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Polish historic regions are regions that were related to a former Polish state, or are within present-day Poland, with or without being identified in its administrative divisions.

There are several historic and cultural regions in Poland that are called ethnographic regions. Their exact borders cannot be drawn, as the regions are not official political or administrative units. They are delimited by culture, such as country traditions, traditional lifestyle, songs, tales, etc. To some extent, the regions correspond to the zones of Polish language dialects. The correspondence, however, is by no means strict.

Historical lands of Poland against the background of modern administrative borders (names in Polish)

Historical regions within the current Polish state

Main article: Regions of Poland

The following historic regions within Poland's modern borders belonged to the Polish state during most of its existence, inhabited by a majority or a sizeable Polish- or Cashubian-speaking population, thus forming the core Polish territory:

Coat of arms of Greater Poland and the Kalisz Land
Coat of arms of Kuyavia
Coat of arms of Mazovia
Coats of arms of the Kraków, Lublin and Sandomierz lands, divisions of Lesser Poland
Coat of arms of Podlachia

Another group of territories constituted (either directly or as a fief) a part of the Polish state for varying amounts of time, ranging from an episode in the Middle Ages (e.g. Kłodzko Land, Lusatia) to several hundreds of years in the case of some, like Silesia and Warmia. Among them, only Warmia, Powiśle, southern Masuria, as well as Upper, Cieszyn and Eastern Lower Silesia retained sizeable Polish-speaking populations into the beginning of 20th century.

Coat of arms of Warmia
Coats of arms of Upper Lusatia and Lower Lusatia
Coat of arms of Silesia and Lower Silesia
Coat of arms of Kłodzko Land

Historical regions of former Polish states, currently entirely outside current Polish borders

Outside Poland are several historic regions which were once part of medieval Poland, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth or the Second Polish Republic. While these regions are important for Polish history, calling them Polish is in some cases controversial, as most of them, with the exceptions of Vilnius Region (Polish: Wileńszczyzna) in Dzūkija, as well as Grodno Region (Polish: Grodzieńszczyzna) in Dzūkija or Black Ruthenia, were either never or centuries ago predominantly populated by ethnic Poles and now lie beyond the borders of Poland. They are:

Coats of arms of Livonia and Samogitia during Polish rule
Coats of arms of Podolia and Volhynia during Polish rule

Further information: Curonian colonisation

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ^ Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom I (in Polish). Warszawa. 1880. p. 193.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Kołodziejczyk, Dariusz. Mówią wieki. "CZY RZECZPOSPOLITA MIAŁA KOLONIE W AFRYCE I AMERYCE?". (in Polish)
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