Province was the largest territorial subdivision in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

-era Poland, and later in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. The term designated each of the two largest constituents of the state: depending on the period, including

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

and (upon the formation of the Commonwealth) the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

Ducal Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

was often counted as part of the Greater Poland;

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the

Ruthenia ''Ruthenia'' is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin, as one of several terms for Rus'. Originally, the term ''Rus' land'' referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine. ''Ruthenia' ...

n territories were split between Lesser Poland and the Grand Duchy. Though larger than a

voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in ...

(''województwo''), the ''prowincja'' was less important in terms of offices and power. In most respects, it was merely a titular unit of administration. The real power lay with the voivodeship—and, to a lesser extent, with ''

ziemia Land is a historical unit of administration in Poland and Ruthenia. In the Polish language, the term is not capitalized (''ziemia chełmińska'', Chelmno Land; not ''Ziemia Chełmińska''). All ''ziemias'' are named after main urban centers (o ...

''s (lands). The Polish term "''prowincja''" has not been used to denote any part of independent Poland since the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1795)—unlike "''ziemia''", which has continued to be used for certain geographical areas. Since 1795, the Polish word "''prowincja''" has been used only for certain foreign-imposed units of administration within territories of the old

Notes

{{notelist Administrative divisions of Poland Types of administrative division

See also

Notes