- published: 15 Mar 2014
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Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska [vjɛlkɔˈpɔlska] ( listen) (German: Großpolen; Latin: Polonia Maior) is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.
The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history. The region roughly coincides with the present-day voivodeship (province) called Greater Poland Voivodeship (Polish: województwo wielkopolskie), although some parts of historic Greater Poland are within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Łódź and Lubusz Voivodeships.
Because Greater Poland was the settlement area of the Polans and the core of the early Polish state, the region was at times simply called "Poland" (Latin Polonia). The more specific name is first recorded in the Latin form Polonia Maior in 1257, and in Polish ("w Wielkej Polszcze") in 1449. The name can be construed as referring to old Poland, as opposed to Lesser (or Little) Poland (Polish Małopolska, Latin Polonia Minor), a region in southern Poland with its capital at Kraków.