Suwałki Region ( pl, Suwalszczyzna ; lt, Suvalkų kraštas, Suvalkija, russian: cувалкщина, german: Sudauen) is a small region around the city of
Suwałki
Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki i ...
(known in Lithuanian as ''Suvalkai'') in northeastern
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
near
the border with
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
. It encompasses the
powiats
A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powia ...
of
Augustów
Augustów (; lt, Augustavas, formerly known in English as ''Augustovo'' or ''Augustowo'')" is a city in north-eastern Poland with 29,729 inhabitants as of December 2021. It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. It is situated in the ...
,
Suwałki
Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki i ...
, and
Sejny
Sejny ( lt, Seinai) is a town in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Sejny County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the northern border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area ( pl, Pojezier ...
, and roughly corresponds to the southern part of the former
Suwałki Governorate
Suwałki Governorate (russian: Сувалкская губерния, pl, gubernia suwalska, lt, Suvalkų gubernija) was a guberniya, governorate (administrative area) of Congress Poland ("Russian Poland") which had its seat in the city of Suwał ...
. The region was disputed between Poland and Lithuania after their re-emergence as independent states following
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. This dispute along with the
Vilnius question was the cause of the
Polish-Lithuanian War and the
Sejny Uprising. The area has been subsequently part of Poland until today, with the exception of the
German and Soviet occupation during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The Suwałki Region remains as the center of the
Lithuanian minority in Poland The Lithuanian minority in Poland consists of 8,000 people (according to the Polish census of 2011) living chiefly in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (mainly in Gmina Puńsk), in the north-eastern part of Poland. The Lithuanian embassy in Poland notes th ...
.
History
The
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
era ushered in the first settled agricultural communities in the area of present-day Poland, whose founders had migrated from the
Danube River
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
area beginning about 5500 BC. Later, the native post-
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
populations would also adopt and further develop the agricultural way of life (between 4400 and about 2000 BC). During the
Antiquity and the
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
, the northeast corner of what is now Poland was populated by
West Baltic tribes. They were at the outer limits of any substantial cultural influence from the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
.
Middle Ages
After the local
Yotvingians
Yotvingians (also called: Sudovians, Jatvians, or Jatvingians; Yotvingian: ''Jotvingai''; lt, Jotvingiai, ; lv, Jātvingi; pl, Jaćwingowie, be, Яцвягі, ger, Sudauer) were a Western Baltic people who were closely tied to the Old Prus ...
were eradicated or
Germanized
Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In ling ...
by the
Teutonic Order
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
in the 14th century, their southern lands were repopulated by
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
,
Belarusians
, native_name_lang = be
, pop = 9.5–10 million
, image =
, caption =
, popplace = 7.99 million
, region1 =
, pop1 = 600,000–768,000
, region2 =
, pop2 ...
, and
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
, while their northern territories (
Suvalkija
Suvalkija or Sudovia ( lt, Suvalkija or ''Sūduva'') is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija (Suvalkijans, Suvalkians) are called (plural) or (singular) in Lithu ...
) remained largely void of settlement until the 16th century when
Lithuanians
Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Uni ...
began to migrate into the area.
Early modern era
The region belonged (either fully or partially) to the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
(within the
Polish–Lithuanian union Polish–Lithuanian can refer to:
* Polish–Lithuanian union (1385–1569)
* Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795)
* Polish-Lithuanian identity as used to describe groups, families, or individuals with histories in the Polish–Lithuanian ...
) until 1569, and afterwards it was divided between the Grand Duchy and the
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland
The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, includ ...
, both forming the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
.
19th century
![Lithuania-1867-1914-EN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Lithuania-1867-1914-EN.svg)
Following the
Third Partition of Poland
The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polish ...
, the whole region belonged to the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
from 1795 to 1807, and then subsequently to the
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...
from 1808 to 1815.
In 1815 the Suwałki Region became part of
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
, a state which was tied by
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
to Russia and absorbed by the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
in the aftermath of the
November Uprising
The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution,
was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...
. The
Suwałki Governorate
Suwałki Governorate (russian: Сувалкская губерния, pl, gubernia suwalska, lt, Suvalkų gubernija) was a guberniya, governorate (administrative area) of Congress Poland ("Russian Poland") which had its seat in the city of Suwał ...
, according to a Russian census conducted during the 1880s, was majority (about 58%) Lithuanian. Most of its territory is now part of Lithuania, with only three
uyezds
An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...
(Augustów, Suwałki, and Sejny) partially located in Poland.
The
1897 Russian Census
The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897 ( pre-reform Russian: ) was the first and only nation-wide census performed in the Russian Empire (the Grand Duchy of Finland was excluded). It recorded demographic data as ...
recorded the linguistic composition of local towns:
*
Augustów
Augustów (; lt, Augustavas, formerly known in English as ''Augustovo'' or ''Augustowo'')" is a city in north-eastern Poland with 29,729 inhabitants as of December 2021. It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. It is situated in the ...
– Polish (46.2%), Jewish (28.5%), Russian (18.7%), Lithuanian (0.2%);
*
Suwałki
Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki i ...
– Polish (38.7% ), Jewish (32.9%), Russian, (21.6%), Lithuanian (0.5%);
*
Sejny
Sejny ( lt, Seinai) is a town in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Sejny County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the northern border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area ( pl, Pojezier ...
– Jewish (50.8%), Polish (40.4%), Lithuanian (4.2%), Russian (2.5%).
The three corresponding uyezds (counties) had the following population (by language):
* Augustów Uyezd – Polish (49.1%), Belarusian (32.5%), Jewish (11.6%), Russian (5.4%), Lithuanian (0.2%);
* Suwałki Uyezd – Polish (66.8%), Jewish (11.3%), Lithuanian (8.5%), Russian (7.9%), German (4.3%);
* Sejny Uyezd – Lithuanian (59.6%), Polish (22.9%), Jewish (11.8%), Russian (4.4%), German (1.2%).
The town of Sejny was located on the Polish-Lithuanian
ethno-linguistic
Ethnolinguistics (sometimes called cultural linguistics) is an area of anthropological linguistics that studies the relationship between a language and the nonlinguistic cultural behavior of the people who speak that language.
__NOTOC__
Examples ...
boundary.
[
]
World War I
During World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the region was captured by the German army and incorporated into Ober Ost
, short for ( "Supreme Commander of All German Forces in the East"), was both a high-ranking position in the armed forces of the German Empire as well as the name given to the occupied territories on the German section of the Eastern Front of ...
. According to the German census of 1916, Poles constituted 86.6% of the inhabitants in the Augustów Kreis (district) and 74.2% in the Suwałki Kreis; Lithuanians accounted for 0.3% and 9.6% respectively. The Sejny Kreis had a Lithuanian majority of 51%, while Poles made up 43.3% of the population.
Interwar period
Poland's sovereignty was restored
''Restored'' is the fourth
studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings.
Track listing
Standard release
Enhanced edition
Deluxe gold edition
Standard ...
in the wake of World War I, but its eastern borders were not settled. The Suwałki Region was claimed by re-established independent Lithuania based on cultural heritage and later 1920 peace treaty with Soviet Russia.
In November 1918, the German forces allowed the establishment of Polish civilian administration in the form of the Provisional Citizens' Council ( pl, Tymczasowa Rada Obywatelska Okręgu Suwalskiego, TROOS). They also permitted elections to the Polish Legislative Sejm, which took place on 16 February 1919. Nevertheless, the German military saw further strengthening of Polish aspirations as disadvantageous and in March 1919 handed control over the area to the Lithuanian Taryba
The Council of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Taryba, german: Litauischer Staatsrat, pl, Rada Litewska), after July 11, 1918 the State Council of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Valstybės Taryba) was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place betwe ...
. In May 1919, units of the Lithuanian army joined German troops in Suwałki and Sejny.
In July 1919, the Entente ordered the German army to leave the Suwałki Region, and adopted the Foch Line as a temporary demarcation line
{{Refimprove, date=January 2008
A political demarcation line is a geopolitical border, often agreed upon as part of an armistice or ceasefire.
Africa
* Moroccan Wall, delimiting the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara from the Sahrawi- ...
between Poland and Lithuania. The line left on the Polish side: the counties of Suwałki and Augustów, the town of Sejny, and four communes (gmina
The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...
s) of the Sejny county: Krasnopol, Krasnowo, Berżniki, and Giby.
The Lithuanian army left the region in July–August 1919 (after the Entente's decision and the Sejny Uprising) and returned again, a year later, during the Polish Army's retreat from advancing Soviets. In September 1920, the Poles forced the Lithuanians to withdraw behind the Foch Line.
The Foch line coincided approximately with the eastern ethnic boundary of Lithuania and evolved into the future Polish–Lithuanian border, which was internationally recognized in 1923 (while being rejected by the Lithuanian government). A small ethnically Lithuanian area (north of Sejny (Lithuanian: Seinai) and around Puńsk (Lithuanian: Punskas)) was left under Polish control. The Suwałki section of the Polish–Lithuanian border remained unchanged after World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
During the Interwar
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
period, the Lithuanian authorities claimed that the region consisted of three counties (see administrative divisions of Lithuania
This article is about the administrative divisions of Lithuania.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1251–1569)
In the earliest stages of the formation of the Lithuanian state, the area included several "lands" (Lithuanian: plural – ', singular – ' ...
), that were illegally occupied by Poland. These included:
* ''Augustavo Apskritis'' based in the town of Augustów
Augustów (; lt, Augustavas, formerly known in English as ''Augustovo'' or ''Augustowo'')" is a city in north-eastern Poland with 29,729 inhabitants as of December 2021. It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. It is situated in the ...
( lt, Augustavas);
* ''Suvalkų Apskritis'' formed around the city of Suwałki
Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki i ...
( lt, Suvalkai);
* ''Seinų Apskritis'' centered on the town of Sejny
Sejny ( lt, Seinai) is a town in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Sejny County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the northern border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area ( pl, Pojezier ...
( lt, Seinai).
The aforementioned units roughly correspondended to the actual administrative division of the area into powiat
A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powia ...
s of Augustów, Suwałki and Sejny of the Białystok Voivodeship of Poland, respectively. The region was the least economically developed part of Poland in the interwar period.
World War II
Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
, which started World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in September 1939, most of the Suwałki Region was annexed by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and adjoined to the province of East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
, while a small part with the town of Lipsk :''Lipsk is also the old Slavonic form of the name of Leipzig in Germany.''
Lipsk , (also pl, Lipsk nad Biebrzą; lt, Liepinė; yi, ליפּסק נאַד בּיבּג'ו) is a town in Augustów County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,520 ...
was occupied by the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
until 1941. Under German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
, the Polish population was subjected to the genocidal ''Intelligenzaktion
The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders which was committed against the Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) early in the ...
'' campaign, which included mass arrests, massacres, deportations to forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
and concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
, and expulsions, while in the Soviet-occupied part the Russians carried out deportations of Poles into the USSR. In April 1940, the Germans carried out mass deportations of local Polish intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...
to concentration camps, including Soldau, Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...
and Dachau.
Modern period
After World War II, Poland regained control over the territory. The area was administratively part of the Białystok Voivodeship until 1975, then the Suwałki Voivodeship
Suwałki Voivodeship () was an administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998. In 1999 the Voidvodeship was divided in half and reassigned to two other Voivodeships – the eastern half to Podlaskie Voivodeship and the we ...
until 1998, and since 1999 it is located in the Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship or Podlasie Province ( pl, Województwo podlaskie, ) is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. The name of the province and its territory correspond to the historic region of Podlachia. The capital and largest cit ...
.
The area is still inhabited by the Lithuanian minority. Lithuanians are concentrated in the Sejny County where they accounted for 20.2% of the population in 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
and exceeded 10% of the inhabitants in two communes – Gmina Puńsk
__NOTOC__
Gmina Puńsk ( lt, Punsko valsčius) is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Sejny County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, on the Lithuanian border. Its seat is the village of Puńsk, which lies approximately north- ...
(73.4%) and Gmina Sejny
__NOTOC__
Gmina Sejny, is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Sejny County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, on the Lithuanian border. Its seat is the town of Sejny, although the town is not part of the territory of the gm ...
(15.5%). There are Lithuanian schools and cultural societies present in the Suwałki region and the Lithuanian language is spoken in the offices in the commune of Puńsk.
Countryside
The Suwałki Region has many lakes and forests and is considered a relatively undeveloped region in Poland.
Towns:
* Suwałki
Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki i ...
* Augustów
Augustów (; lt, Augustavas, formerly known in English as ''Augustovo'' or ''Augustowo'')" is a city in north-eastern Poland with 29,729 inhabitants as of December 2021. It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. It is situated in the ...
* Sejny
Sejny ( lt, Seinai) is a town in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Sejny County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the northern border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area ( pl, Pojezier ...
* Lipsk :''Lipsk is also the old Slavonic form of the name of Leipzig in Germany.''
Lipsk , (also pl, Lipsk nad Biebrzą; lt, Liepinė; yi, ליפּסק נאַד בּיבּג'ו) is a town in Augustów County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,520 ...
Forests:
* Augustów Primeval Forest
Augustów Primeval Forest or Augustów Forest ( pl, Puszcza Augustowska, lt, Augustavo giria, be, Аўгустоўская пушча) is a large virgin forest complex located in Poland, as well as in northern Belarus and southeastern Lithuan ...
* Romincka Forest
Romincka Forest ( pl, Puszcza Romincka, lt, Romintos giria), also known as Krasny Les (russian: Красный лес) or Rominte Heath (german: Rominter Heide), is an extended forest and heath landscape stretching from the southeast of Russian ...
Lakes:
* Hańcza
* Wigry Lake
Wigry ( lt, Vygriai, Vingriai) is a lake located in north-eastern part of Poland, in Podlaskie Voivodeship.
Wigry lake is situated in the forests of the Augustów Wilderness – trees grow on about 80% of its shoreline. There are 19 smaller ...
* Kojle
Parks:
* Biebrza National Park ''
, iucn_category = II
, photo = Poland Biebrza Burzyn.jpg
, photo_caption = Biebrza River at Burzyn, Poland
Park logo with Ruff
, location = Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland
, nearest_city = Osowiec-Twierdza
, map = Poland , relief = 1
, m ...
* Puszcza Romincka Landscape Park
Puszcza Romincka Landscape Park (''Park Krajobrazowy Puszczy Rominckiej'') is a protected area ( Landscape Park) in northern Poland, established in 1998, covering an area of . It takes its name from the Puszcza Romincka or Romincka Forest.
The ...
* Suwałki Landscape Park
Suwałki Landscape Park (''Suwalski Park Krajobrazowy'') is a protected area ( Landscape Park) in north-eastern Poland, established in 1976, covering an area of .
The area of the park is 6337.66 ha, of which approximately 60% is arable land, 10% ...
* Wigry National Park ''
, iucn_category = II
, photo =Poland Wigry Lake.jpg
, photo_caption = Wigry Lake at sunset
Park logo with Eurasian beaver
, location = Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland
, nearest_city = Suwałki
, map = Poland , relief = 1
, map_caption = ...
See also
* Lithuanians in Poland The Lithuanian minority in Poland consists of 8,000 people (according to the Polish census of 2011) living chiefly in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (mainly in Gmina Puńsk), in the north-eastern part of Poland. The Lithuanian embassy in Poland notes ...
Notes
''a'' The Polish term ''Suwalszczyzna'' was formed in the second half of the 19th century to describe the territory of the Suwałki Governorate
Suwałki Governorate (russian: Сувалкская губерния, pl, gubernia suwalska, lt, Suvalkų gubernija) was a guberniya, governorate (administrative area) of Congress Poland ("Russian Poland") which had its seat in the city of Suwał ...
. In its narrowest sense, it may also refer to the area of the Suwałki powiat.
''b'' Parts of the Augustów powiat
A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powia ...
(including the area of modern town of Augustów) belonged, with some breaks, to Mazovia
Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...
(from the mid-13th c. to 1409). After 1569, Augustów was transferred to the Crown and absorbed by the Augustów starostwo ( pl, starostwo augustowskie).
''c'' Buchowski gives the following data: Lithuanians – 60%, Poles – 20%, Jews – 16%, Germans – 3%, Russians – 1%.
''d'' TROOS encompassed the counties of Augustów, Suwałki, and Sejny.
''e'' Most of the Sejny county (10 out of 14 communes) remained on the Lithuanian side of the line.
''f'' Puńsk
Puńsk ( lt, Punskas) is a village in the Podlaskie Voivodeship in northeastern Poland, seat of the Gmina Puńsk in the Sejny County. It is located only from the border with Lithuania.
History
Early history
The oldest traces of humans in Pu ...
had a Jewish majority in the late 19th century and was inhabited mainly by Jews in the interwar period.[ Today both Puńsk][ and ]Gmina Puńsk
__NOTOC__
Gmina Puńsk ( lt, Punsko valsčius) is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Sejny County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, on the Lithuanian border. Its seat is the village of Puńsk, which lies approximately north- ...
have Lithuanian majorities.[Lithuanian Embassy in Poland]
Najwięcej Litwinów zamieszkuje w gminie Puńsk, gdzie stanowią oni około 80 proc. mieszkańców.
''g'' According to the Polish census of 2002 Polish census of 2002 ( pl, Narodowy Spis Powszechny 2002) was a census in Poland taken from 21 May to 8 June 2002.
Results
*96% of surveyed declared Polish ethnicity; 1,23% other and 2,03% gave no answer.
Population by voivodeships
Source:
Si ...
, 90% of Lithuanians lived in the areas close to the Polish-Lithuanian border and nearly 60% of them resided in Gmina Puńsk. The 2011 census, which allowed respondents to declare double national and ethnic identity, found that 49% of the people who declared Lithuanian nationality (either as their first or second identity) lived in Gmina Puńsk and Gmina Sejny (3,846 out of 7,863).[
]
References
Sources
*Simas Sužiedēlis, ''Encyclopedia Lituanica'', J. Kapočius 1978
*Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999'', Yale University Press 2003, page 33
*United States Congress Select Committee on Communist Aggression, ''Baltic States: A Study of Their Origin and National Development'', WS Hein 1972, page 71
See also
*Demographics of Poland
The demographics of Poland constitute all demographics, demographic features of the population of Poland, including population density, Ethnic group, ethnicity, education level, the health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, ...
* Polish-Lithuanian War
*Suwałki County
__NOTOC__
Suwałki County ( pl, powiat suwalski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland, on the Lithuanian border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of ...
*Vilnius Region
Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time.
The territory ...
External links
English language information site about Suwalszczyzna for visitors
Dawna Suwalszczyzna
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suwalki Region
Historical regions in Poland
Lithuania–Poland relations
Regions of Europe