Greater Poland (also Great Poland; Polish: Wielkopolska, German: Grosspolen, Latin: Polonia Maior) is one of the historical regions of Poland. It is located in western-central Poland, encompassing much of the area drained by the Warta River and its tributaries.
The Greater Poland Voivodship (in Polishwojewództwo wielkopolskie) is an administrative region or voivodship of western-central Poland It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Poznan, Kalisz, Konin, Pila and Leszno voivodships as a result of Local Government Reorganization Act of 1998. The voivodship's name recalls the region's traditional name of Greater Poland(Wielkopolska).
It is second in area and third in population among the country's sixteen voivodships, with 29,826 km² and 3.4 million inhabitants. Its principal cities are:
Its principal cities are Poznan, Leszno, Kalisz and Gniezno. Most of the historical region (except some southwestern communities) is included the Greater Polandvoivodship (administrative province) created in 1999.
Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) was the core of the early medieval Polish state, often called the cradle of Poland, and at times was called simply Poland (in Latin: Polonia). The name of Greater Poland is mentioned first in Latin form Polonia Maior in 1257, and in Polish form w Wielkej Polszcze in 1449. The name of the region can be understool as the Old Poland as opposed to the New Poland (Lesser Poland, Małopolska, Polonia Minor, a region in south-eastern Poland with Kraków as its capital) and in opposition to the whole Poland as a state and country.
