Ziemia

Ziemia (Polish pronunciation: [ˈʑɛmja], Land) is a historical unit of administration in Poland. In the Polish language, the term is not capitalized (ziemia chełmińska, Chelmno Land; not Ziemia Chełmińska). All ziemias are named after main urban centers (or gords) of a given area: ziemia krakowska (after Krakow), or ziemia lubelska (after Lublin). In some cases, the suffix "-szczyzna" is added to the name of a ziemia: ziemia lubelska is also called Lubelszczyzna, while ziemia opolska (named after Opole) - Opolszczyzna.

The term ziemia appeared for the first time in medieval Poland (12th-13th centuries), after the fragmentation of Poland. It referred to a former princedom or duchy, which was unified with the Polish Kingdom, and lost its political sovereignty, but retained its hierarchy of officials and bureaucracy. From around the 14th century some of the former princedoms, now ziemias, were assigned to officials known as voivodes and became primary units of administration known as voivodeships (provinces). Therefore, the Duchy of Sandomierz was turned into the Land of Sandomierz, which in the early 14th century became Sandomierz Voivodeship.

...
Wikipedia