Galicia

views updated Jun 27 2018

Galicia Region of se Poland (Western Galicia) and w Ukraine (Eastern Galicia), on the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains (n) and bordering the Czech Republic (s). The major cities are Kraków (Poland) and Lvov (Ukraine). After passing to Austria in 1772, Galicia became the centre of Hasidism. After World War I, Poland seized Western Galicia and was awarded Eastern Galicia at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The 1939 partition of Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union gave most of Eastern Galicia to the Ukraine, a position ratified by the 1945 Polish-Soviet Treaty. The region is predominantly agricultural. Area: 78,500sq km (30,309sq mi).