The Biała is a river in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The long Biała is a right tributary of the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

. It is the main river of the city of

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; ; , ; ) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 166,765 as of December 2022, making it the List of cities and towns in Poland#Largest cities and towns by population, 22nd largest city in Poland, and an a ...

and used to be historically important as a border river dividing not only Bielsko and Biała but also for several centuries the states of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

(succeeded by the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

) and

Geography

Two sources of the river are located on the north-east slopes of the Klimczok mountain in the Silesian Beskids on the elevation of around . The upper part the river, known as ''Białka'' (diminutive form of ''Biała''), has characteristics of a mountain stream. The first settlement it runs through is the village of Bystra. Before Mikuszowice it joins with ''Biała'' stream beginning on eastern slopes of Magura mountain in Little Beskids, then the river veers north and on the length of it forms a pivotal line of the city of Bielsko-Biała, afterward it flows in between

Czechowice-Dziedzice Czechowice-Dziedzice (), known until 1958 as Czechowice, is a town in Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. The town has 35,684 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It lies on the northeastern edge of the historical region of Cieszyn ...

to the west and Gmina Bestwina to the east, and empties to Vistula River on the elevation of .

Border river

In the 13th century both banks of the river belonged to the

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

n Duchy of Opole and Racibórz but the valley of the river was yet sparsely populated defining a natural border between

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

ies of

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Repu ...

and

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; ; ; ) is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rivers. Oświęcim dates back to the 12th century, when it was an im ...

and ecclesiastical border between dioceses of

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

and

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. In 1290, in the process of feudal fragmentation of Poland the Duchy of Cieszyn, encompassing both Cieszyn and Oświęcim and so also both banks of the river, was split from it. Roughly at that time several new settlements were established alongside the river, including foundation of the town of Bielsko. Mieszko I, Duke of Cieszyn, the first ruler of the duchy, died in 1315 and afterwards his sons divided its land into two parts alongside Biała River: diminished Duchy of Teschen to west and Duchy of Oświęcim to east. In the middle of the 15th century Duchy of Oświęcim was bought into the

Crown of the Kingdom of Poland The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (; ) was a political and legal concept formed in the 14th century in the Kingdom of Poland, assuming unity, indivisibility and continuity of the state. Under this idea, the state was no longer seen as the Pat ...

and so the river constituted henceforth the border between Polish and the Bohemian Crown (since 1526 part of the Habsburg Monarchy). Upon the

First Partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...

in 1772 the river ceased to be a state border and continued as a regional border between Austrian Silesia to the west and Galicia to the east. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the 1919 Polish–Czechoslovak War it separated the Polish part of

Cieszyn Silesia Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( ; or ; or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided betwe ...

in the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship from Lesser Polish Kraków Voivodeship.

References

Rivers of Poland Cieszyn Silesia Rivers of Silesian Voivodeship {{Poland-river-stub