The administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the result of the long and complicated history of the fragmentation of the Polish Kingdom and the union of Poland and Lithuania.
The lands that once belonged to the Commonwealth are now largely distributed among several Central, Eastern, and Northern European countries today: Poland (except western Poland), Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, most of Ukraine, parts of Russia, southern half of Estonia, and smaller pieces in Slovakia, Romania and Moldova.
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While the term "Poland" was also commonly used to denote this whole polity, Poland was in fact only part of a greater whole — the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which comprised primarily two parts:
The Crown in turn comprised two "prowincjas": Greater Poland and Lesser Poland. These and a third province, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were the only three regions that were properly termed "provinces." The Commonwealth was further divided into smaller administrative units known as voivodeships (województwa - note that some sources use the word palatinate instead of voivodeship). Each voivodeship was governed by a Voivode (governor). Voivodeships were further divided into powiat's (often translated as county) being governed by a starosta generalny or grodowy. Cities were governed by castellans. There were frequent exceptions to these rules, often involving the ziemia subunit of administration: for details on the administrative structure of the Commonwealth, see the article on offices in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Royal lands (królewszczyzna) further divided into starostwa, each starostwo being governed by a starosta niegrodowy.
By provinces, voivodships and lesser entities.
Crown of the Polish Kingdom or just colloquially the Crown (Polish: Korona) is the name for the territories under Polish direct administration in the times of Kingdom of Poland until the end of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795.
| Voivodeship after 1569 | Capital | Year established | Number of powiats (counties) | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bełz Voivodeship | Bełz | 1462 | 4 powiats | 9,000 |
| Bracław Voivodeship | Bracław | 1569 | 2 powiats | 31,500 |
| Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship | Brześć Kujawski | 14th century | 5 powiats | 3,000 |
| Chernihiv Voivodeship | Chernihiv | 1635 | 2 powiats | |
| Gniezno Voivodeship | Gniezno | 1768 | 3 powiats | 7,500 |
| Kalisz Voivodeship | Kalisz | 1314 | 6 powiats | 15,000 |
| Kiev Voivodeship | Kiev | 1471 | 3 powiats | 200,000 |
| Kraków Voivodeship | Kraków | 14th century | 4 powiats | 17,500 |
| Lublin Voivodeship | Lublin | 1474 | 3 powiats | 10,000 |
| Łęczyca Voivodeship | Łęczyca | 1772 | 3 powiats | 4,000 |
| Malbork Voivodeship | Malbork | 1466 | 4 powiats | 2,000 |
| Masovian Voivodeship | Warsaw | 1526 | 23 powiats | 23,000 |
| Podole Voivodeship | Kamianets-Podilskyi | 1434 | 3 powiats | 17,750 |
| Poznań Voivodeship | Poznań | 14th century | 4 powiats | 15,500 |
| Płock Voivodeship | Płock | 1495 | 8 powiats | 3,500 |
| Podlaskie Voivodeship | Drohiczyn | 1513 | 3 powiats | |
| Rawa Voivodeship | Rawa Mazowiecka | 1462 | 6 powiats | 6,000 |
| Ruthenian Voivodeship | Lviv | 1434 | 13 powiats | 83,000 |
| Sandomierz Voivodeship | Sandomierz | 14th century | 6 powiats | 24,000 |
| Sieradz Voivodeship | Sieradz | 1339 | 4 powiats | 10,000 |
| Volhynian Voivodeship | Lutsk | 1569 | 3 powiats | 38,000 |
Two important ecclesiastical entities with high degree of autonomy within the Crown of Poland were Duchy of Siewierz and Prince-Bishopric of Warmia.
Fiefs of Crown of Poland included the Lauenburg and Bütow Land and two condominiums (joint domain) with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Duchy of Livonia and Duchy of Courland and Semigallia.
Some enclaves in the Bohemian area of Spisz were also part of Poland (due to the Treaty of Lubowla).
Grand Duchy of Lithuania or just colloquially the Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuva) is the name for the territories under direct Lithuanian administration in the times of medieval sovereign Lithuanian statehood, and later until the end of common Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth statehood in 1795.
Just before the Union of Lublin (1569), four voivodeships (Kiev, Podlaskie, Bracław, and Wołyń) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were transferred to Polish Crown by direct order of Sigismund II Augustus and the Duchy of Livonia, that was acquired in 1561, became condominium (joint domain) of both Lithuania and Poland. Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was another condominium.
After 1569, Lithuania had eight voivodeships and one eldership remaining:
| Voivodeship after 1569 | Capital | Year established[1] | Number of powiats | Area (km²) in 1590[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brest Litovsk Voivodeship | Brest | 1566 | 2 powiats | 40,600 |
| Minsk Voivodeship | Minsk | 1566 | 3 powiats | 55,500 |
| Mstsislaw Voivodeship | Mstsislaw | 1566 | 1 powiat | 22,600 |
| Nowogródek Voivodeship | Navahrudak | 1507 | 3 powiats | 33,200 |
| Polotsk Voivodeship | Polotsk | 1504 | 1 powiat | 21,800 |
| Samogitian Eldership | Raseiniai | 1411 | 1 powiat | 23,300 |
| Trakai Voivodeship | Trakai | 1413 | 4 powiats | 31,100 |
| Vilnius Voivodeship | Vilnius | 1413 | 5 powiats | 44,200 |
| Vitebsk Voivodeship | Vitebsk | 1511 | 2 powiats | 24,600 |
One of the oldest Lithuanian territories, the Duchy of Samogitia, had a status equal to that of a voivodeship, but retained the name of a Duchy.
After the Livonian War (1558–1582), Lithuania acquired vassal state Duchy of Courland with capital in Jelgava.
The Duchy of Prussia was a duchy in the eastern part of Prussia from 1525–1701. In 1525 during the Protestant Reformation, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Albert, secularized the order's Prussian territory, becoming Albert, Duke of Prussia. His duchy, which had its capital in Königsberg (Kaliningrad), was established as a fief of the Crown of Poland.
The Duchy of Livonia [3] was a territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania — and later a joint domain (Condominium) of the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia is a duchy in the Baltic region that existed from 1562 to 1791 as a vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1791 it gained full independence, but on March 28, 1795, it was annexed by the Russian Empire in the third Partition of Poland.
Thought was given at various times to the creation of a Duchy of Ruthenia, particularly during the 1648 Cossack insurrection against Polish rule in Ukraine. Such a Duchy, as proposed in the 1658 Treaty of Hadiach, would have been a full member of the Commonwealth, which would thereupon have become a tripartite Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth, but due to szlachta demands, Muscovite invasion, and division among the Cossacks, the plan was never implemented.
For similar reasons, plans for a Polish-Lithuanian-Muscovite Commonwealth also were never realized, although during the Polish-Muscovite War (1605-1618) the Polish Prince (later, King) Władysław IV Waza was briefly elected Tsar of Muscovy.
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