Polonia is simply the Latin form of Poland. The southern part of this geocultural province centers on the Vistula River—the traditional heartland of the Polish people. Its northern part roughly includes today’s Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Most of this territory was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth which existed from the late 1300s to the late 1700s.
Boundaries
North: The Baltic Sea from the mouth of the Oder River east to the mouth of the Narva River on the Gulf of Finland.
To the north: Incognita (Scandinavia).
East: Polonia’s eastern boundary is only weakly defined by smaller rivers running roughly north and south along today’s national borders. While the boundary may be weakly defined, the religious differences on either side of it are profound. To the west of this boundary lie Latin Christendom and breakaway Protestantism; to the east, Greek Christendom.
(1) The Narva River from its mouth on the Gulf of Finland, Lake Peipsi, Velikaya River.
This boundary separates Protestant Estonia and Latvia from Orthodox Russia. Pskov is on the Russian side of the Velikaya River.
(2) Various tributaries of the Neman River running north and south.
To the east lies Slavia. When Napoleon led his army across the Neman in 1812, he was understood by all to have started an invasion of Russia. This boundary separates Catholic Lithuania from Orthodox Belarus.
(3) The Bug River from its headwaters east of Lviv to Brest. This separates Catholic Poland, and that small western portion of Ukraine with Greek Catholic churches, from Orthodox Ukraine and Belarus.
South: Dniester River due south of Bug River headwaters to the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains to the headwaters of the Morava River in eastern Czechia.
To the south: Dacia.
West: the Morava and Oder rivers.
To the west: Germania.
Major
cities
Primary: Warsaw
