Geographic HistoryMap of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
On the Geographic History map, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth appears from 1569 to 1794. It reaches its largest mapped extent in 1619: about 930 thousand km² across 44 provinces.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was created by the Union of Lublin in 1569, which joined the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into one of the largest states in Europe. Its kings were elected by the nobility, whose parliament, the Sejm, held great power, and it was known for its religious tolerance. Russia, Prussia and Austria divided it in three partitions in 1772, 1793 and 1795.
Mapped area over time
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the world maps
Largest other states in 1619
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Spanish Empire | 8.5 million km² |
| Russia | 6.6 million km² |
| Ottoman Empire | 3.9 million km² |
| Ming | 3.8 million km² |
| Mongolia | 3 million km² |
| Kazakh Khanate | 2.8 million km² |
| Kingdom of Portugal | 2.2 million km² |
| Safavid Persia | 2 million km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
