The Lemko Region (; pl, Łemkowszczyzna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) is an ethnographic area in southern
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
that has traditionally been inhabited by the
Lemko people. The land stretches approximately long and wide along the north side of the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretche ...
, following the
Polish-
Slovak border from the
Poprad River. In the East, the region is described as either terminating linguistically between the
Wisłok River Wisłok and
Osława Rivers, or ethnographically at the
Sanok River (depending on the author), where it meets the
Boyko
The Boykos ( uk, Бойки, Boiky; pl, Bojkowie; sk, Pujďáci), or simply Highlanders (верховинці, ''verkhovyntsi''), are an ethnolinguistic sub-group of Ukrainians located in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary, ...
region. Some even go so far as to consider it to extend south into the
Prešov Region
The Prešov Region, also Priashiv Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj, ; hu, Eperjesi kerület; uk, Пряшівський край) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 13 districts (okresy) and 666 municipalities, 23 o ...
, Slovakia.
Previously a frontier area under the nominal control of
Great Moravia
Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to ...
, the Lemko Region became part of Poland in
medieval Piast times. It was made part of the Austrian province of
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
due to the
First Partition of Poland in 1772.
Parts were briefly independent under the
Lemko-Rusyn Republic
Lemko-Rusyn People's Republic ( rue, Руска Народна Република Лемків, Ruska Narodna Respublika Lemkiv , Rusyn National Republic of Lemkos), often known also as the Lemko-Rusyn Republic, just the Lemko Republic, or the ...
and
Komancza Republic
The Komancza Republic, also known as the Eastern Lemko Republic, Vyslik Republic, and Lemko Republic, was a short-lived microstate, an association of thirty three Lemko villages, seated in Komańcza in the east of the Lemko Region, that existed ...
, and later annexed to Poland.
Most Lemkos in Poland were deported from their ancestral region as part of
Operation Vistula in 1946, and only a small part of them remains there today, the rest being scattered across the
Recovered Territories.
The landscape is typical of medium-height-mountain terrain, with ridges reaching and sometimes . Only small parts of the southern
Low Beskids and the northern
San river region have a low-mountain landscape. Even so, the region still occupies some of the lowest elevations in the
Carpathians
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretche ...
: most of the Low Beskids, the western part of the Middle Beskids, and the eastern fringe of the Western Beskids. Conversely, it also includes much of the higher elevations of the Carpathians within modern-day
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, which extend approximately to the Poprad River in the west (see:
Ruś Szlachtowska
Ruś Szlachtowska (''Shlakhtov Ruthenia'') was a name introduced in 1930s by Prof. Roman Reinfuss to denote the region surrounding the villages of Biała and Czarna Woda, Jaworki, and Szlachtowa in the Grajcarek valley in the Pieniny mountai ...
). A series of mountain passes along the
Torysa River
The Torysa (, hu, Tarca) is a river in eastern Slovakia. Its source is in the Levoča Mountains and it flows through the towns of: Lipany, Sabinov, Veľký Šariš, Prešov, and into the Hornád river near Nižná Hutka, southeast of Košice ...
and
Poprad River (
Tylych Pass ;
Dukla Pass
The Dukla Pass ( sk, Dukliansky priesmyk, pl, Przełęcz Dukielska, hu, Duklai-hágó, cz, Dukelský průsmyk; 502 m AMSL) is a strategically significant mountain pass in the Laborec Highlands of the Outer Eastern Carpathians, on the border b ...
, ; and
Łupków Pass
Łupków Pass or Lupkov Pass ( pl, Przełęcz Łupkowska, sk, Lupkovský priesmyk) is a significant mountain pass in the Carpathian Mountains on the border between Poland and Slovakia, and close to the western border of Ukraine. Its highest ...
, ) facilitate communication between Galician and Transcarpathian Lemkos.
Publications
*"Łemkowie Grupa Etniczna czy Naród"?,
he Lemkos: An Ethnic Group or a Nation? trans.
*"The Lemkos of Poland" - Articles and Essays, editor Paul Best and Jarosław Moklak
*"The Lemko Region, 1939–1947 War, Occupation and Deportation" - Articles and Essays, editor Paul Best and Jarosław Moklak, (avail. from: Inter-Ed, Inc, New Haven, CT)
See also
*
Muzeum Budownictwa Ludowego w Sanoku
The Rural Architecture Museum of Sanok ( pl, Muzeum Budownictwa Ludowego w Sanoku) is one of the biggest open-air museums in Poland. It was established in 1958 by Aleksander Rybicki and contains 200 buildings which have been relocated from differe ...
*
Lemko-Rusyn Republic
Lemko-Rusyn People's Republic ( rue, Руска Народна Република Лемків, Ruska Narodna Respublika Lemkiv , Rusyn National Republic of Lemkos), often known also as the Lemko-Rusyn Republic, just the Lemko Republic, or the ...
*
Komancza Republic
The Komancza Republic, also known as the Eastern Lemko Republic, Vyslik Republic, and Lemko Republic, was a short-lived microstate, an association of thirty three Lemko villages, seated in Komańcza in the east of the Lemko Region, that existed ...
*
Operation Vistula
References
External links
SFULO - World federation of Ukrainian Lemko UnionsLEMKY.COM - Lemkos Portallemko.org
{{Navbox_Rusyns
Eastern Carpathians
Geography of Slovakia
Regions of Poland
Historical regions in Slovakia
History of Galicia (Eastern Europe)
Ukrainian-speaking countries and territories
Lemko Region
Rusyn communities