Bransk
Encyclopedia
Brańsk b is an Urban Gmina
Gmina
The gmina is the principal unit of administrative division of Poland at its lowest uniform level. It is often translated as "commune" or "municipality." As of 2010 there were 2,479 gminas throughout the country...

 (Polish: gmina miejska) (Town) in Bielsk County
Bielsk County
Bielsk County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Bielsk Podlaski, which...

, Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship , is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. It borders on Masovian Voivodeship to the west, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship to the northwest, Lublin Voivodeship to the south, the Belarusssian Voblasts of Grodno and Brest to the east, the Lithuanian Counties of Alytus and...

. It is located north-eastern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

.

Etymology

The name of the town comes from the river Bronka
Bronka
Bronka is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately east of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south of the regional capital Białystok....

, a nearby tributary of the Nurzec
Nurzec
The Nurzec is a river in north-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Bug River. It flows through the geographical region known in Polish as Wysoczyzny Podlasko-Bialoruskie...

 River.

Location

Brańsk is located in the geographical region of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 known as the Wysoczyzny Podlasko – Bialoruskie (English: Podlaskie and Belarus Plateau) and the mezoregion known as the Bielsk Plain (Polish: Równinę Bielską). The Nurzec
Nurzec
The Nurzec is a river in north-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Bug River. It flows through the geographical region known in Polish as Wysoczyzny Podlasko-Bialoruskie...

 River, a tributary of the Bug River
Bug River
The Bug River is a left tributary of the Narew river flows from central Ukraine to the west, passing along the Ukraine-Polish and Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, where it empties into the Narew river near Serock. The part between the lake and the Vistula River is sometimes referred to as...

, passes through Brańsk. The town covers an area of 32.43 square kilometres (12.5 sq mi).

It is located approximately: northeast of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, the capital of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 southwest of Białystok, the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship , is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. It borders on Masovian Voivodeship to the west, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship to the northwest, Lublin Voivodeship to the south, the Belarusssian Voblasts of Grodno and Brest to the east, the Lithuanian Counties of Alytus and...

 west of Bielsk Podlaski
Bielsk Podlaski
-Roads and Highways:Bielsk Podlaski is at the intersection of two National Road and a Voivodeship Road:* National Road 19 - Kuźnica Białystoka Border Crossing - Kuźnica - Białystok - Bielsk Podlaski - Siemiatycze - Międzyrzec Podlaski - Kock - Lubartów - Lublin - Kraśnik - Janów Lubelski - Nisko...

, the seat of Bielsk County
Bielsk County
Bielsk County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Bielsk Podlaski, which...


Climate

The region has a continental climate
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...

 which is characterized by high temperatures during summer and long and frosty winters . The average amount of rainfall during the year exceeds 550 millimetres (21.7 in).

13th century

On 23 June 1264 two armies met near Brańsk. The Battle of Brańsk
Battle of Brańsk
In 1264, the Duke of Krakow, Boleslaw V the Chaste organized an expedition against Yotvingia, who were allied with Shvarn, the Duke of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia....

 lasted two days pitting the forces of Yotvingia
Yotvingia
Yotvingia was a region where the Baltic tribe known as Yotvingians lived. It was located in the area of Sudovia and Dainava; south west from the upper Neman, between Marijampolė, Merkinė , Slonim, Kobryn , Białystok, and Ełk ;...

, led by Komata (Kumata) against the well equipped Krakovian army led by the Duke of Krakow, Boleslaw V the Chaste
Boleslaw V the Chaste
Bolesław V the Chaste or the Shy was Duke of Sandomierz in Lesser Poland from 1232 and High Duke of Poland from 1243 until his death.He was the son of High Duke Leszek I the White, who was assassinated in 1227...

.

15th century

On 18 January 1493, Brańsk received a city charter based on Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg Rights or Magdeburg Law were a set of German town laws regulating the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by a local ruler. Modelled and named after the laws of the German city of Magdeburg and developed during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, it was...

 from the Grand Duke of Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, Alexander Jagiellon
Alexander Jagiellon
Alexander of the House of Jagiellon was the Grand Duke of Lithuania and later also King of Poland. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV Jagiellon...

. It was the first city in Podlaskie to receive such a charter.

20th century

In 1943, Hitler's German Wehrmacht (army) occupied the town and moved the Jewish population (some 65% of the town) to a ghetto surrounded by barbed wire. Within weeks, the vast majority were murdered at the Treblinka death camp.

Population

Detailed data as of 31 December 2007:
  Total Women Men
Unit Number % Number % Number %
Population 3,822 100 1,944 50.9 1,878 49.1
Population Density
(persons/km²)
117.9 56.9 57.9

Income

Income data from 2005:

Average per capita income: 1961.03 zł

Compared to the average per capita income:
  • In the Podlaskie Voivodeship: 120.40%
  • In Poland: 112.20%

Executive Branch

The chief executive of the government is the Mayor (Polish: Burmistrz).

Legislative Branch

The legislative portion of the government is the Council
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....

 (Polish: Rada) composed of the President (Polish: Przewodniczšcy), the Vice President (Polish: Wiceprzewodniczšcy) and thirteen councilors.

Neighbouring Political Subdivisions

Brańsk is bordered by Gminy Rudka
Gmina Rudka
Gmina Rudka is a rural gmina in Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is located in north-eastern Poland.-Geography:...

 and Brańsk
Gmina Bransk
Gmina Brańsk is a rural gmina in Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is located in north-eastern Poland.-Etymology:The name Brańsk comes from the river Bronka, a nearby tributary of the Nurzec River.-Geography:...

.

Roads and Highways

Brańsk is at the intersection of a National Road
National roads in Poland
National road in Poland refers to a public trunk road controlled by the Polish central government authority, the General Directorship of National Roads and Motorways...

 and a Voivodeship Road
Voivodeship road
A voivodeship road is a category of road in Poland. Voivodeship roads fall one step below national roads in importance. The roads are numbered from 100 to 993...

:
  • National Road - Zambrów
    Zambrów
    Zambrów is a town in northeastern Poland with 22,933 inhabitants . It is the capital of Zambrów County. Situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship , previously in Łomża Voivodeship .-History:...

     - Brańsk - Bielsk Podlaski
    Bielsk Podlaski
    -Roads and Highways:Bielsk Podlaski is at the intersection of two National Road and a Voivodeship Road:* National Road 19 - Kuźnica Białystoka Border Crossing - Kuźnica - Białystok - Bielsk Podlaski - Siemiatycze - Międzyrzec Podlaski - Kock - Lubartów - Lublin - Kraśnik - Janów Lubelski - Nisko...

     - Kleszczele
    Kleszczele
    Kleszczele is a town in Hajnówka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland. Prior to 1999, it was in Białystok Voivodeship .The Yiddish playwright Peretz Hirschbein was born in Kleszczele in 1881....

     - Czeremcha
    Czeremcha
    Czeremcha is a village in Hajnówka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, close to the border with Belarus. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Czeremcha. It lies approximately south-west of Hajnówka and south of the regional capital Białystok.The village has a population...

     - Połowce Border Crossing (Belarus)
  • Voivodeship Road - Roszki-Wodźki
    Roszki-Wodzki
    Roszki-Wodźki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Łapy, within Białystok County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland....

     - Łapy - Brańsk - Ciechanowiec
    Ciechanowiec
    Ciechanowiec is a small town in Wysoczyzna Drohiczyńska, Gmina Ciechanowiec, Wysokie Mazowieckie County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland.Alternate names used in the past or currently include Tshekhanovits Yiddish, Tsekhanovets Russian, Chechanovitz, Chekhanovits, Chekhanovitse, Rudelstadt and...


Streets

The major streets (Polish: Ulica) in Brańsk:
  • Rynek
  • Armii Krajowej (National Road )
  • Bielska
  • Binduga
  • Boćkowska
  • Błonie
  • Jagiellońska
  • Jana Pawła II (Voivodeship Road )
  • Kapicy Milewskiego
  • Kasztanowa
  • Klonowa
  • Konopnickiej
  • Kościelna
  • Kościuszki (Voivodeship Road )
  • Mickiewicza
  • Piłsudskiego
  • Poniatowskiego
  • Senatorska
  • Sienkiewicza
  • Skłodowskiej-Curie
  • Szkolna
  • Słowackiego
  • Witosa
  • Wyszyńskiego
  • Ściegiennego

Bus Service

Regular bus service is provided by Państwowa Komunikacja Samochodowa (State Car Communication, PKS
Panstwowa Komunikacja Samochodowa
Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Samochodowej is a major Polish enterprise dealing with public transport.-History:...

) via PKS Bielsk Podlaskie, PKS Białystok and PKS Siemiatycze

Rail Service

The closest passenger train service is provided by Polskie Koleje Państwowe (Polish State Railways, PKP
Polskie Koleje Panstwowe
is the dominant railway operator in Poland.The company was founded when the former state-owned operator was divided into several units based on the requirements laid down by the European Union...

) SA from the following stations:
  • Szepietowo
    Szepietowo
    Szepietowo is a town in Wysokie Mazowieckie County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Szepietowo. It lies approximately south of Wysokie Mazowieckie and south-west of the regional capital Białystok.Szepietowo has a population of 2,412. It...

    - express & local service to Warsaw
    Warsaw
    Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

     and Białystok - 28 kilometres (17.4 mi) northwest
  • Bielsk Podlaski
    Bielsk Podlaski
    -Roads and Highways:Bielsk Podlaski is at the intersection of two National Road and a Voivodeship Road:* National Road 19 - Kuźnica Białystoka Border Crossing - Kuźnica - Białystok - Bielsk Podlaski - Siemiatycze - Międzyrzec Podlaski - Kock - Lubartów - Lublin - Kraśnik - Janów Lubelski - Nisko...

    - express & local service to Siedlce
    Siedlce
    Siedlce ) is a city in eastern Poland with 77,392 inhabitants . Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship , previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship ....

     and Białystok - 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) east

Major Business


Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Roman Catholic

  • Parish serving Brańsk, Bronka
    Bronka
    Bronka is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately east of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south of the regional capital Białystok....

    , Brzeźnica
    Brzeznica, Podlaskie Voivodeship
    Brzeźnica is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately south of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south-west of the regional capital Białystok....

    , Glinnik
    Glinnik, Podlaskie Voivodeship
    Glinnik is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately north of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south-west of the regional capital Białystok....

    , Jarmarkowszczyzna
    Jarmarkowszczyzna
    Jarmarkowszczyzna is a settlement in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland....

    , Kalnica
    Kalnica, Podlaskie Voivodeship
    Kalnica is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately east of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south of the regional capital Białystok....

    , Kiersnówek
    Kiersnówek
    Kiersnówek is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south-west of the regional capital Białystok.-References:...

    , Majerowizna
    Majerowizna
    Majerowizna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south of the regional capital Białystok....

    , Oleksin
    Oleksin
    Oleksin may refer to the following places:*Oleksin, Otwock County in Masovian Voivodeship *Oleksin, Siedlce County in Masovian Voivodeship *Oleksin, Podlaskie Voivodeship...

    , Otapy
    Otapy
    Otapy is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south-west of the regional capital Białystok....

    , Patoki
    Patoki
    Patoki may refer to the following places:*Patoki, Łask County in Łódź Voivodeship *Patoki, Łowicz County in Łódź Voivodeship *Patoki, Podlaskie Voivodeship *Patoki, Pomeranian Voivodeship...

    , Popławy, Świrydy
    Swirydy
    Świrydy is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately north of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south-west of the regional capital Białystok....

    , Załuskie Koronne, Załuskie Kościelne
  • Part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Drohiczyn

St. Simeon Stylites - Polish Orthodox

  • Mission church of Church of the Apostles St. Peter and Paul in Malesze
    Malesze
    Malesze is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wyszki, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately west of Bielsk Podlaski and south of the regional capital Białystok....

  • Part of the Polish Orthodox Diocese of Warsaw-Bielsk

Nearby Attractions

  • Sanktuarium Matki Bożej Pojedniania w Hodyszewie (Our Lady of Hodyszewo Sanctuary) in Hodyzewo - 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) northwest
  • Ossoliński Palace in Rudka - 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) west

Notable people

  • Jan Klemens Branicki
    Jan Klemens Branicki
    Count Jan Klemens Branicki was a Polish nobleman, magnate and Hetman, Field Crown Hetman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1735 and 1752, and Great Crown Hetman between 1752 and 1771....

     - Polish Nobelman
  • Cezary Kosiński - Polish Actor
  • Ignatius Kapitsa-Milewski - Archivist and Author
  • Shimon Shkop
    Shimon Shkop
    Shimon Yehuda Hakohen Shkop was a rosh yeshiva in the Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah and in the Telshe yeshiva and a renowned Talmudic scholar. He was born in Torez in 1860. At the age of twelve he went to study in the Mir yeshiva, and at fifteen he went to Volozhin yeshiva where he studied six years...

     - Jewish Scholar and Rabbi (1906–1920)
  • Zofia Drzewiecka - Recipient of the Righteous among the Nations
    Righteous Among the Nations
    Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

     Medal
  • Waclawa and Pawel Sobolewski - Posthumous recipients of the Righteous among the Nations
    Righteous Among the Nations
    Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

     Medal
  • Antoni Sobolewski - Posthumous recipient of the Righteous among the Nations
    Righteous Among the Nations
    Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

     Medal
  • Aleksander Sobolewski - Posthumous recipient of the Righteous among the Nations
    Righteous Among the Nations
    Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

     Medal

Miscellanea

  • The Righteous among the Nations
    Righteous Among the Nations
    Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

     Medal has been granted to 14 current and former residents of Brańsk by Yad Vashem
    Yad Vashem
    Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....


External links

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