Podlasie (Latin Podlachia) is a historical region in eastern part of Poland and western Belarus. It is located between Biebrza River (north) and its natural continuation to the south — Polesie area. Its old names are Podlasko, Podlasze, and Podlasia. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Biebrza is a river in north-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Narew river (near Wizna), with a length of 155 kilometres (28th longest) and the basin area of 7,057 sq. ... Polesie is one of the largest European swampy areas, located in the South-Western part of the Eastern-European Lowland, mainly within the territories of Belarus, Ukraine and partly also within Poland and Russia. ...

There are two opinions about the origin of the name. Some derive it from the word les, las, i.e., "forest" in Slavic languages, i.e., it is area near forest or area of forests, and in this sense Podlasie is synonymous with the adjacent Polesie. Other suggest that the terms comes from the expression "pod Lachem", i.e., "under the Poles", under the Polish rule. The latter version has a somewhat different explanation that the name originates from the times when the territory was within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Trakai province, along the borderline with the Kingdom of Poland, i.e., "pod Lachem" would mean "near" Poles. The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia. ... The presumable banner of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the coat of arms, called Пагоня in Belarusian, Vytis in Lithuanian and Pogoń in Polish Another version of the Lithuanian banner The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė, Belarusian: Вялі́кае Кня́ства Літо́ўскае (ВКЛ), Ukrainian: Велике Князівство Литовське (ВКЛ), Polish: Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie) was an... The castle in Trakai Trakai (Polish: Troki) is a town and lake resort in Lithuania, a part of Trakai national park territory and an administrative centre of the region. ...

At present the name of Podlasie is used especially for Polish part of the region, which is traditionally divided between North (north of Western Bug River) and South Podlasie. The northern part of Podlasie is included in Podlasie Voivodship. Bug at Wlodawa One of the two rivers called Bug (pronounced Boog), the Western Bug, or Buh (Belarusian: Захо́дні Буг; Russian: За́падный Буг; Ukrainian: Західний Буг, Zakhidnyi Buh), flows from central Ukraine to the west, forming part of the boundary between that nation and Poland, passes along the Polish-Belarusian... The Podlasie Voivodship (in Polish województwo podlaskie) is an administrative and local government region or voivodship of north-eastern Poland. ...

Major towns of this area:

• Białystok
• Biała Podlaska
• Brest
• Bielsk Podlaski
• Hajnówka

BiaÅ‚ystok (pronounce:   listen?, Belarusian: Беласток, Lithuanian: BalstogÄ—) is the largest city (pop. ... In Greek mythology, Bia (force) was the personification of force, daughter of Pallas and Styx. ... Brest (Belarusian: ; Russian: , formerly Брест-Литовск (Brest-Litovsk); in Polish as Brześć Litewski, Brześć nad Bugiem or Brześć BiaÅ‚oruski; Lithuanian: Lietuvos Brasta (literally meaning shallows of Lithuania) is a city (population 290,000 in 2004) in Belarus close to the Polish border where the Western Bug and Mukhavets Rivers meet. ... Bielsk Podlaski is a town in north-eastern Poland with 27,600 inhabitants (2004). ... Motto: The Gate to the Bialowieza Forest Voivodship Podlasie Municipal government The County of Hajnowka Mayor Anatol Ochryciuk Area 21 km2 population=23. ...

History

The Podlasie area was inhabited through history by various tribes of different ethnic roots. In the 9-10th centuries Podlasie was probably inhabited by Lechitic tribes in the south and Baltic (Sudovian) tribes in the north. Between the 10th and the 13th centuries this area was occupied by Ruthenian tribes speaking a form of proto-Ukrainian, probably from Volynia. Until the 14th century this area was part of Ruthenian states, later included into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1569, after the Union of Lublin, the western part of Podlasie was ceded to Poland. Southern Podlasie belonged to Lithuania until the Third Partition of Poland (1795). The Lechitic languages include three languages spoken in Central Europe, principally in Poland, and historically also in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, and Hither Pomerania, in the north-eastern region of modern Germany. ... The Baltic Sea The Balts or Baltic peoples (Latvian: balti, Lithuanian: baltai), defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between lower Vistula and upper Dvina and Dneper. ... Sudovian kurhan Sudovians are a subgroup of Baltic people, living at the left coast of river Nemunas, in the region known as Sudovia. ... Ruthenians is a name that has been applied to different ethnic groups at different times; for an explanation of the reasons for this, see Ruthenia. ... Volhynia (Wołyń in Polish; Волинь, Volyn’ in Ukrainian; also called Volynia, Volyň in Czech) comprises the historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Pripyat and Western Bug. ... Ruthenia is a name applied to parts of Eastern Europe which were populated by Eastern Slavic peoples, as well as to various states that existed in this territory in the past. ... The presumable banner of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the coat of arms, called Пагоня in Belarusian, Vytis in Lithuanian and PogoÅ„ in Polish Another version of the Lithuanian banner The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Didžioji KunigaikÅ¡tystÄ—, Belarusian: Вялі́кае Кня́ства Літо́ўскае (ВКЛ), Ukrainian: Велике Князівство Литовське (ВКЛ), Polish: Wielkie KsiÄ™stwo Litewskie) was an... The Union of Lublin, painted by Jan Matejko The Union of Lublin (Lithuanian: Liublino unija; Belarusian: Лю́блінская ву́нія; Polish: Unia lubelska) - signed on July 1, 1569 in Lublin, united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the official...

Ethnic situation

Until the 19th century Podlasie was populated by Poles and Jews (towns), Polish speaking gentry and Ruthenians - Orthodox and Uniate Catholics - speaking a dialect related to modern Ukrainian language - so called Khakhlak (Chachlak), from the derogatory name of Ukrainians, khakhol, khokhol, referring to their traditional haircut. In 19th century inhabitans of Podlasie found themselves in Russian Empire. Southern Podlasie formed a part of Russian controlled Congress Kingdom. After 1831 Russian authorities forbidden Uniate confession in Northern Podlasie and Eastern Rite disappeared from this area. In 1875 Russians forbidden this rite in southern Podlasie as well and all Uniate inhabitans were forced to accept Orthodox confession. But resistance of local people was surprisingly strong. Ruthenian speakers from this area never accepted Orthodox faith. As reaction to those measures Ruthenians of Podlasie began to identificate them with Polish national movement. Ruthenians is a name that has been applied to different ethnic groups at different times; for an explanation of the reasons for this, see Ruthenia. ... Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ... The term Eastern Rites may refer to the liturgical rites used by many ancient Christian Churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East that, while being part of the Roman Catholic Church, are distinct from the Latin Rite or Western Church. ... Ukrainian (украї́нська мо́ва, ukrayinska mova, ) is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. ... Khokhol (Russian: хохол—khokhol, khakhol), a Russian name for an element of the haircut: a long lock of hair left on top or on the front of the otherwise cleanly shaven or shortly cut mans hair. ... Street haircut in Harbin, China For humans, a haircut, hairstyle or hairdo normally describes cutting or styling head hair, rather than other body hair such as pubic, facial, or underarm hair. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... The term Congress Poland is an unofficial name of the Kingdom of Poland, a political entity that was created out of the Duchy of Warsaw at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, when European powers reorganised Europe following the Napoleonic wars. ... The term Eastern Rites may refer to the liturgical rites used by many ancient Christian Churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East that, while being part of the Roman Catholic Church, are distinct from the Latin Rite or Western Church. ...

In 1912 Russian authorities issued tollerance edict which made possible to change confession from Orthodox to Roman Catholic (but not to Eastern Rite). Majority of inhabitans of Southern Podlasie changed their confession from Orthodox to Roman Catholic and quickly assimilated themsevles with Poles. At present very few people continue speaking Ruthenian (Ukrainian) and almost all consider themselves as Poles. The counties along the border with Belarus are populated by Belarusians. There is a small Tatar minority as well. Ruthenian was a historic East Slavic language, spoken in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and after 1569 in the East Slavic territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... Historically, the term Tatar (or Tartar) has been ambiguously used by Europeans to refer to many different peoples of Inner Asia and Northern Asia. ...