14 Facts About Podlachia

Podlachia, or Podlasie, is a historical region in the north-eastern part of Poland.

Some claim it to mean "under Polish rule", though in the Middle Ages Podlachia was only partially under Polish rule, and since 1446 until 1569 the area belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Podlachia is located along the middle stretch of the Bug River between Mazovia in the west, Polesia and Volhynia in the east, the Narew River in the north and the Chelm Land in the south.

The borders of Podlachia changed with time and was not the same as historical Podlaskie Voivodeship.

Podlachia is sometimes divided into two parts, which had different administrative subordination.

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Traditional capital of Podlachia is Drohiczyn that lies into northern and southern parts.

In 1446, Podlachia became part of the Grand Duchy, but since 1496 southwestern parts of Podlachia and since 1501 the northern part used Polish law instead of Lithuanian.

In 1566, the southeastern part of Podlachia became part of the newly formed Brest Litovsk Voivodeship as the Brest Litovsk County.

In 1807, the western part of Podlachia became part of the Duchy of Warsaw, a semi-independent Polish entity, while the eastern part including Bialystok fell under Russian rule.

In 1842 the northern Podlachia became part of Grodno Governorate, and the southern Podlachia was assigned to Congress Poland of Russian Empire.

Podlachia was hanged publicly by the Russians in Sokolow Podlaski in May 1865.

Many scientific researches prove that the orthodox population in Podlachia have Ukrainian origin, though today the number of people with the Ukrainian identity is very small.

In reaction to these measures, the Ruthenians of southern Podlachia began to identify themselves with the national movement of the Roman Catholic Poles.

Podlachia is the cultural center of Poland's small Tatar minority as well.