Masovians, also spelled as Mazovians, and historically known as Masurians, is an ethnographic group of

Polish people Polish people, or Poles, are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation who share a common History of Poland, history, Culture of Poland, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Central Europe. The preamble t ...

that originates from the region of Masovia, located mostly within borders of the

Masovian Voivodeship Masovian Voivodeship or Mazowieckie Province (, ) and any variation thereof, is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, containing Poland's capital Warsaw. Masovian Voivodeship has an area of and had a 2019 po ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. They speak the Masovian dialect of Polish.G. Odoj, A. Peć: ''Dziedzictwo kulturowe – edukacja regionalna''. ("Cultural heritage – regional education"), Dzierżoniów: Wydawnictwo Alex, 2000, p. 74, , . The group originates from the Lechitic tribe of Masovians, first referenced in the historical records by Nestor the Chronicler in the 11th century. In the Polish census of 2021, 97 people declared Mazovian national identity.

Name

The name Masovian, in Polish, ''Mazowszanin'', comes from the name of the region of Masovia, in Polish known as ''Mazowsze''. The name of the region, comes from its Old Polish names ''Mazow'', and ''Mazosze'', and most likely came from word ''maz'' (ancestor word of modern ''maź'' and ''mazać''), which was used to either describe a "''muddy region''" or a "''person covered in mud''". Historically, prior to the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the population was known as ''Masurians'' (Polish: ''Mazurzy''). Currently, the name is exclusively associated with Masurians (historically known as ''Prussian Masurians''), another ethnic group related to Masovians, who inhabit nearby region of Masuria, while the population of Masovia is exclusively referred to as ''Masovians''.'' SGKP'', vol. 2. p. 458.

History

The group originate from the Lechitic tribe of Masovians, first referenced in the historical records by Nestor the Chronicler in the 11th century. The tribe inhabited an area in modern region of Masovia, centered on the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

river. They were originally of the Slavic paganism faith, prior to the christianization of Poland, begun in 10th century. The main settlements of the tribes were Ciechanów, Czersk, Łomża, Płock, Płońsk, and Wizna.

Ethnographic subgroups

There are several subgroups of Masovian people. They include Łowiczans, Poborzans, and Podlachians. Historically, they also included Międzyrzec Boyars.

Notes

References

{{Slavic ethnic groups (VII-XII century) Ethnic groups in Poland History of Mazovia Mazovia Masovian Voivodeship West Slavic tribes Slavic ethnic groups Lechites West Slavs