| dc.description.abstract | During annexation, ten provinces in the eastern region of the Republic of
Poland became part of the Russian Empire. These provinces were kurlandzka,
kowieńska, wileńska, grodzieńska, witebska, mińska, mohylewska, wołyńska,
podolska and kijowska.
In the middle of the 19th century, forests accounted for 33% of the area of
the eastern part of the Republic of Poland. At the same time, however, forests
covered 30.4% of the Kingdom of Poland.
Twenty years later (1870), the area of forest in the eastern region of Republic of Poland fell to 26.4%, and in the Kingdom of Poland, to 27.3%. In the same
period, forests covered 41.6% of the European part of Russia, more than 20% of
Germany, and less than 4% of England.
Before the outbreak of World War I, the area of forest in the eastern area of
the Republic of Poland was larger (23.2%) than that in the Kingdom of Poland (18.6%). The most important reason for this could be the dynamic development
of industry that occurred in the Kingdom of Poland.
In the 19th century the Kingdom of Poland included four, large, industrial
districts: staropolski, warszawski, łódzki i sosnowiecko-częstochowski.
Whilst the decreasing forest area reduced the natural resource base of
Polish lands, it actually resulted in greater economic development, in particular
in the industrial sector. However, the reduction resulted in more frequent flooding of rivers and increased soil erosion. | pl_PL |
