Volhynia

Volhynia (also spelled Volynia), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and western Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but the territory that still carries the name is Volyn Oblast, in western Ukraine. Volhynia has changed hands numerous times throughout history and been divided among competing powers. For centuries it was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the Russian annexation during the Partitions of Poland, all of Volhynia was made part of the Pale of Settlement on the southwestern border of the Russian Empire. Important cities include Zhytomyr, Rivne, Lutsk, Zviahel, and Volodymyr. Names and etymology ; ; or ; ; ; ; ; or (both ); Volhynian German: , , or (all ); . The alternative name for the region is Lodomeria after the city of Volodymyr, which was once a political capital of the medieval Volhynian Principality. According to some historians, the region is named after a semi-legendary city of Volin or Velin, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come from the Proto-Slavic root 'wet'. In other versions, the city was located over to the west of Volodymyr near the mouth of the River, a tributary of the Western Bug.