 inhabitants

population density : 172 personskm²

education:

• kindergartens: 35
• primary schools: 40
• junior high schools: 14
• secondary schools: 8
• univeristies and colleges: Rzeszów Technical University, Scientific and Didactic Centre of the School of Social and Economic Affairs in Warsaw

The poviat is located in the central part of the Podkarpackie voivodship, just 17 km from Rzeszów – the capital of Podkarpacie. Our neigbours are the Poviat of Rzeszów (southern and western border), the Poviat of Przeworsk (eastern border) and the Poviat of Leżajsk (northern border). The E40 transnational road, linking Germany and Ukraine, crosses the poviat territory and is the meeting point for road connections to Kańczuga (E881, south-east), Dynów (E887, south - west), Leżajsk (E887, north - east) and Sokołów Młp. (E876, north - west). The Wroclaw – Przemyśl trunk line goes through the poviat territory providing a good communication link to Kiev, Ukraine. The poviat’s capital is Łańcut, where both poviat and municipal authorities are located.

The poviat of Łańcut is located at the edge of the Carpathian Foothills and the Sandomierz Lowland. It makes the landscape very diverse: from plains in the north to mountains in the south. The Wisłok River, crossing the poviat area, increases the beauty of Łańcut surroundings. Forests, mainly mixed, riverside and alder ones, constitute over 20% of the poviat territory. A very diverse flora includes some unique species under protection: a bladdernut, a wild ginger, a common snowdrop, a lesser butterfly orchid. Rare animal species can also be met here: e.g. Bubo bubo eagle owls, salamanders, badgers, ermines, weasels, buzzards. Beaver lodges can be found on the territory of the Rakszawa and Zołynia communes.

There are documented deposits of building materials, natural gas and geothermic water within the poviat area.

The first settlements in the area of Łańcut poviat are dated to ca. 4000 B.C., which is proved by the archeological works, which are conducted in the southern part of the poviat mainly. First settlement of the city of Łańcut was established in the Middle Ages. Tradition says that a small village and a castle were located here, but there is no documented evidence on that. In the mid-14^th century (or – as the church tradition says – in 1349) Casimir the Great awarded Łańcut with a status of a city and presented it to Otton of Pilcza (coat of arms: Axe) who was a Voivod of Sandomierz. At the same time a number of villages in the city neighbourhood obtained localization rights based on German law: Krzemienica, Markowa, Kosina, Kraczkowa and Wysoka are the oldest ones. At that times the King of Poland, Vladislav Jagiello, was a visitor to Łańcut twice: in 1410 before the battle of Tannenberg, and in 1417, when he came here to marry a daughter of the Pileckis. Also, Sigmund the Old and PrinceVitold were the guests of the city of Łańcut.

Łańcut was located on the old trade route, which was a driving force to economic development, both in craftwork and trade. The first mentions about local craftsmen go back to the second half of the 14^th century. In the beginning of 15^th century a weavers’ guild was established, which is evidenced by a registration document, the oldest in Poland. Other crafts in the area included shoemaking, blacksmithing, tailoring and furrier’s work. Breweries and distilleries also developed dynamically.

In 1629 Łańcut was taken over by the Lubomirskis, who built a fortified residence. It strengthened the position of the city and the surrounding villages, providing incentives for further economic growth. The profile of the city was also changing: from a city of local importance Łańcut was transforming into a residence of rich and powerful family of tycoons.

In 1823 the fortune of the Lubomirskis was divided. As a result the Łańcut premises became a property of Alfred Potocki, a well-educated and enterprising man. He was famous for innovative management methods. He built a sugar factory (converted then into a spirit rectification plant), a liqueur factory and a brewery. As the first land owner in the Podkarpacie region, he started to use a crop rotation system in farming. At the time of the Potockis’ residence the castle was subject to a significant reconstruction becoming one of the most beautiful tycoon’s residences in Poland. In 1830 the Potockis established the Ordinance. The city developed very dynamically – a lot of new public utility buildings were built. In 1859 Łańcut received a railway connection. The city witnessed a development of the education system, establishing a voluntary firefighting brigade, credit fund and a local bank, and Gymastics Society “Hawk”.

After the stagnation and destruction brought by the Second World War Łańcut began to develop in the 50’s of the 20th century. Residential districts were built, as well as industrial plants and necessary utility networks. In 1996 a modern sewage treatment plant was put into operation. Eight years later, in 2004, a modern sports and leisure center was built.

Thanks to its location on the border of two geographic regions the landscape of the Łańcut poviat is very diverse and inhabited by numerous flora and fauna species. In the forests and meadows you can meet wild boars, deers, fallow deers, roe deers, hares, foxes, badgers, raccoon dogs, beavers and otters. Among the birds living in the area the following should be mentioned: black stork, sparrow hawk, kingfisher, kite, hazel grouse, grey heron, swan, woodpeckers, and pheasant. Crayfish, carps and zanders can be met in local rivers and streams.

In the northern part of the poviat mixed forests prevail, while pine woods dominate in the south. Forests cover 22% of the poviat area. Concentrations of larches and mature oak, spruce and fir forests can be found here. In the Łańcut Park there is the only maidenhair in the poviat. An over 100 - years old pine grows by the road linking Białobrzegi and Żołynia. Some interesting plants grow in the poviat area: bladdernut, marsh elder, daphne, giant horsetail, anemone, primrose, bilberry, cowberry, lily of the valley and various mushrooms. A part of the poviat area belongs to the protected landscape areas (Brzóźniański in Rakszawa commune, Hyżniańsko – Gwoźnicki in Łańcut and Markowa communes, Zmysłowski in Białobrzegi and Żołynia communes) and nature reserves (“Wydrze” in the Rakszawa commune and “Husówka” in the Markowa commune).

Some Educational Ecology Paths were marked out. One of them, located in Cierpisz (the Łańcut commune), meanders through mixed forests amid numerous ponds. Concentrations of giant horsetail and stinkhorns can be met there. Another path is marked out in the forests near Husów (Markowa commune) and crosses the “Husówka” nature reserve. Here you can see over 100 - years - old larches, a very unique bladdernut and fly agaric.

Łańcut District is an agrarian and industrial region. Dominating arable lands constitute an area of 30 948 ha (68.4%). Forests occupy over a 20% of the poviat area. In the structure of the arable land very important are croplands with 22 058 ha (48,7%); meadows occupy 5709 ha (12,6 %), while pastures - 2163 ha (4,9%). The biggest part of arable lands belongs to the Łańcut commune where fertile soils allow intensive cultivation, which results in a small presence of forests. In percentage terms, most of forests are in Rakszawa commune, where poor soil conditions inhibit growth of the agricultural production. Local agriculture is dominated by the private sector. All farms occupy 94, 4 % of arable lands in the district, however over 93 % of them do not exceed 1-5 ha. These very small farmyards can hardly achieve a profitable production. In last few years a very dynamic expansion of agricultural farms has been witnessed. Such farms have became a competitive alternative for expensive hotels and lodging-houses.

Łańcut district can be characterised by a very large intensity of business activity. As of December 2000, 4579 different economic institution were registered. They employed 15 144 people. Taking into consideration the number of employees, 5 or less employees worked in 92,5% of institutions, from 6 to 20 employees in 5%, while 2,2 % of the institutions employed from 21 to 100 people. In only 0,3 % of the institutions the number of staff exceeded 100. Main line of activity of most registered institutions is trade and repair services (about 35, 2%). 16 % of them deal with industrial processing, while 11, 1 % with building activity. In the recent years a number of the institution dealing with real properties or providing services to companies has increased. Many of them (9,9%) provide transportation, stock management and telecommunication services.

The industry is concentrated in the Łańcut city and its direct neighbourhood. Industrial plants have become environment-friendly thanks to big investments in proper infrastructure. Amongst the most famous domestic companies most important are: Transsystem – the biggest Polish manufacturer and supplier of production handling systems, Vodka Manufacturing Plant, Van Pur Brewery, Screw Plant „Śrubex”, Bimex Bollhoff, Polimex, Bispol or Golmeb.

Since the dynamically developing small and medium-sized enterprises remain a potential ”source” of new work places, the Łańcut development strategy indicates the need for creation of favorable conditions for SME growth. Entrepreneurs will have an influence on the development of cooperation-based relationships at the international and domestic level (which is very stimulating for the SME sector). The undeniable beauty of Łańcut poviat creates opportunities for promoting different forms of tourism in this region. Various forms of tourism (for example hiking, cycling, driving) shall be developed in the places of an exceptional cultural and historical importance in connection with the development of agriturism in most picturesque regions of the poviat. On the basis of the preliminary analysis of the agricultural structure and the natural environment conditions, the agritourism development is assumed to generate an additional income in approximately 50 % of district’s rural area.

The Łańcut district can be proud with its fully developed technical infrastructure. The large investments of some communes during the last three years have been followed by a dynamic increase of number of telephone lines and cellular telephony, which can be, although still expensive, an alternative solution for analogue telephones. The entire commune territory is within the range of major GSM operators.

The Łańcut district is one of the leaders in the voivodship in terms of developing thr water-supply system. In the recent years the water supply network is developed in all communes of the district. Łańcut has a modern sewage-treatment plant with a capacity of 5,500 m³/day. Smaller sewage-treatment plants, which meet the needs of the communes are located in Markowa and Czarna.

Poviat Authority in Łańcut
2 Mickiewicza St.
37-100 Łańcut
tel. 017 225 70 00
fax.017 225 69 70
www.powiat-lancut.com.pl
e-mail: 

Poviat Promotion Office
tel. 017 225 70 24