# Polesia

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Natural and historical region of Central and Eastern Europe

"Polesie" redirects here. For other uses, see [Polesie (disambiguation)](/source/Polesie_(disambiguation)).

"Polissya" redirects here. For other uses, see [Polissya (disambiguation)](/source/Polissya_(disambiguation)).

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding articles in Ukrainian, Polish and Belarusian. (March 2025) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must follow the LLM translation guideline, revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 330 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Ukrainian Wikipedia article at [[:uk:Полісся]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|uk|Полісся}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Natural and historical region

Polesia Палессе • Полісся Polesie Natural and historical region Left to right: Ubort River near the city of Olevsk, Ukraine Pinsk Homel Polesian Lowland marked in dark green Countries Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine Largest city Homel

**Polesia**, also called **Palessie**, **Polissia** or **Polesie**,[a] is a natural (geographic) and [historical region](/source/Historical_region) in [Eastern Europe](/source/Eastern_Europe) within the [East European Plain](/source/East_European_Plain), including the [Belarus–Ukraine](/source/Belarus%E2%80%93Ukraine_border) [border region](/source/Border_region) and part of eastern [Poland](/source/Poland).[2] This region should not be confused with parts of [Russia](/source/Russia) also traditionally [called "Polesie"](#See_also).[3]

## Extent

One of the largest forest areas on the continent, Polesia is located in the southwestern part of the [Eastern-European Lowland](/source/Eastern-European_Lowland), the [Polesian Lowland](/source/Polesian_Lowland). On the western side, Polesia includes the crossing of the [Bug River](/source/Bug_River) valley in [Poland](/source/Poland) and the [Pripyat River](/source/Pripyat_River) valley of [Western Ukraine](/source/Western_Ukraine).[4] The westernmost part of the region, located in Poland and around [Brest, Belarus](/source/Brest%2C_Belarus), historically also formed part of the historic region of [Podlachia](/source/Podlachia), and is also referred to as such. The modern Polish part was not considered part of Polesia by the late 19th-century *[Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland](/source/Geographical_Dictionary_of_the_Kingdom_of_Poland)*, which defined the region as roughly a triangle between the cities of Brest in the west, [Mogilev](/source/Mogilev) in the northeast and [Kyiv](/source/Kyiv) in the southeast.[5]

The swampy areas of central Polesia are known as the [Pinsk Marshes](/source/Pripet_Marshes) (after the major local city of [Pinsk](/source/Pinsk)). Large parts of the region were contaminated after the [Chernobyl disaster](/source/Chernobyl_disaster) and the region now includes the [Chernobyl Exclusion Zone](/source/Chernobyl_Exclusion_Zone) and [Polesie State Radioecological Reserve](/source/Polesie_State_Radioecological_Reserve), named after the region. This includes Ukraine north-northwest of its capital [Kyiv](/source/Kyiv) region.

		- Palessie within Belarus

		- Geographic regions of Polesie (Polissia) within Ukraine

		- Polesia or Podlachia in eastern Poland

## Name

The names *Polesia/Palessie/Polissia*, etc. are constructed from the [East Slavic](/source/East_Slavic_languages) root *les* 'forest', and the prefix *[po-](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BF%D0%BE-)*, which in the meaning of 'on, by, along' is used to create place names.[6] Inhabitants of Polesia are called [Paleshuks](/source/Poleshuks).

## History

Polesia in 1613 (detail of [Radziwiłł map](/source/Radziwi%C5%82%C5%82_map))

In ancient times, the areas of today's western and west-central Polesia were inhabited by the people of the [Milograd culture](/source/Milograd_culture), the [Neuri](/source/Neuri).[7]

In the late Middle Ages Polesia became part of the [Grand Duchy of Lithuania](/source/Grand_Duchy_of_Lithuania), following it into the [Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth](/source/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian_Commonwealth) (1569). It became part of [Russia](/source/Russian_Empire) in the late-18th-century [Partitions of Poland](/source/Partitions_of_Poland). Polesia was largely part of [Poland](/source/Poland) from 1921 to 1939, when the country's largest province, the [Polesie Voivodeship](/source/Polesie_Voivodeship), bore that name,[2] with the eastern part forming part of the [Byelorussian SSR](/source/Byelorussian_SSR), within which the [Polesia Region](/source/Polesia_Region) was created in 1938. From 1931 to 1944, it was explicitly mentioned as constituent part of the short-lived ([Byzantine Rite](/source/Byzantine_Rite)) [Ukrainian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Volhynia, Polesia and Pidliashia](/source/Ukrainian_Catholic_Apostolic_Exarchate_of_Volhynia%2C_Polesia_and_Pidliashia).[8]

Polesia in May 1920

Following the 1939 [invasion of Poland](/source/Invasion_of_Poland), most of the region was under [Soviet occupation](/source/Occupation_of_Poland_(1939%E2%80%931945)), with the western outskirts under German occupation until 1941, and then the entire region, including the pre-war Soviet-controlled part, was under German occupation until 1943–1944. Since the end of World War II, the region has encompassed areas in eastern Poland, southern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Geography

Polesia is a marshy region lining the [Pripyat River](/source/Pripyat_River) ([Pripyat Marshes](/source/Pripyat_Marshes)) in Southern Belarus ([Brest](/source/Brest%2C_Belarus), [Pinsk](/source/Pinsk), [Kalinkavichy](/source/Kalinkavichy), [Gomel](/source/Gomel)), Northern Ukraine (in the [Volyn](/source/Volyn_Oblast), [Rivne](/source/Rivne_Oblast), [Zhytomyr](/source/Zhytomyr_Oblast), [Kyiv](/source/Kyiv_Oblast) and [Chernihiv Oblasts](/source/Chernihiv_Oblast)), and partly in Poland ([Lublin](/source/Lublin)). It is a flatland within the [drainage basins](/source/Drainage_basin) of the [Western Bug](/source/Western_Bug) and [Prypyat](/source/Pripyat_River) rivers. The two rivers are connected by the [Dnieper-Bug Canal](/source/Dnieper-Bug_Canal), built during the reign of [Stanislaus II of Poland](/source/Stanislaus_II_of_Poland), the last king of the [Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth](/source/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian_Commonwealth).

Notable tributaries of the Pripyat are the [Horyn](/source/Horyn), [Stokhid](/source/Stokhid), [Styr](/source/Styr), [Ptsich](/source/Ptsich), and [Yaselda](/source/Yaselda_River) rivers. The largest towns in the Pripyat basin are [Pinsk](/source/Pinsk), [Stolin](/source/Stolin), [Davyd-Haradok](/source/Davyd-Haradok). Huge marshes were reclaimed from the 1960s to the 1980s for [farmland](/source/Farm).[*[clarification needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*]

The region is subdivided into several subregions among which are:[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

**Poland**

- [Western Polesia](/source/Western_Polesia)

**Ukraine**

- [Volhynian Polissia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Volhynian_Polissia&action=edit&redlink=1) [[uk](https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%81%D1%81%D1%8F)]

- [Little Polissia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_Polissia&action=edit&redlink=1) [[uk](https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5_%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%81%D1%81%D1%8F)], a.ka. Lviv Polissia

- [Zhytomyr Polissia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zhytomyr_Polissia&action=edit&redlink=1) [[uk](https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%96%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%80%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%81%D1%81%D1%8F)]

- [Kyiv Polissia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kyiv_Polissia&action=edit&redlink=1) [[uk](https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%B8%D1%97%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%81%D1%81%D1%8F)]

- [Chernihiv Polissia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chernihiv_Polissia&action=edit&redlink=1) [[uk](https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A7%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D1%96%D0%B3%D1%96%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%81%D1%81%D1%8F)]

- [Novhorod-Siverskyi Polissia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Novhorod-Siverskyi_Polissia&action=edit&redlink=1) [[uk](https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4-%D0%A1%D1%96%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%81%D1%81%D1%8F)]

**Belarus**

- Brest Paliessie

- Zaharodzie

- Prypiat Paliessie

- Mazyr Paliessie

- Homiel Paliessie

According to the late 19th-century *Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland* Polesie was divided into Northern Polesia, itself divided into Upper Polesia or Pinsk Polesia and Lower Polesia or Mazyr Polesia, and Southern Polesia, itself divided into Volhynian Polesia (overlapping northern [Volhynia](/source/Volhynia)) and Drevlian Polesia.[5]

### Chernobyl disaster

This region suffered severely from the [Chernobyl disaster](/source/Chernobyl_disaster). Huge areas were polluted by [radioactive](/source/Radioactive) elements. The most polluted part includes the [Chernobyl Exclusion Zone](/source/Chernobyl_Exclusion_Zone) and the adjacent [Polesie State Radioecological Reserve](/source/Polesie_State_Radioecological_Reserve). Some other areas in the region are considered unsuitable for living as well.[9]

## Tourism

The Polish part of the region includes the [Polesie National Park](/source/Polesie_National_Park) (*Poleski Park Narodowy*), established 1990, which covers an area of 97.6 square kilometres (37.7 sq mi). This and a wider area adjoining it (up to the Ukrainian border) make up the [UNESCO](/source/UNESCO)-designated West Polesie [Biosphere Reserve](/source/Biosphere_Reserve), which borders a similar reserve (the [Shatsk Biosphere Reserve](/source/Shatsky_Lakes)) on the Ukrainian side. There is also a [protected area](/source/Protected_area) called Prybuzhskaie-Paliessie in the Belarusian part of the region.

The wooden architecture structures in the region were added to the [UNESCO](/source/UNESCO) [World Heritage](/source/World_Heritage) Tentative List on 30 January 2004 in the Cultural category.[10]

## See also

- [Museum of Ukrainian home icons](/source/Museum_of_Ukrainian_home_icons)

- [Radomysl Castle](/source/Radomysl_Castle)

- [Swamps of Belarus](/source/Swamps_of_Belarus)

- [Western Polesie](/source/Western_Polesie)

- [Polesian Saddle](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polesian_Saddle&action=edit&redlink=1) [[be](https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%96%D0%BD%D0%B0)], large tectonic structure in southwestern Belarus

There are areas in Russia traditionally called Polesie ([Russian](/source/Russian_language): Полесье) as well. However there the origin of the term is different: historically it referred to transitional areas from woodless fields to densely wooded territory.[3]

- [Oryol-Kaluga Polesie](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oryol-Kaluga_Polesie&action=edit&redlink=1) [[ru](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE-%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%B6%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%B5)] straddling the border of [Oryol](/source/Oryol_Oblast) and [Kaluga Oblasts](/source/Kaluga_Oblast) - [Orlovskoye Polesye National Park](/source/Orlovskoye_Polesye_National_Park)

- [Bryansk-Zhizdra Polesie](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bryansk-Zhizdra_Polesie&action=edit&redlink=1) (Брянско-Жиздринское Полесье) is a forest area with about 1% swamps within the slightly elevated [outwash plain](/source/Outwash_plain) in the south-west of [Kaluga Oblast](/source/Kaluga_Oblast) between rivers [Resseta](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Resseta&action=edit&redlink=1) [[ru](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0)] and [Vytebet](/source/Vytebet).[11][12]

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** - [Belarusian](/source/Belarusian_language): Палессе, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Belarusian): *Palessie* [\[paˈlʲɛsʲːɛ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Belarusian) - [Ukrainian](/source/Ukrainian_language): Полісся, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Ukrainian): *Polissia* [\[poˈl⁽ʲ⁾isʲːɐ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Ukrainian) - [Polish](/source/Polish_language): *Polesie* [\[pɔˈlɛɕɛ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Polish) [ⓘ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LL-Q809_(pol)-Olaf-Polesie.wav) - [Russian](/source/Russian_language): Полесье, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Russian): *Polesye* - [Latin](/source/Latin_language): *Tractus Polesiensis*[1]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Michał Baliński](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Micha%C5%82_Bali%C5%84ski&action=edit&redlink=1) [[pl](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micha%C5%82_Bali%C5%84ski)], [Tymoteusz Lipiński](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tymoteusz_Lipi%C5%84ski&action=edit&redlink=1) [[pl](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tymoteusz_Lipi%C5%84ski)], *Starożytna Polska: pod względem historycznym, jeograficznym i statystycznym*, Volume 3, 1846, [p. 834](https://books.google.com/books?id=2wxFAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA834)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-buffalo_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-buffalo_3-1) ["Polesie"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160907230558/http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/web/geography/regions/polesie/link.shtml). University at Buffalo, New York. Polish Academic Information Center. Archived from [the original](http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/web/geography/regions/polesie/link.shtml) on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2014.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-efron_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-efron_4-1) ["Полесье"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/ru:%D0%AD%D0%A1%D0%91%D0%95/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%B5_). *[Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary](/source/Brockhaus_and_Efron_Encyclopedic_Dictionary)* (in Russian). 1906.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-MAB_5-0)** Alicja Breymeyer. ["Presentation of West Polesie Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (Belarus/Poland/Ukraine)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160502051705/http://westpolesie.org/). *Nomination Form prepared in Warsaw, Kyiv and Minsk by National UNESCO-MAB Committees, and introduced to UNESCO in a May 2007 Nomination*. West Polesie.org. Archived from [the original](http://westpolesie.org/) on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2014.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-sgk_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-sgk_6-1) *Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom VIII* (in Polish). Warszawa. 1887. p. [579-587](http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_VIII/579).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_location_missing_publisher))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-mould2000_7-0)** Compare Mould, R. F. (2000). *Chernobyl Record: The Definitive History of the Chernobyl Catastrophe*. Bristol, UK: Institute of Physics Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7503-0670-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7503-0670-X).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** David Asheri, Alan B. Lloyd, Aldo Corcella, *A commentary on Herodotus Books I-IV*, edited by Oswyn Murray, Alfonso Moreno, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007, p. 589

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Apostolic Exarchate of Volhynia, Polesia and Pidliashia (Ukrainian Rite)"](http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/wolh0.htm). *GCatholic*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ICRINzonesmap_10-0)** ["Zoning of radioactively contaminated territory of Ukraine according to actual regulations"](http://www.chernobyl.info/Default.aspx?tabid=130&map=58_en). ICRIN. 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2012.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Worship wooden architecture (17th -18th centuries) in Polesye - UNESCO World Heritage Centre"](https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1901/). Whc.unesco.org. 30 January 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** [Брянско-Жиздринское Полесье](https://www.rbcu.ru/kotr/kzh004.php)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** [ecology.gpntb.ru > Экология в библиотечном мире > Центральный федеральный округ > Калужская область](https://ecology.gpntb.ru/ecolibworld/project/regions_russia/center/Kaluga/)

## Further reading

- Пазинич В., Походження Поліських озер та параболічних дюн (Ukrainian)/Пазинич В.Г., Происхождение Полесских озер и параболических дюн (Russian)

- Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropaforschung, Heft 3/2019: *Polesia: Modernity in the Marshlands. Interventions and Transformations at the European Periphery from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-first Century* Online: [Bd. 68 Nr. 3 (2019): Polesia: Modernity in the Marshlands. Interventions and Transformations at the European Periphery from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-first Century | Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung](https://www.zfo-online.de/index.php/zfo/issue/view/351)

- "[Polesie (pp. 579-587)](http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_VIII/579)". *[Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland](/source/Geographical_Dictionary_of_the_Kingdom_of_Poland)* (in Polish). **8**. Warszawa: Kasa im. Józefa Mianowskiego. 1887. p. 579.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Polesia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Polesia).

- [The Official Site of Radomysl Castle](http://www.radozamok.com.ua/en/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200814134402/http://www.radozamok.com.ua/en/) 14 August 2020 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- [Polisia](http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CP%5CO%5CPolisia.htm) at the [Encyclopedia of Ukraine](/source/Encyclopedia_of_Ukraine)

- [Origin of Polesie lakes and parabolic dunes](https://www.academia.edu/3535261/Origin_of_Polesie_lakes_and_parabolic_dunes)

- [Save Polesia - E40 waterway would destroy biodiversity hotspots and key protected areas, says new report](https://savepolesia.org/e40-would-destroy-biodiversity-hotspots)

- [Polesia | Wilderness without borders: Protecting one of Europe's largest natural landscapes - Frankfurt Zoological Society](https://fzs.org/en/projects/ukraine/polesia/)

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