Żuławy Wiślane (plural from "żuława", meaning fen ), in English known as the Vistula Fens , is the alluvial delta area of the river Vistula , in the northern part of Poland . It is a flat and deforested region comprising wetlands and agricultural plains that cover approximately 1,700 squared kilometres, with much of the land being situated below sea level . Poland's lowest point (1.8 metres below sea level) is located at Raczki Elbląskie in the Żuławy region.
33-459: The area was largely reclaimed artificially by means of dykes, pumps, channels and an extensive drainage system. Its shape is similar to a reversed triangle formed by branching of Vistula into two separate rivers, Leniwka and Nogat at its height, confined by rivers themselves, and closed by the Vistula Lagoon at its base. Żuławy Wiślane extend from Poland's Pomerania Province in the west to
66-629: A course of the next centuries until around the ninth century, when emergence of the Baltic tribe Estowie boosted occupation of Żuławy Wiślane. One, the best known is Truso, a large fishery-trading center in present Janów Pomorski near Elbląg . Before the thirteenth century population was generally restricted to morainic heights around the delta, in the surroundings of Gdańsk , Miłobądzu, Gorzędzieju, Lichnowach and Węgrach (the Slavic people), and alongside lake Drużno and Wysoczyźnie Elbląskiej (for Old Prussians). In
99-591: A group of Proto-Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the lower Vistula and southeast shore of the Baltic Sea and upper Daugava and Dnieper rivers, and which over time became differentiated into West and East Balts. In the fifth century CE, parts of the eastern Baltic coast began to be settled by the ancestors of the Western Balts, whereas the East Balts lived in modern-day Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. In
132-594: A group of peoples inhabiting the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea who speak Baltic languages . Among the Baltic peoples are modern-day Lithuanians (including Samogitians ) and Latvians (including Latgalians ) — all East Balts — as well as the Old Prussians , Curonians , Sudovians , Skalvians , Yotvingians and Galindians — the West Balts — whose languages and cultures are now extinct. The Balts are descended from
165-500: A high frequency of the derived HERC2 allele which codes for light eye color and possess an increased frequency of the derived alleles for SLC45A2 and SLC24A5, coding for lighter skin color. Baltic hunter-gatherers still displayed a slightly larger amount of WHG ancestry than Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherers (SHGs). WHG ancestry in the Baltic was particularly high among hunter-gatherers in Latvia and Lithuania. Unlike other parts of Europe,
198-595: A line on the Pomeranian coast eastward to include or nearly include the present-day sites of Berlin , Warsaw , Kyiv , and Kursk , northward through Moscow to the River Berzha, westward in an irregular line to the coast of the Gulf of Riga , north of Riga . However, other scholars such as Endre Bojt (1999) reject the presumption that there ever was such a thing as a clear, single "Baltic Urheimat ": 'The references to
231-473: A number of conservative or archaic features, perhaps because the areas in which they are spoken are geographically consolidated and have low rates of immigration. Some of the major authorities on Balts, such as Kazimieras Būga , Max Vasmer , Vladimir Toporov and Oleg Trubachyov , in conducting etymological studies of eastern European river names, were able to identify in certain regions names of specifically Baltic provenance, which most likely indicate where
264-687: A result of the Northern Crusades of the Middle Ages . Baltic peoples such as the Latvians , Lithuanians and Old Prussians had their distinct mythologies. The Lithuanians have close historic ties to Poland, and many of them are Roman Catholic . The Latvians have close historic ties to Northern Germany and Scandinavia , and many of them are irreligious. In recent times, the Baltic religion has been revived in Baltic neopaganism . The Balts are included in
297-759: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a river in Poland is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Balts This is an accepted version of this page Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European The Balts or Baltic peoples ( Lithuanian : baltai , Latvian : balti ) are
330-671: Is the former name of the western branch of the Vistula (now Vistula) in northern Poland . It is 55.4 kilometres (34.4 mi) long, and flows into Gdańsk Bay , forming the borders of Sobieszewo Island . The Leniwka begins behind the lock in Biała Góra , where the Nogat , the eastern branch, also originates. The current Martwa Wisła is part of the Leniwka. Towns and villages on the Leniwka include: This Pomeranian Voivodeship location article
363-630: The Corded Ware culture in the eastern Baltic in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age is accompanied by a significant infusion of steppe ancestry and EEF ancestry into the eastern Baltic gene pool. In the aftermath of the Corded Ware expansion, local hunter-gatherer ancestry experienced a resurgence. Haplogroup N reached the eastern Baltic only in the Late Bronze Age, probably with the speakers of
SECTION 10
#1732851720705396-524: The Galindae or Galindians towards the east, and later, East Balts towards the west. In the eighth century, Slavic tribes from the Volga regions appeared. By the 13th and 14th centuries, they reached the general area that the present-day Balts and Belarusians inhabit. Many other Eastern and Southern Balts either assimilated with other Balts, or Slavs in the fourth–seventh centuries and were gradually slavicized. In
429-850: The Pomeranian Voivodeship . While today the Kursenieki , also known as Kuršininkai are a nearly extinct Baltic ethnic group living along the Curonian Spit , in 1649 Kuršininkai settlement spanned from Memel (Klaipėda) to Danzig (Gdańsk) , including in the area of the Nemunas Delta . The Kuršininkai were eventually assimilated by the Germans , except along the Curonian Spit where some still live. The Kuršininkai were considered Latvians until after World War I when Latvia gained independence from
462-525: The Russian Empire , a consideration based on linguistic arguments. This was the rationale for Latvian claims over the Curonian Spit, Memel , and other territories of East Prussia which would be later dropped. Żuławy is traditionally divided, according to the historical ownership, into: Terrain seems to look strikingly flat, but a topographic map states otherwise. For instance, land slopes down at some points below sea level. Depressions account for 28% of
495-612: The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in the east, roughly between the cities of Elbląg , Malbork , Tczew and Gdańsk . The two largest towns which belong to the region are Nowy Dwór Gdański and Nowy Staw . Żuławy are also categorised as an ethnographic region , historically settled by immigrant Mennonites from Germany and the Netherlands ( Friesland ) who became collectively known as Hollanders, or Olęders in Polish. Much of
528-607: The "North European" gene cluster together with the Germanic peoples , some Slavic groups (the Poles and Northern Russians ) and Baltic Finnic peoples . Saag et a. (2017) detected that the eastern Baltic in the Mesolithic was inhabited primarily by Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHGs). Their paternal haplogroups were mostly types of I2a and R1b , while their maternal haplogroups were mostly types of U5 , U4 and U2 . These people carried
561-719: The 12th and 13th centuries, internal struggles and invasions by Ruthenians and Poles , and later the expansion of the Teutonic Order , resulted in an almost complete annihilation of the Galindians, Curonians, and Yotvingians. Gradually, Old Prussians became Germanized or Lithuanized between the 15th and 17th centuries, especially after the Reformation in Prussia . The cultures of the Lithuanians and Latgalians/Latvians survived and became
594-459: The 13th century by contrast, the local population experienced a rapid growth brought about by mixed Slavic-Prussian colonization. In effect, new villages had emerged, and from them many have survived up to now under unchanged names. In a space of one hundred years, the Slavic settlements reached the line Płonia Wielka, Cedry Wielkie, Ostaszewo, Lubieszewo, Świerki, Malbork. On the other hand, Żuławy Wiślane drew numerous Dutch and German immigrants. In
627-528: The Balts at various Urheimat locations across the centuries are often of doubtful authenticity, those concerning the Balts furthest to the West are the more trustworthy among them. (...) It is wise to group the particulars of Baltic history according to the interests that moved the pens of the authors of our sources.' The area of Baltic habitation shrank due to assimilation by other groups, and invasions. According to one of
660-579: The Balts lived in prehistoric times. According to Vladimir Toporov and Oleg Trubachyov , the eastern boundary of the Balts in the prehistoric times were the upper reaches of the Volga , Moskva , and Oka rivers, while the southern border was the Seym river . This information is summarized and synthesized by Marija Gimbutas in The Balts (1963) to obtain a likely proto-Baltic homeland. Its borders are approximately: from
693-515: The Free City of Danzig in due course fell into the influence zone of Germany. When World War II was finally over, the two Żuławy Wiślane were turned over to the Polish state in 1945. Almost all of the German inhabitants have been expelled , and the region has been resettled with Polish people. Historically part of Royal Prussia and then West Prussia , since 1999 the area covers the easternmost part of
SECTION 20
#1732851720705726-642: The aftermath of the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, the Żuławy Wiślane settlements were incorporated into the Prussian Kingdom as two districts: Danziger Niederung and Danziger Höhe . After Poland regained independence in 1918, the settlements neither stayed in Germany nor were they included in the new Polish state; instead, they became part of the Free City of Danzig . When Hitler came into power in Germany,
759-663: The ancestors of the populations of the modern-day countries of Latvia and Lithuania . Old Prussian was closely related to the other extinct Western Baltic languages , Curonian , Galindian and Sudovian . It is more distantly related to the surviving Eastern Baltic languages , Lithuanian and Latvian . Compare the Prussian word seme ( zemē ), Latvian zeme , the Lithuanian žemė ( land in English). The Balts originally practiced Baltic religion . They were gradually Christianized as
792-676: The country, because most of the water is on equal altitude, and in fact its circulation is carried out artificially. (..) Centuries of human activities are visible in the thousands of kilometers of canals and drainage ditches, a dense drainage network, the banking up of the rivers, pumping stations and the formation of a system of polders. In effect, the natural environment underwent such transformation that it would be difficult to find any fragments, which remain unchanged." (B. Augustowski, Żuławy Wiślane , Gdańskie Towarzystwo Naukowe, Gdańsk 1976) Leniwka The Leniwka ( Polish pronunciation: [lɛˈɲifka] , German : Mühlengraben )
825-529: The early 20th century, either "Latvian" or "Lithuanian" could be used to mean the entire language family. The Balts or Baltic peoples, 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 the lower Vistula and southeast shore of the Baltic Sea and upper Daugava and Dnieper rivers. The Baltic languages, especially Lithuanian, retain
858-539: The first millennium CE, large migrations of the Balts occurred. By the 13th and 14th centuries, the East Balts shrank to the general area that the present-day Balts and Belarusians inhabit. Baltic languages belong to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages . One of the features of Baltic languages is the number of conservative or archaic features retained. Medieval German chronicler Adam of Bremen in
891-462: The hunter-gatherers of the eastern Baltic do not appear to have mixed much with Early European Farmers (EEFs) arriving from Anatolia . During the Neolithic , increasing admixture from Eastern Hunter-Gatherers (EHGs) is detected. The paternal haplogroups of EHGs was mostly types of R1a , while their maternal haplogroups appears to have been almost exclusively types of U5, U4, and U2. The rise of
924-570: The hypothesised Dniepr Balts , were living in modern-day Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Germanic peoples lived to the west of the Baltic homelands; by the first century AD, the Goths had stabilized their kingdom from the mouth of the Vistula, south to Dacia . As Roman domination collapsed in the first half of the first millennium CE in Northern and Eastern Europe, large migrations of the Balts occurred — first,
957-429: The latter part of the 11th century AD was the first writer to use the term "Baltic" in reference to the sea of that name . Before him various ancient places names, such as Balcia, were used in reference to a supposed island in the Baltic Sea. Adam, a speaker of German, connected Balt- with belt , a word with which he was familiar. In Germanic languages there was some form of the toponym East Sea until after about
990-699: The local architecture and other cultural aspects have been shaped by those communities. There is no definite statement for the origin of the name "Żuławy". The term is believed to be derived from the word "solov" in the now-extinct Prussian language , or from Polish noun "żuł" for mud. The first traces of settlements reach back to the period between 2,500 and 1,700 BC, being proved by excavation sites from Niedźwiedziówka , Lubieszewo , Ostaszewo , Kaczynos , Kończewice , Krasnołęka , Lasowice Wielkie or Lichnowy . They appear to have been of impermanent form as they served presumably for fishery and amber acquirement. The range and density of settlements had not changed in
1023-495: The overall area of the delta. The lowest point, 1.8 m below the surface, is located by Jezioro Drużno , at the state road 22 between Elbląg and Malbork in Raczki Elbląskie , making that terrain the lowest point in Poland. Second in size depression land area is placed around Nowy Dwór Gdański . Surface water has lost its unique character due to impact of human activity. Water does not flow as freely as in other parts of
Vistula Fens - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-661: The theories which has gained considerable traction over the years, one of the western Baltic tribes, the Galindians , Galindae, or Goliad, migrated to the area around modern-day Moscow, Russia around the fourth century AD. Over time the Balts became differentiated into West and East Balts. In the fifth century AD parts of the eastern Baltic coast began to be settled by the ancestors of the Western Balts: Brus/Prūsa ("Old Prussians"), Sudovians / Jotvingians , Scalvians , Nadruvians , and Curonians . The East Balts, including
1089-677: The year 1600, when maps in English began to label it as the Baltic Sea. By 1840, German nobles of the Governorate of Livonia adopted the term "Balts" to distinguish themselves from Germans of Germany. They spoke an exclusive dialect, Baltic German, which was regarded by many as the language of the Balts until 1919. In 1845, Georg Heinrich Ferdinand Nesselmann proposed a distinct language group for Latvian , Lithuanian , and Old Prussian , which he termed Baltic . The term became prevalent after Latvia and Lithuania gained independence in 1918. Up until
#704295