Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

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

The administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the result of the long and complicated history of the framgentation of the Polish Kingdom and the 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 voivodeships (województwa). Each voivodeship was governed by a voivod (governor). Voivodeships 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 voivodeship 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
Coat of Arms for a Polish–
Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth
16th-century map of Europe by Gerardus Mercator.
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

Further information: Voivodeships of Poland#Polish voivodeships 1386–1795 and Voivodes of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

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

Map showing voivodeships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations
Map showing voivodeships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations
Voivodeships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations in 1635
Voivodeships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations in 1635

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Polish terms for country subdivisions
National  /  Urban  /  Rural voivodeship · powiat · gmina  /  dzielnica · osiedle  /  sołectwo · gromada
Historical prowincja · ziemia · księstwo · okręg · gubernia · departament · rejencja · jurydyka
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