Lusatia

Lusatia (/luːˈseɪʃiə, -ʃə/; German: Lausitz [ˈlaʊzɪts] ^ⓘ; Polish: Łużyce [wuˈʐɨt͡sɛ] ^ⓘ; Upper Sorbian: Łužica [ˈwuʒitsa]; Lower Sorbian: Łužyca [ˈwuʒɨtsa]; Czech: Lužice [ˈluʒɪt͡sɛ]), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, territorially split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Pulsnitz and Black Elster rivers in the west, and is located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg and the Polish voivodeships of Lower Silesia and Lubusz. Major rivers of Lusatia are the Spree and the Lusatian Neisse, which defines the border between Germany and Poland. The Lusatian Mountains of the Western Sudetes separate Lusatia from Bohemia (Czech Republic) in the south. Lusatia is traditionally divided into Upper Lusatia, the hilly southern part, and Lower Lusatia, the flat northern part.

The areas east and west along the Spree in the German part of Lusatia are home to the Slavic Sorbs, one of Germany’s four officially recognized indigenous ethnic minorities. The Upper Sorbs inhabit Saxon Upper Lusatia, and the Lower Sorbs Brandenburgian Lower Lusatia. Upper and Lower Sorbian are spoken in the German parts of Upper and Lower Lusatia respectively, and the signage there is mostly bilingual.

Tacitus states that this entire region was part of Germania and that in and before the second century was populated by Germanic tribes. From the seventh century Slavs began migrating into this region. Subsequently it has been ruled variously by Germany, Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary.

The Lusatian Lake District is Europe's largest artificial lake district. The village of Herrnhut (Ochranow) is the seat of the Moravian Church. Muskau Park in Bad Muskau (Mužakow) and Łęknica is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Tropical Islands Resort, a large water park housed in a former airship hangar that is the biggest free-standing hall in the world, is located in the north of Lusatia. The closest international airport to Lusatia is Dresden Airport in Klotzsche (Kłóčow).

The largest Lusatian city is Cottbus (Chóśebuz), with nearly 100,000 inhabitants. Other notable towns are the former members of the Lusatian League: the German/Polish twin towns of Görlitz (Zhorjelc) and Zgorzelec, Bautzen (Budyšin), Zittau (Žitawa), Lubań, Kamenz (Kamjenc), and Löbau (Lubij)), as well as Żary, the German/Polish twin towns of Guben (Gubin) and Gubin, Hoyerswerda (Wojerecy), Senftenberg (Zły Komorow), Eisenhüttenstadt (Pśibrjog), and Spremberg (Grodk).

The name derives from the Sorbian word łužicy meaning "swamps" or "water-hole"^{[citation needed]}, Germanized as Lausitz. Lusatia is the Latinized form which spread in the English and Romance languages area.

Lusatia comprises two both scenically and historically different parts: a hilly southern "upper" section and a "lower" region, which belongs to the North European Plain. The border between Upper and Lower Lusatia is roughly marked by the course of the Black Elster river at Senftenberg and its eastern continuation toward the Silesian town of Przewóz on the Lusatian Neisse. Neighbouring regions were Silesia in the east, Bohemia in the south, the Margraviate of Meissen, and the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg in the west as well as the Margraviate of Brandenburg (Mittelmark) in the north.

Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz, Łużyce Górne or Hornja Łužica) is today part of the German states of Saxony (most of its territory) and Brandenburg (Tettau, Lindenau, Bärhaus, Frauendorf, Burkersdorf, Kroppen, Heinersdorf, Ruhland, Arnsdorf, Jannowitz, Hermsdorf, Lipsa, Biehlen, Schwarzbach, Guteborn, Niemtsch, Peickwitz, Hohenbocka, Grünewald, Sella and Hosena); part east of the Neisse River around Lubań now belongs to the Polish Lower Silesian voivodeship. It consists of hilly countryside rising in the South to the Lusatian Highlands near the Czech border, and then even higher to form the Zittau Hills, the small northern part of the Lusatian Mountains (Lužické hory/Lausitzer Gebirge) in the Czech Republic.