Prowincja

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For the album of this title, see Prowincja (album).

Polish voivodships, ca. 1619

A prowincja (plural: prowincje), or province, was the largest territorial subdivision in Poland, and later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The history of these "provinces" dates to the period of Poland's fragmentation and to Casimir III's statuty wiślicko-piotrkowskie (1347). Following the Union of Lublin (1569), the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was divided into three provinces:

Greater Poland Province (prowincja wielkopolska), comprising Greater Poland proper, Royal Prussia, Masovia, and Łęczyca and Sieradz Voivodeships, with the Province capital being Poznań;

Lesser Poland Province (prowincja małopolska), comprising Lesser Poland proper, Podlachia, Ruthenian Voivodeship, Volhynia, Podolia, Kiev Voivodship and Czernihów Voivodeship, with the Province capital being Kraków; and the
Lithuanian Province (prowincja litewska), comprising Lithuania proper, Samogitia, Livonia, Belarus and Smoleńsk Voivodeship, with the Province capital being Wilno (now Vilnius).

The Greater Poland and Lesser Poland Provinces constituted the "Crown," i.e. the "Crown of the Polish Kingdom." The Lithuanian Province was coterminous with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

A prowincja, though larger than a voivodship, was much less important in terms of offices and power. In most respects, a prowincja was merely a titular unit of administration; the real power lay with the voivodeships (and to a lesser extent, with ziemias).

The 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 been used for certain geographical regions. Since 1795, "prowincja" has been used only for certain foreign-imposed units of administration within territories of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

English texts sometimes refer to Polish voivodeships as "provinces," which may lead to confusion as to whether an English text is referring to the Polish "prowincja" or to the Polish "województwo." This confusion may be obviated by rendering the old Polish "prowincja" in English as "Region" ("Greater Poland Region," "Lesser Poland Region," "Lithuanian Region").