Mazovia or
Masovia is a historical region (
dzielnica) in mid-north-eastern
Poland. Borders of the
Mazovian Voivodeship, which was created in 1999, do not reflect exactly its original shape (they do not include historically Mazovian
Lomza and
Lowicz, meanwhile include
Lesser Polish Radom and
Siedlce), but are roughly similar. Historical Mazovia existed since the
Middle Ages until the
partitions of Poland and consisted of three
voivodeships with the capitals in
Warszawa,
Plock and
Rawa Mazowiecka. In a narrower sense, the Mazovian Voivodeship was only the first of them (which however encompassed most of the region, only without the western lands). Between 1816 and 1844 another Mazovian Voivodeship (from 1837 Governorate) existed, encompassing the south of the region (along with
Leczyca Land and south-eastern
Kujawy). In the Middle Ages the main city of the region was
Plock, but in the
Early Modern Times it lost importance in favour of
Warsaw. Since 1138 Mazovia had a separate branch of the
Piast dynasty and was incorporated to the
Polish Crown as late as in the 15th and 16th centuries. As much as over 20% of Mazovian population was the
yeomanry (
drobna szlachta). Inhabitants of Mazovia are
Mazurzy (in the singular:
Mazur) – hence the region of
Masuria, settled by them.