Polabian Slavs (, , ) is a collective term applied to a number of
Lechite tribes who lived along the
Elbe river in what is today
Eastern Germany. The approximate territory stretched from the
Baltic Sea in the north, the
Saale and the
Limes Saxoniae in the west, the
Ore Mountains and the
Western Sudetes in the south, and
Poland in the east. They have also been known as
Elbe Slavs or
Wends. Their name derives from the Slavic
po, meaning "by/next to/along", and the Slavic name for the Elbe (
Labe in Czech and Laba in Polish).