Kuyavia (; ), also referred to as Cujavia, is a historical region in north-central Poland, situated on the left bank of Vistula, as well as east from NoteàRiver and Lake Gopà Âo. It is divided into three traditional parts: north-western (with the capital in Bydgoszcz), central (the capital in Inowrocà Âaw or Kruszwica), and south-eastern (the capital in Wà Âocà Âawek or Brzeà ÂàKujawski).
The name Kuyavia first appeared in written sources in the 1136 Bull of Gniezno (, Latin: Ex commisso nobis) issued by Pope Innocent II, and was then mentioned in many documents from medieval times. It is also mentioned in the chronicles of Wincenty Kadà Âubek.
In the north, Kuyavia borders with the historic regions of Gdaà Âsk Pomerania (Pomerelia) and Cheà Âmno Land, in the west with Greater Poland proper, in the south with à ÂÃÂczyca Land and in the east with Masovia and Dobrzyà  Land. The borders of Kuyavia stretch out on the left bank of Vistula River: from the mouth of Skrwa Lewa in the south-east, almost to the mouth of the Wda River to the north.
The borders of Kuyavia spread out to the west from Koronowo and Nakà Âo to the NoteàRiver where they turn south-west, cross Trlàg Lake, and on to Strzelneà Âski Forest, reaching Skulski Lake and the upper NoteàRiver. The borders enclose Brdowski Lake, Przedecz and Lubieà  Kujawski through the Skrwa Lewa, ending at the Vistula River.
The southern part of Toruà  (Podgórz) lies in the historical region. Some ethnographers and historians, for example Oskar Kolberg and Zygmunt Gloger, count the lands of Dobrzyà  and Cheà Âmno north-east of the Vistula as parts of the Kuyavia region.
The Kuyavian lowlands have an average elevation of 100âÂÂ130 meters above sea level. It is post-glacial landscape, slightly undulating, in some places there are moraine hills and sandy gravel embankments. In deep dykes and depressions there are approximately 600 lakes larger than 1 km<sup>2</sup>. Under the glacial formations there are layers of rock-salt and potassium, and under Tertiary Period sediments there is lignite and ceramic clay. In Kuyavia there are black fertile soils, thanks to which Kuyavia is called "the granary of Poland".
Kuyavia has been historically a rich, densely populated and decentralised region of the Polish state, one of the smaller yet distinct provinces of Poland. Kruszwica was the political centre of the early Goplan tribe, identified with the peoples of Kuyavia. In this area, Kruszwica was also the earliest episcopal see, created on territory split off from archdiocese of Gniezno and as a replacement for the dissolved diocese of Koà Âobrzeg.
In the middle of the 12th century, its seat was moved to Wà Âocà Âawek. This diocese governed the lands of both Kuyavia and Pomerania. In 1243, the Dioecese of Cheà Âmno was founded for Teutonic Cheà Âmno Land. This remained up until the Polish partitions, when episcopate borders were changed. Kuyavia was divided between the dioceses of Gniezno, for the Prussian part, and of Wà Âocà Âawek, for the Russian part. Today in Kuyavia both Wà Âocà Âawek and Bydgoszcz have their own bishoprics.
In 1230, the first independent Duchy of Kuyavia was created, with the capital in Inowrocà Âaw. It was defragmented often into smaller principalities, with seats in Bydgoszcz (with Wyszogród), Gniewkowo and Brzeà ÂàKujawski. In the late 14th century, the administrative division of the unified Polish kingdom was introduced. In Kuyavia, the residency of the Voivode governors was both Inowrocà Âaw and Brzeà ÂàKujawski, with Radziejów serving as the seat of the shared regional Sejmik council of the two voivodeships.
Bydgoszcz has been the main economic centre of Kuyavia since the Polish Golden Age. First it was a strategic point as a defensive castle near the Polish border with the hostile Teutonic Order. Soon it became the largest urban centre of Kuyavia and a significant trade hub, specifically serving as an intermediary in trade with Gdaà Âsk, whose importance extended beyond the Kuyavian region. Its economic role involved linking the Baltic port with the hinterlands of the Brda and Noteàrivers as well as sections of Vistula and Warta.
In 1772, Bydgoszcz became the administrative capital of the newly created Netze District in Prussia, encompassing western Kuyavia and Krajna. In the times of Duchy of Warsaw, the Bydgoszcz Department was created and it included the whole Kuyavian area with most of Cheà Âmno Land and valley of the river Noteàin the east. Afterwards, western Kuyavia belonged to Bydgoszcz district in the Grand Duchy of Poznaà Â, while eastern Kuyavia was integrated with Mazovian administrative unit in Congress Poland.
The Linear Pottery culture existed in the area. The earliest solid evidence of cheese-making, dating to 5,500 BC, was found in Kuyavia. Enormous tombs, megalithic structures Kuyavian Pyramids from Younger Stone Age.
The beginnings of the state in Kuyavia are connected with the tribal state of the West Slavic Goplans. The Goplans, which some researchers identify with the Mazowszanie-Kà Âobianie or simply with the Kuyavians, had created a country with the main centers in Kruszwica on the northern shore of Lake Gopà Âo.
During the 10th century, their territory was conquered by another West Slavic tribe, the Polans settling in the adjacent Greater Polish land around Poznaà  and Gniezno. Upon the death of Duke Mieszko I of Poland in 992, the Kuyavia lands were part of the early Duchy of Poland, mentioned as Civitas Schinesghe as circumscribed in the Dagome iudex papal regesta.
According to Andrzej Baà Âkowski, the Polans moved into the region of Greater Poland after they had to leave together with the Morawianie, their former Pannonian territories, conquered by the Avars. According to some sources, during the war with the Goplans, the Polans were supported by a Great Moravian army. As a result of occupation of the Goplans' territory, the lands of Kuyavia were under the strong influence of the Pannonian culture and they lost their primary Masovian spirit.
When the name Cuiavia arose for the first time in the 1136 Bull of Gniezno, it referred to the lands east of Greater Poland around Kruszwica and Wà Âocà Âawek, bordering with the Vistula river. The bull confirmed the position of the Bishopric of Kuyavia at Wà Âocà Âawek as a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Gniezno.
In the times of the Polish fragmentation upon the 1138 Testament of Bolesà Âaw III Wrymouth, Kuyavia became part of the Duchy of Masovia under Bolesà Âaw IV the Curly and his son Leszek. In 1186, it was claimed by the Polish High Duke Casimir II the Just, contested by his elder brother Mieszko III the Old and his son Bolesà Âaw. In 1233, Casimir's son Duke Konrad I of Masovia created the Duchy of Kuyavia for his second son Casimir I.
When Casimir's elder brother Duke Bolesà Âaw I of Masovia died in 1248, he took the occasion and took Dobrzyà  Land east of the Vistula River from the heritage of his younger brother Siemowit I. Upon Casimir's death in 1267, the Duchy of Kuyavia was divided by his sons Leszek II the Black (d. 1288), Ziemomysà  (d. 1287) and Wà Âadysà Âaw I the Elbow-high, into the two separate duchies of Inowrocà Âaw and Brzeà ÂàKujawski.
In 1306, Ziemomysà Â's son Casimir II swore allegiance to his uncle Wà Âadysà Âaw I, who began to re-unite the Lands of the Polish Crown under his rule. The duchy was devastated during the PolishâÂÂTeutonic War of 1326âÂÂ32, culminating in the 1331 Battle of Pà Âowce. It was restored to Poland by the Teutonic Knights in the 1343 Treaty of Kalisz. With the death of Casimir's son Wà Âadysà Âaw the White in 1388, the Kuyavian line of the Piast dynasty became extinct.
At the peak of its fragmentation, the Kuyavian territories were divided in the early 14th century into Duchy of Bydgoszcz and Wyszogród, Duchy of Inowrocà Âaw, Duchy of Gniewkowo and Duchy of Brzeà ÂàKujawski. They were fully reintegrated during the reign of Casimir III the Great.
After the reunification of Polish lands in the late 14th century, the division into provinces and counties was introduced. That division finalized in the 15th century and existed until the dissolution of the PolishâÂÂLithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. Kuyavia was divided into the two administrative divisions of Brzeà ÂàKujawski Voivodeship and Inowrocà Âaw Voivodeship.
The Brzeà ÂàKujawski Voivodeship was further divided into five powiats (counties): Brzeà ÂÃÂ, Kowal, Kruszwica, Przedecz and Radziejów. The Inowrocà Âaw Voivodeship was divided into the Bydgoszcz and Inowrocà Âaw powiats and Dobrzyà  Land east of the Vistula. Both voivodeships formed part of the larger Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland and the PolishâÂÂLithuanian Commonwealth. The Battle of Koronowo of the PolishâÂÂLithuanianâÂÂTeutonic War was fought in the region on 10 October 1410, and ended in a Polish victory.
The long period of prosperity ended in the late 17th century during Northern Wars with the Swedish troops destroying and plundering many cities, including Bydgoszcz, Inowrocà Âaw, and Wà Âocà Âawek.
As a result of the First Partition of Poland in 1772 the Kingdom of Prussia took a considerable part of Inowrocà Âaw Voivodeship and the western part of Brzeà ÂàKujawski Voivodeship, and included it within its newly formed Netze District with the capital in Bydgoszcz. After the Second Partition of 1793 the whole of Kuyavia was taken by Prussia and incorporated into the newly formed province of South Prussia. Upon the 1807 Treaties of Tilsit, it was part of the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw and administered within the Bydgoszcz Department.
In 1815 under the provisions of the Congress of Vienna, Kuyavia was divided between the Kingdom of Poland and the Kingdom of Prussia. Congress Poland remained in a personal union with the Russian Empire, from 1831 direct part of Russian Empire. The Brzeà ÂàKujawski province (counties: Aleksandrów, Radziejów and Wà Âocà Âawek) remained with the Masovia Governorate of Congress Poland in Russian Empire. Inowrocà Âaw (Hohensalza) and Bydgoszcz (Bromberg) was incorporated into the Prussian Grand Duchy of Posen.
The Polish population resisted anti-Polish policies, which included forced Germanisation and Russification, and took part in several uprisings incl. the Greater Poland uprising of 1848 and January Uprising of 1863âÂÂ1864. That division outlasted the 1871 unification of Germany until the end of World War I.
Following World War I, Poland regained independence and control of the region. Within the Second Polish Republic, from 1918, the western part of Kuyavia belonged to Poznaà  Voivodeship, and the eastern part belonged to the Warsaw Voivodeship. In 1938 almost all Kuyavia became a part of Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 1934 the Muzeum Nadgoplaà Âskie in Kruszwica was built. It was opened in 1939, and it had valuable collection of ethnographical objects, inter alia: furniture and clothing.
Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, it was occupied by Nazi Germany. During the occupation, almost all of Kuyavia was annexed into the newly formed province of Reichsgau Wartheland, except the northwestern part with the city of Bydgoszcz that was annexed to the newly formed province of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia.
The Polish population was subjected to various crimes, such as mass arrests, imprisonment, slave labor, expulsions, kidnapping of children, deportations to Nazi concentration camps and extermination, incl. the Intelligenzaktion. Major sites of massacres of Poles in the region included Gniewkowo, Fordon, Otorowo, Buszkowo, Tryszczyn, Odolion and Borówno.
The Germans operated subcamps of the Potulice and Stutthof concentration camps in Bydgoszcz, and the large Stalag XX-A prisoner-of-war camp for Polish, British, French, Australian and Soviet POWs in southern Toruà Â. In 1945, the German occupation ended and the region was restored to Poland.
Between 1945-1975, Kuyavia was in the borders of Bydgoszcz Voivodeship. The Wà Âocà Âawek Voivodeship was created in 1975, and the western part of Kuyavia remained in the Bydgoszcz Voivodeship. In 1999 almost the whole of Kuyavia was joined to the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Small parts of the region were included in the borders of the Masovian Voivodeship (regions between the border of the province and Skrwa Lewa River) and Greater Poland Voivodeship (Przedecz, Wierzbinek).
The most successful and popular sports clubs in the region include motorcycle speedway team Polonia Bydgoszcz, basketball teams Anwil Wà Âocà Âawek, Astoria Bydgoszcz (men) and Basket 25 Bydgoszcz (women) and volleyball teams Chemik Bydgoszcz (men) and Paà Âac Bydgoszcz (women).