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

, 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)

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

Publications

See also

References

External links