Podlaskie Voivodeship

Lore & Background

The voivodeship takes its name from the historic region of Poland called Podlasie, or in Latin known as Podlachia. There are two opinions regarding the origin of the region's name. People often derive it from the Proto-Slavic les or las, meaning 'forest', i.e., it is an area 'by the wood(s)' or an 'area of forests', which would bring Podlasie close in meaning to adjacent Polesia. This theory has been questioned, as it does not properly take into consideration the vowel shifts 'a' > 'e' > 'i' in various Slavic languages. However, this etymology was supported by the Polish linguist Bogumił Samuel Linde, who in his Dictionary of the Polish Language proposed that Podlasie was named for its proximity to dense forests, referring to it as 'a land near the forests'. He argued that the name could be linked to its geographical position and historical landscape. Heavily wooded Podlaskie is home to the primeval Białowieża Forest and National Park, the habitat of the European wisent bison. A second view holds that the term comes from the expression pod Lachem, i.e., 'under the Poles' (see: Lechia). Some claim it to mean 'under Polish rule', as the region was under Polish rule at various periods in the Middle Ages, although the area belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1466 until the 1569 Privilege of restoration of Podlasie land to the Polish Crown, however, the south-eastern part remained within Lithuania until 1795. A better variant of the latter theory holds that the name originates from the period when the territory was within the Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, along the border with Mazovia, primarily a fief of the Poland of the Piasts, and later part of the Kingdom of Poland. Hence pod Lachem would mean 'near the Poles', 'along the border with Poland'. The Lithuanian name of the region, Palenkė, has exactly this meaning.

Reader's Guide

Podlaskie has a varied landscape, shaped in the north by Baltic glaciation, the rest by Middle Poland glaciation. The highest peaks are in the north (Rowelska Top - 298 m), where the landscape is dominated by a hilly lake district. Lakeland: Zachodniosuwalskie, Wschodniosuwalskie, Ełckie) and Sandrowy lake district (Augustów Plain) in the central and southern pre-glacial plains prevail (plateaus: Kolneńska, Białystok, Wysokomazowiecka, Drohiczynska, Sokólskie Hills, Międzyrzecko łomżyński, Plain Bielsko), varied in topography with small basins and river valleys. Kurpie lies on the west edge of the outwash plains. Sand, gravel, clay, moraine, and in the valleys and basins of the rivers silt, sand and river peat predominate on the surface. The vast forests (Białowieża, Augustów, Knyszyń, Kurpiowska), some of which are the only ones in Europe to have retained their original character, contain a unique wealth of flora and fauna. The vegetation of the region is extremely diverse, which contributes to the richness of the animal world. Visitors can also see moose, wolves, lynx and bison living in the Białowieża Forest and Knyszyń Forest. Podlaskie has the lowest population density of the sixteen Polish voivodeships, and its largely unspoiled nature is one of its chief assets. Around 30% of the area of the voivodeship is under legal protection. The Polish part of the Białowieża Forest biosphere reserve (also a World Heritage Site) is in Podlaskie. There are four National Parks (Białowieża, Biebrza, Narew and Wigry), three Landscape Parks (Knyszyń Forest, Łomża and Suwałki), 88 nature reserves, and 15 protected landscape areas. The voivodeship constitutes a part of the ecologically clean area known as 'the Green Lungs of Poland'. Podlaskie has a Warm Summer Continental or Hemiboreal climate (Dfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system, which is characterized by warm temperatures during summer and long and frosty winters. It is substantially different from most of the other Polish lowlands. The region is one of the coldest in Poland, with the average temperature in January being -5 °C. The average temperature in a year is 7 °C. The number of frost days ranges from 50 to 60, with frost from 110 to 138 days and the duration of snow cover from 90 to 110 days. Mean annual rainfall values oscillate around 550 mm, and the vegetation period lasts 200 to 210 da

Did You Know?

• The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999, out of the former Białystok and Łomża Voivodeships and the eastern half of the former Suwałki Voivodeship.
• The Białowieża Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in Podlaskie and is home to the European wisent bison.
• Podlaskie has the lowest population density of the sixteen Polish voivodeships.
• Suwałki, a city in Podlaskie, is called 'The Polish North Pole' due to its coldest temperature average around Poland.