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Kociewie Kociewie
Ethnocultural region
Flag Coat of arms
Countries	Poland
Largest cities	Starogard Gdański, Tczew, Świecie, Pelplin (Traditional capital)
Demonym	Pomeranian
Time zone	UTC+1 ( CET)
• Summer ( DST)	UTC+2 ( CEST)

Kociewie is an ethnocultural region in the eastern part of Tuchola Forest, in northern Poland, Pomerania, that is inhabited by the Kociewians. Its cultural capital is Starogard Gdański, the biggest town is Tczew, while other major towns include Świecie, Pelplin, and Skórcz. The region has about 250,000 inhabitants. It has well-developed industry and agriculture.

History

Prehistory

The earliest inhabitants of what is now Kociewie are believed to have been from the Upper Paleolithic period. Evidence of the Linear Pottery culture has been unearthed in the region, and a neolithic settlement discovered at Barłożno. ^[1] Archeological evidence from Tczew County indicates that the Kociewian lands were inhabited by people from the prehistoric Funnelbeaker culture. Later Iron Age settlements and cemeteries have also been uncovered in the same area. ^[2]

19th century

The first known mention of the region in the historical record dates to 10 February 1807 when the name Gociewie was used in correspondence between Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and one of his Lieutenant colonels’ during the Greater Poland Uprising. ^[3] Although, it is likely that the name Kociewie had been in use since the late Middle Ages. ^[4]

In the mid-19 century the linguist Florian Ceynowa described the inhabitants of Kociewie; he named the people around Gniew and Pelplin as the Fetrów and Kociewiem respectively, distinguished by their melodic accents, who farmed pigs and horses. To their north were the Pola of the fields around Starogard Gdański. ^[5]

WWII

Following the Nazi invasion of Poland Kociewie was declared part of the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia on 8 October 1939, with its judicial institutions being incorporated into the German system of regional, national, and Higher National courts the following year. ^[6]

Geography

Largest cities and towns

	City	Population	Voivodeship before 1772	Voivodeship since 1999	Additional information
1.	Tczew	59 111	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Largest settlement in Kociewie by population.
2.	Starogard Gdański	47 272	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Historical capital of Kociewie, and second largest city by population.
3.	Świecie	25 614	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship	Former stewardship of Duke Grzymisław.
4.	Pelplin	8320	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Site of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.
5.	Skarszewy	6468	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Known as the Pearl of Pomerania, it was the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship from 1613.
6.	Gniew	6870	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Capital of the independent Republic of Gniew between 1919-1920. [7]
7.	Nowe	6252	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship	Founded by Sobieslaw I.
8.	Skórcz	3512	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Located in Starogard County.
9.	Czarna Woda	2735	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Pomeranian Voivodeship	Known as Czôrnô Wòda in Kashubian.

Genetics

In a 2013 study, Y-DNA haplogroups among the Polish population indigenous to Kociewie (n=158) were reported as follows:

56.3% R1a, 17.7% R1b, 8.2% I1, 7.6% I2, 3.8% E1b1b, 1.9% N1, 1.9% J and 2% of other haplogroups. ^[8]

See also

• Kashubia
• Kuyavia

References