Polish historical regions

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.

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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 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:

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, Lubusz Land, Lusatia) to several hundreds of years in the case of 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.

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

Outside Poland are several historic regions which were once part of 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:

Further information: Curonian colonisation

Bibliography
  • Norman Davies, God's Playground: A History of Poland, vol. 1: The Origins to 1795; vol. 2: 1795 to the Present, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1981, ISBN 0-19-925339-0, ISBN 0-19-925340-4. Chapter two: "The Polish Land", pp. 23–52.

See also

References
  1. Kołodziejczyk, Dariusz. Mówią wieki. "CZY RZECZPOSPOLITA MIAŁA KOLONIE W AFRYCE I AMERYCE?". (in Polish)
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