Lemkivshchyna
Encyclopedia
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Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
--most of the Low Beskids
Low Beskids
The ', ', Low Beskids or Lower Beskids is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in the Outer Eastern Carpathians in southeastern Poland and northeastern Slovakia...
, the western part of the Middle Beskyd, and the eastern fringe of the Western Beskyd. It includes the higher elevations of the Carpathian
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
s of modern-day Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, extending to around the Poprad River
Poprad River
thumb|The Poprad by Spišská Belá in Kežmarok districtthumb|The Poprad forming the Polish-Slovakian borderThe Poprad is a river in northern Slovakia and southern Poland, and a tributary of the Dunajec River...
to the west, and extending to the east as far as the region around Sanok
Sanok
Sanok is a town in south-eastern Poland with 39,110 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. It's the capital of Sanok County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. Previously, it was in the Krosno Voivodeship and in the Ruthenian Voivodeship , which was part of the Lesser Poland province...
, where it meets the Boyko
Boyko
Boyko or Boiko are a distinctive group of Ukrainian highlanders or mountain-dwellers of the Carpathian highlands. The Boykos inhabited the central and the western half of the Carpathians in Ukraine, including the Dolynskyi and a part of the Rozhniativskyi Raions in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast ,...
region. The corresponding latitudes of the adjacent highlands of present-day Slovakia
Prešov Region
The Prešov Region is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It consists of 13 districts.-Geography:It is located in north-eastern Slovakia and has an area of 8,975 km². The region has diverse types of landscapes occurring in Slovakia, but mostly highlands and hilly lands dominate the...
are also included by some in the description of Lemko-land.
Previously a frontier area under the nominal control of Great Moravia
Great Moravia
Great Moravia was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe and lasted for nearly seventy years in the 9th century whose creators were the ancestors of the Czechs and Slovaks. It was a vassal state of the Germanic Frankish kingdom and paid an annual tribute to it. There is some controversy as...
, Lemkivshchyna became part of Poland in medieval Piast times. It was made part of the Austrian province of Galicia due to the First Partition of Poland
First Partition of Poland
The First Partition of Poland or First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. Growth in the Russian Empire's power, threatening the Kingdom of Prussia and the...
in 1772. Parts were briefly independent under the Lemko-Rusyn Republic
Lemko-Rusyn Republic
The Ruthenian National Republic of the Lemko People , often known as the Lemko Republic or the Lemko-Rusyn Republic, was founded in Florynka on 5 December 1918, in the aftermath of World War I, after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
, but later annexed to Poland.
After the deportation of Lemkos from the northern part of this area in 1946, only the southern section, southwest of the Carpathian Mountains, known as the Prešov
Prešov
Prešov Historically, the city has been known in German as Eperies , Eperjes in Hungarian, Fragopolis in Latin, Preszów in Polish, Peryeshis in Romany, Пряшев in Russian and Пряшів in Rusyn and Ukrainian.-Characteristics:The city is a showcase of Baroque, Rococo and Gothic...
region in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, has remained inhabited by Lemkos.
The landscape is typical of medium-height-mountain terrain, with ridges reaching 1,000 m and sometimes 1,300 m. Only small parts of southern Low Beskids
Low Beskids
The ', ', Low Beskids or Lower Beskids is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in the Outer Eastern Carpathians in southeastern Poland and northeastern Slovakia...
and the northern San river
San River
The San is a river in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, a tributary of the Vistula River, with a length of 433 km and a basin area of 16,861 km2...
region have a low-mountain landscape. A series of mountain passes along the Torysa River and Poprad River
Poprad River
thumb|The Poprad by Spišská Belá in Kežmarok districtthumb|The Poprad forming the Polish-Slovakian borderThe Poprad is a river in northern Slovakia and southern Poland, and a tributary of the Dunajec River...
—Tylych Pass (688 m), Dukla Pass
Dukla Pass
The Dukla Pass is a strategically significant mountain pass in the Laborec Highlands of the Outer Eastern Carpathians, on the border between Poland and Slovakia, and close to the western border of Ukraine....
(502 m), and Łupków Pass (657 m)—facilitate communications between Galician and Transcarpathian Lemkos.
See also
- Muzeum Budownictwa Ludowego w SanokuMuzeum Budownictwa Ludowego w SanokuMuzeum Budownictwa Ludowego w Sanoku, ', Sanok Open air museum is one of the biggest open air museums in Poland. It was established in 1958 by Aleksander Rybicki and contains 200 buildings which have been relocated from different areas of Sanok Land...
- Lemko-Rusyn RepublicLemko-Rusyn RepublicThe Ruthenian National Republic of the Lemko People , often known as the Lemko Republic or the Lemko-Rusyn Republic, was founded in Florynka on 5 December 1918, in the aftermath of World War I, after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
- Komancza RepublicKomancza RepublicThe Komancza Republic was an association of 30 Lemkos villages, founded in eastern Lemkivshchyna in Komańcza on 4 November 1918. It had a Ukrainiophile orientation, and planned to unite with the West Ukrainian National Republic. It was suppressed by the Polish government on 23 January 1919 during...
- Operation Vistula
Publications
- "Łemkowie Grupa Etniczna czy Naród"?, [The Lemkos: An Ethnic Group or a Nation?], trans. Paul Best :pl:Paul Best
- "The Lemkos of Poland" - Articles and Essays, editor Paul Best and Jarosław Moklak
- "The Lemko Region, 1939-1947 War, Occupation and Deportation" - Articles and Essays, editor Paul Best and Jarosław Moklak (avail. from: Inter-Ed, Inc, New Haven, CT)
- SFULO - World federation of Ukrainian Lemko Unions
- LEMKY.COM - Lemkos Portal
- Magazine "Lemkivshchyna"
- lemko.org