Aurora:Polesia

Polesia, Polissia, Polesie, or Polesye[a] is a natural and historical region in Eastern Europe, including part of Eastern Poland, the Belarus–Ukraine border region.[1]

Extent

One of the largest forest areas on the continent, Polesia is located in the southwestern part of the Eastern-European Lowland, the Polesian Lowland. On the western side, Polesia originates at the crossing of the Bug River valley in Poland and the Pripyat River valley of Western Ukraine.[2] The swampy areas of central Polesia are known as the Pinsk Marshes (after the major local city of Pinsk). Large parts of the region were contaminated after the Chernobyl disaster and the region now includes the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and Polesie State Radioecological Reserve, named after the region.

Name

The names Polesia/Polissia/Polesye, etc. may reflect the Slavic root les 'forest', and the Slavic prefix po- 'on, in, along'.[3] Inhabitants of Polesia are called Polishchuks or Polesians.