Kociewie is an ethnocultural region in the eastern part of Tuchola Forest, in northern Poland, Pomerania, south of Gdańsk. 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.
Kociewie
Kociewie | |
---|---|
Ethnocultural region | |
Countries | Poland |
Largest cities | Starogard Gdański, Tczew, Świecie, Pelplin (Traditional capital) |
Demonym | Pomeranian |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article titled Kociewiacy. (Discuss) (January 2024) |
The Kociewiacy are a Polish[1] ethnographical group. Most of the Kociewiacy are Roman Catholics. They live next to a far more prominent ethnic group in the area, the Kashubians. In the 2011 census, 3065 individuals declared themselves as Kociewiacy (3053 combined this identification with Polish identification – they stated that they were Polish, but emphasized their Kociewie region), an increase since the census of 2002, when nobody identified as such.[2] The Kocievian dialect, unlike Kashubian, is mostly intelligible with mainstream Polish language. Despite geographic proximity, these two dialects are very dissimilar, with Kocievian being much closer to Kuyavian, to the point of some scholars calling it a variant of that dialect.[3]
The IETF language tags have assigned the variant pl-kociewie
to the Kociewie dialect of Polish.[4]
World Kociewie Day (Światowy Dzień Kociewia) is an annual celebration taking place on 10 February. The date is commemorated as the first known mention of Kociewia in the historical record.[5]
Various towns across the region also hold independent celebrations of Kociewian culture including the annual Kociewian Day (Dzień Kociewski) held in Nowe[6] and the Festival of Kociewie (Święto Kociewia) which takes place annually in Tczew.[7][8]
The Kociewian Congress (Kongres Kociewski) is a periodic event held since 1995 which takes place in Tczew.[9] At the sixth Congress in 2022 a competition to design a national flag was announced.[10]
In 2023 the first joint Kashubian-Kociewian Congress of Self-Government was instituted. The Congress took place on 22 July in Wejherowo and invited guests included the then Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki.[11]
The city of Starogard Gdański is home to the Museum of the Kociewian Lands (Muzeum Ziemi Kociewskiej) which displays historical and ethnographic exhibits related to the region. The museum has a research library and hosts regular educational and cultural events.[12]
The Centre of Kociewian Culture (Centrum Kultury Kociewskiej), located in Lalkowy, focuses on the industrial and agricultural heritage of the region.[13]
The Museum of the History of the Polish Peasant Movement (Muzeum Historii Polskiego Ruchu Ludowego) in Piaseczno houses a collection of agricultural artefacts from the Kociewian region.[14]
The Festival of Kociewian Folk is an annual music event which takes place in Piaseczno.[15]
The ethnocultural identity of Kociewia has been adopted by various football teams including KP Starogard Gdański, Unia Tczew, and Wisła Tczew all of which have taken on the moniker Duma Kociewia (Pride of Kociewia) as club nicknames. The basketball club SKS Starogard Gdański has the nickname Kociewskie diabły (Kociewian Devils), while the athletics club LLKS Ziemi Kociewskiej Skórcz incorporates the region's identity into their club name as did the now defunct sports association KS Agro-Kociewie Starogard Gdański.[16]
Pultrowanie is a common Kociewian custom whereby neighbours and guests will smash glass on the doorstep of the bride’s house the evening before her wedding.[17]
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.[18] |
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. |
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.[19]