Lesser Poland - Geography and Boundaries

Geography and Boundaries

Lesser Poland lies in the upper confluence of the Vistula river and covers a large upland, including the Świętokrzyskie Mountains with Polish Jura further west, Lesser Polish Upland, Sandomierz Basin, and Lublin Upland. Unlike other historical parts of the country, such as Kujawy, Mazovia, Podlachia, Pomerania, or Greater Poland, Lesser Poland is mainly hilly, with Poland's highest peak, Rysy, located within borders of the province. Flat are northern and central areas of the province – around Tarnobrzeg, Stalowa Wola, Radom and Siedlce, also valleys of the main rivers – the Vistula, the Pilica, and the San. Apart from Rysy, there are several other peaks located in the province – Pilsko, Babia Góra, Turbacz, as well as Lysica in the Swietokrzyskie Mountains. Southern part of the province is covered by the Carpathian Mountains, which are made of smaller ranges, such as Pieniny, Tatry, and Beskidy.

Almost whole area is located in the Vistula Basin, with the exception of western and southern parts, belonging to the Odra and Dunaj Basins. Main rivers of the province are Vistula, upper Warta, Soła, Skawa, Raba, Dunajec, Wisłok, Wisłoka, San, Wieprz, Przemsza, Nida, Kamienna, Radomka, and Pilica. Major lakes of the province are: Rożnów Lake, Czchów Lake, Dobczyce Lake, Czorsztyn Lake, Czaniec Lake, Międzybrodzie Lake, Klimkówka Lake and Żywiec Lake. Most of them are man-made reservoirs.

Lesser Poland stretches from the Carpathians in the south to Pilica and Liwiec rivers to the north. It borders Mazovia to the north, Podlaskie to the northeast, Red Ruthenia to the east, Slovakia to the south, Silesia to the west, and Greater Poland to the northwest. Currently, the region is divided between Polish voivodeships – Lesser Poland Voivodeship (whole), Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (whole), Silesian Voivodeship (eastern half), Subcarpathian Voivodeship (western part), Masovian Voivodeship (southern part), Łódź Voivodeship (southeastern corner), and Lublin Voivodeship (western part).

In Silesian Voivodeship, the border between Silesia and Lesser Poland is easy to draw, because with few exceptions, it goes along boundaries of local counties. In the south, it goes along western boundary of ancient Duchy of Teschen, with the borderline along the Biala river, where Zwardoń, Milówka, and Rajcza are in Lesser Poland. Bielsko-Biała is a city made of two parts – Lesser Poland's Biala (also called Biala Krakowska), makes eastern half of the city, and only in 1951 it merged with Silesian Bielsko. Further north, the border goes along western boundaries of cities of Jaworzno, and Sosnowiec, along the Przemsza and Brynica rivers. Then it goes northwest, leaving Czeladź, Siewierz, Koziegłowy, Blachownia, Kłobuck and Krzepice within Lesser Poland. From Krzepice, the border goes eastwards, towards Koniecpol, and along the Pilica river, with such towns as Przedborz, Opoczno, Drzewica, Białobrzegi, and Kozienice within Lesser Poland. East of Białobrzegi, the boundary goes mainly along the Radomka river, to the Vistula. East of the Vistula, the boundary goes north of Łaskarzew and Żelechów, and south of Mazovian town of Garwolin, turning northwest. Extreme northern point of the province is marked by the Liwiec river, with both Siedlce, and Łuków being part of Lesser Poland. The line then goes south, with Miedzyrzec Podlaski being part of historical Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Radzyń Podlaski as well as Parczew left in Lesser Poland.

Between the Vistula and the Bug Rivers, eastern border of Lesser Poland goes west of Leczna, but east of Krasnystaw and Szczebrzeszyn, both of which historically belong to Red Ruthenia. Further south, Lesser Poland includes Frampol, and Biłgoraj, which lies in the southeastern corner on Lesser Poland's historical Lublin Voivodeship, close to the border with Red Ruthenia. The border then goes west of Biłgoraj, turning south, towards Lezajsk (which belongs to Red Ruthenia). Boundary between Lesser Poland and Red Ruthenia was described by Ukrainian historian and geographer Myron Korduba along the line Dukla – Krosno – Domaradz – Czudec – Krzeszów nad Sanem. Lesser Poland border towns were: Rudnik, Kolbuszowa, Ropczyce, Sedziszow Malopolski, Strzyżów, Jasło, Gorlice, and Biecz. Southern border of Lesser Poland goes along the Carpathian Mountains, and with minor changes, it has not changed for centuries. Cities of Leżajsk, Rzeszów, Sanok, Brzozów, and Krosno do not belong to historical Lesser Poland, as they are part of Red Ruthenia (Lwów Voivodeship).

Historically, Lesser Poland was divided into two lands - Kraków Land and Sandomierz Land, both of which emerged after the Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty. In the 14th century, Sandomierz Voivodeship and Kraków Voivodeship were created, and in 1474, Lublin Voivodeship was created of three Sandomierz Voivodeship counties. Historian Adolf Pawiński, who in the late 19th century was director of Polish Central Archives of Historical Records, estimated in his book "Polska XVI wieku pod względem geograficzno-statystycznym", that the size of Kraków Voivodeship was 19,028 km2. Sandomierz Voivodeship had the area of 25,762 km2., and Lublin Voivodeship - 11,033 km2. Together with the Duchy of Siewierz (607 km2.), and the parts of Spiš that belonged to Poland after the Treaty of Lubowla (1211 km2.), total area of Lesser Poland was 57,640 square kilometers. Apart from the three historic lands, Lesser Poland has other smaller regions, such as Podhale and Zagłębie Dąbrowskie.