Warmia (Polish: Warmia or Warmija, Latin Warmia or Varmia, German Ermland or Ermeland) is a region between Pomerania and Masuria in north-eastern Poland. Together with Masuria it forms the Warminsko-Mazurskie Voivodship. It is located in a border area which has been under the rule of many different rulers from several countries over its long history; the most notable of these rulers were those of the Teutonic Knights, Poland and the Kingdom of Prussia.

To the west of Warmia is Pomesania, to the south Culmland (Ziemia Chelminska), Sassinia and Galindia (later called Masuria) and to the east Sambia. In the north it borders the Vistula Bay.

In the 13th century, most of the Prussian region, including Warmia, was conquered by the Teutonic Knights. They had received the reins of government from the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1228. The grant was confirmed by papal bull in 1234. Nevertheless, Poland never recognized the rights of the order to rule the country.

Warmia was one of four dioceses created in 1242 by the papal legate William of Modena.

Nicolaus Copernicus is the most famous inhabitant of Warmia, who spend most of his life in Frombork.

Second Treaty of Thorn (1466) removed Warmia from the protectorate of by the Teutonic Knights and placed it under the sovereignty of the King of Poland. This was confirmed in the Treaty of Piotrkow (December 7, 1512), which conceded to the King of Poland a limited influence in the election of bishops.

Between the 13th and centuries Warmia as well as other parts of Prussia were colonised by German (north) and Polish (south) settlers. The bishopric was a part of a Polish province of the church and bishops at times Poles, or as in the case of Enneo Piccolomino an Italian.

At the time of the 1772 Partitions of Poland Warmia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia. The last bishop, Ignacy Krasicki, a Polish writer as well as a Prince-Bishop, was nominated to Gniezno Archbishopric.

Since that time it shares the history of East Prussia, with the exception that the people of that region remained Catholic. Northern Warmia population used high German language (in opposition to neighbouring areas of East Prussia), while the south was populated by Warmiaks.

In 1945 Warmia was de facto included within borders of post-war Poland, as a result of the decisions of the Potsdam Conference. The governments of the two German states accepted Germany's post-war eastern border finally de jure in the prelude to the 1990 reunification. Today Warmia is part of the administrative region Warmia i Mazury.

See also

• Bishopric of Warmia