Opole Voivodeship, or Opole Province ( Polish: województwo opolskie ; ), is a Polish voivodeship, or province, created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Opole Voivodeship and parts of Częstochowa Voivodeship, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998.

Opole Voivodeship is bordered by Lower Silesian Voivodeship to the west, Greater Poland and Łódź Voivodeships to the north, Silesian Voivodeship to the east, and the Czech Republic to the south.

The Opole Voivodeship is the smallest region in the administrative makeup of the country in terms of both area and population.

Opole Voivodeship is divided into 12 counties ( powiats ): 1 city county and 11 land counties.

# The Silesian language is spoken in the Upper Silesia region, mainly in the Silesian Voivodeship and Opole Voivodeship in Poland and also in the Moravian – Silesian Region in Czech Republic.

It is also bordered by four other Polish voivodeships: those of Opole ( to the west ), Łódź ( to the north ), Świętokrzyskie ( to the north-east ), and Lesser Poland ( to the east ).

It is bordered by seven other voivodeships: West Pomeranian to the northwest, Pomeranian to the north, Kuyavian-Pomeranian to the north-east, Łódź to the south-east, Opole to the south, Lower Silesian to the southwest and Lubusz to the west.

Opole (, 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 Upper Silesia, Opole Voivodeship and, also the seat of Opole County.

In the early 13th century Duke Casimir I of Opole decided to move the settlement from the Pasieka island into the right shore of the Odra river ( since the 17th century it is the old stream bed of Odra known as Młynówka ).

( Note: The deportation of Viennese Jews to Opole most likely is a reference to a historical event that happened in " the other Opole ," a town by the same time in Lublin, in eastern Poland.

Today Opole, along with the surrounding region, is known as a centre of the German minority in Poland that recruits mainly from the descendants of the positively verified autochthons.

Lower Silesian Voivodeship is bordered by Lubusz Voivodeship to the north-west, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the north-east, Opole Voivodeship to the south-east, the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany ( the State of Saxony ) to the west.

Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian to the north and east, Świętokrzyskie to the south-east, Silesian to the south, Opole to the south-west, Greater Poland to the west, and Kuyavian-Pomeranian for a short stretch to the north.

Upon the implementation of the Oder-Neisse line according to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement, most of the Prussian Silesia Province is now within Poland, incorporated into the Lubusz, Lower Silesian, Opole and Silesian Voivodeships.

Nysa ( or Neiße ) is a town in southwestern Poland on the Nysa Kłodzka river with 47, 545 inhabitants ( 2006 official estimate ), situated in the Opole Voivodeship.

Brzeg () is a town in southwestern Poland with 38, 496 inhabitants ( 2004 ), situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the left bank of the Oder.

Kluczbork () is a town in southwestern Poland with 26, 670 inhabitants ( 2003 ), situated in the Opole Voivodeship.

Schles., 1908 – 1945 Neustadt O. S ') is a town in Poland, located in the southern part of Opole Voivodeship.

Strzelce Opolskie () is a town in south-western Poland with 19, 628 inhabitants ( 2006 ), situated in the Opole Voivodeship.

To the surprise of many of the ethnic Germans in Opole however, the local Polish Silesian population and groups of ethnic Poles also rose to oppose the planned reforms ; this came about as a result of an overwhelming feel of attachment to the voivodeships that were planned to be ‘ redrawn ’ as well as a fear of ‘ alienation ’ should one find themselves residing in a new, unfamiliar region.

The solution came in late 1999, when Olesno was, after 24 years apart, finally reunited with the Opole Voivodeship to form the new legally defined region.

As well as the Katowice area, historical Upper Silesia also includes the Opole region ( Poland's Opole Voivodeship ) and Czech Silesia.

Today, many German Upper Silesians and Poles of German ancestry live in the Opole region ; in the city itself, Germans make up less than 3 % of population.

With the abdication of King John II Casimir of Poland as the last Duke of Opole in 1668, the region passed to the direct control of the Habsburgs.

** TVP Opole for the Opole region

As soon as Henry succeeded his father in 1201, he had to struggle with his Piast relatives, at first with his uncle Duke Mieszko IV Tanglefoot who immediately seized the Upper Silesian Duchy of Opole.

He began to follow a policy which was more independent from Bohemia, including in respect to friendly relations with his Upper Silesian cousin Duke Władysław of Opole and also with duke Przemysł II of Greater Poland.

At that time, he also made an alliance with Duke Władysław of Opole, who promised to help Henry IV with the condition that his daughter ( perhaps called Constance ), who had recently married Henry IV, was crowned with him as Polish queen if he would obtain the royal investiture.

With the Opole Dukes the situation was more delicate: in 1287, Henry IV obtained the annulment of his marriage with their sister, who was sent back to her homeland.

The battle ended with a victory for the Masovia-Kuyavia coalition ; from two of Henry IV's allies, Duke Przemko of Ścinawa was killed in the battle, and Duke Bolko I of Opole was seriously injured and captured by Władysław I the Elbow-high.

Around March 1280, Henry IV married firstly with the daughter of Duke Władysław of Opole ( b. ca.

Nevertheless one year later ( 1239 ) Henry was compelled to resign the regency, although he remained on good terms with the Dukes of Opole and Sandomierz and also managed to retain Greater Polish Kalisz and Wieluń.

Opole would became a duchy in 1172 and would share much in common with the Duchy of Racibórz, with which it was often combined.

Opole received German town law in 1254, which was expanded with Neumarkt law in 1327 and Magdeburg rights in 1410.

Along with most of Silesia, in 1327 the Duchy of Opole came under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Bohemia, itself part of the Holy Roman Empire.

On 15 February 1941 and 26 February 1941, two deportation transports with 2, 003 Jewish men, women and children on board left Vienna Aspang Station to Opole, By March 1941, 8, 000 Jews were deported to the ghetto which had been set up in Opole.

Henry divided his forces into four sections: the Bavarian miners led by Boleslav of Moravia ; the conscripts from Greater Poland along with some Cracovians led by Sulisław ; the brother of the killed palatine of Kraków ; the army of Opole under Mieszko, possibly with some Teutonic Knights ; and, under Henry's personal command, the Silesians, Moravians, Templars and Hospitallers.

The Polish Upper Silesian territory covers most of the Opole Voivodeship (" Opole Silesia "), except for the Lower Silesian counties of Brzeg and Namysłów, and the Silesian Voivodeship, except for the Lesser Polish counties of Będzin, Bielsko ( eastern part ), Częstochowa with the city of Częstochowa, Kłobuck, Myszków, Zawiercie and Żywiec as well as the cities of Dąbrowa Górnicza, Jaworzno and Sosnowice.

In 1991 a partnership with the district Radviliskis in Lithuania was started, and in 2002 with the Polish district Opole in Silesia.

Protected areas in Opole Voivodeship include the following three areas designated as Landscape Parks:

However, not all the Silesian dukes accepted his authority: Dukes Bolko I the Strict, Konrad II the Hunchback and three of the four sons of Władysław of Opole: Casimir of Bytom, Mieszko I of Cieszyn and Przemysław of Racibórz were completely against Henry's politics.