Galicia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Galicia (Ukrainian and RusynГаличина, HalychynaPolishGalicjaCzech and SlovakHaličGermanGalizienHungarianGalícia/Kaliz/Gácsország/HalicsRomanianGaliția/HaliciRussianГалицияGalitsiyaYiddishגאַליציע‎, Galitsye) is a historical and geographic region in CentralEastern Europe,[1][2][3] once a small Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria that straddled the modern-day border between Poland and Ukraine. The area, which is named after the medieval city of Halych,[4][5][6] was first mentioned in Hungarian historical chronicles in the year 1206 as Galiciæ.[7][8]

The nucleus of historic Galicia lies within the modern regions of western UkraineLvivTernopiland Ivano-Frankivsk near Halych.[9] In the 18th century, territories that later became part of the modern Polish regions of Lesser Poland VoivodeshipSubcarpathian Voivodeship and Silesian Voivodeship were added to Galicia.

There is considerable overlap between Galicia and south-west Ruthenia, especially a cross-border region (centred on Carpathian Ruthenia of present-day Ukraine) that is inhabited by various nationalities, including the Rusyn minority.