Polesie

Polesie (Polish spelling, Palyessye (Palesse) in Belarusian, Polissya in Ukrainian) is one of the largest European swampy areas, located in the South-Western part of the Eastern-European Lowland. The meaning of the word polesie is close to "woodland".

Polesie lies within the territories of Belarus, Ukraine and Poland.

Locals are called Poleszuk (in Polish), or Poliszuk (in local dialect), Poleshchuk (in Russian), Palyashchuk (in Belarusian)).

Geography

Polesie is a flatland within the watersheds of the Western Bug and Pripyat river. The two rivers are connected by the Dnepr-Bug canal, built during the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last king of Poland.

Among the numerous tributaries of the Pripyat are worthwhile mentioning the Horyn (Goryn), Stokhod(Stokhod, Stokhid), Styr, Ptich(Ptycz), Yasielda (Jasolda) rivers. The lagest towns in the Pripyat basin are Pinsk, Stolin, Davyd-Gorodok. Huge marshes have been considerably reclaimed in the 60s - 80s of the XX century to increase the area of farming land. As a matter of fact, the reclamation is believed to have badly affected the biosphere and the climate along the course of the Pripyat.