About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Encyclopedia : A : AD : ADM : Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Outline of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with its major subdivisions as of 1619 superimposed on present-day national borders
Enlarge
Outline of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with its major subdivisions as of 1619 superimposed on present-day national borders

Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a result of the long and complicated history, including the impact of the framgentation of Polish Kingdom and union of Poland and Lithuania.

The lands that once belonged to the Commonwealth are now largely distributed among several Central and East European countries: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, with smaller pieces in Estonia, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova.

While the term "Poland" was also commonly used to denote this whole polity, Poland was in fact only part of a greater whole — the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which comprised primarily two parts:

The Crown in turn comprised two "prowincjas": Greater Poland and Lesser Poland. These and a third province, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were the only three regions that were properly termed "provinces." The Commonwealth was further divided into smaller administrative units known as voivodships (województwa). Each voivodship was governed by a voivod (governor). Voivodships were further divided into starostwa, each starostwo being governed by a starosta. Cities were governed by castellans. There were frequent exceptions to these rules, often involving the ziemia subunit of administration: for details on the administrative structure of the Commonwealth, see the article on offices in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Other notable regions of the Commonwealth often referred to, without respect to province or voivodship divisions, include:

Commonwealth borders shifted with wars and treaties, sometimes several times in a decade, especially in the eastern and southern regions.

Coat of Arms for a Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth
Enlarge
Coat of Arms for a Polish–
Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth
16th-century map of Europe by Gerardus Mercator.
Enlarge
16th-century map of Europe by Gerardus Mercator.

Thought was given at various times to the creation of a Duchy of Ruthenia, particularly during the 1648 Cossack insurrection against Polish rule in Ukraine. Such a Duchy, as proposed in the 1658 Treaty of Hadiach, would have been a full member of the Commonwealth, which would thereupon have become a tripartite Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth, but due to szlachta demands, Muscovite invasion, and division among the Cossacks, the plan was never implemented. For similar reasons, plans for a Polish-Lithuanian-Muscovite Commonwealth also were never realized, although during the Polish-Muscovite War (1605-1618) the Polish Prince (later, King) Władysław IV Waza was briefly elected Tsar of Muscovy.

The Crown had about double the population of Lithuania and five times the income of the latter's treasury. As with other countries, the borders, area and population of the Commonwealth varied over time. After the Peace of Jam Zapolski (1582), the Commonwealth had approximately 815,000 km² area and a population of 6.5 million. After the Truce of Deulino (1618), the Commonwealth had an area of some 1 million km² (990,000 km²) and a population of 10–11 million (including some 4 million Poles). In the 16th century, the Polish bishop and cartographer Martin Kromer published a Latin atlas, entitled Poland: about Its Location, People, Culture, Offices and the Polish Commonwealth, which was regarded as the most comprehensive guide to the country.

Kromer's works and other contemporary maps, such as those of Gerardus Mercator, show the Commonwealth as mostly plains. The Commonwealth's southeastern part, the Kresy, was famous for its steppes. The Carpathian Mountains formed part of the southern border, with the Tatra Mountain chain the highest, and the Baltic Sea formed the Commonwealth's northern border. As with most European countries at the time, the Commonwealth had extensive forest cover, especially in the east. Today, what remains of the Białowieża Forest constitutes the last largely intact primeval forest in Europe.

Contents

Voivodships of the Commonwealth

Note that some sources use the word palatinate instead of voivodship.

Map showing voivodships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations
Enlarge
Map showing voivodships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations

voivodships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations in 1635
Enlarge
voivodships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations in 1635


Current: Administrative division of Poland
Historical: Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
National: województwo | powiat | gmina
Rural: sołectwo | gromada
Urban: dzielnica | osiedle
Historical: prowincja | ziemia | księstwo | okręg | gubernia | departament | rejencja
[http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit] See also: List of terms for sub-national entities

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: