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Silesia (; (ポーランド語:Śląsk) ; (:ʃleːziːɛn); Silesian German: ''Schläsing''; (チェコ語:Slezsko); Silesian: ''Ślůnsk'' ; (ラテン語:Silesia)) is a region of Central Europe now located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. It has about and almost 8,000,000 inhabitants. Silesia is located along the Odra river. It consists of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. The region is rich in mineral and natural resources and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city is Wrocław ((ドイツ語:Breslau); (チェコ語:Vratislav)). The biggest metropolitan area is the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, the centre of which is Katowice. Parts of the Czech city of Ostrava fall within the borders of Silesia. Silesia's borders and national affiliation have changed over time, both when it was a hereditary possession of noble houses and after the rise of modern nation-states. The first known states to hold power there were probably those of Greater Moravia at the end of the 9th century and Bohemia early in the 10th century. In the 10th century Silesia was incorporated into the early Polish state, and after its division in the 12th century became a Piast duchy. In the 14th century it became a constituent part of the Bohemian Crown Lands under the Holy Roman Empire, which passed to the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in 1526. Most of Silesia was conquered by Prussia in 1742, later becoming part of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany up to 1945. After World War I the easternmost part of this region, i.e. an eastern strip of Upper Silesia, was awarded to Poland by the Entente Powers after rebellions by Silesian Polish people and the Upper Silesian plebiscite. In 1945, after World War II the bulk of Silesia was transferred to Polish jurisdiction by the Potsdam Agreement of the victorious Allied Powers and became part of Poland. The remaining former Austrian parts of Silesia were partitioned to Czechoslovakia, and are today part of the Czech Republic. The small Lusatian strip west of the Oder-Neisse line, which belonged to Silesia since 1815, remained in Germany. Most inhabitants of Silesia today speak the national languages of their respective countries (Polish, Czech). The population of Upper Silesia is native (with some immigrants from Poland who came in the 19th to 20th centuries), while Lower Silesia was settled by a German-speaking population before 1945. There is an ongoing debate whether a local Silesian speech should be considered a Polish dialect or a separate language. There is also a Lower Silesian German dialect, although today it is almost extinct. ==Etymology== The names of Silesia in the different languages most likely share their etymology—Latin and English: ''Silesia''; Polish: ''Śląsk''; Old Polish: ''Ślążsk()''; Silesian: ''Ślůnsk''; German: ''Schlesien''; Silesian German: ''Schläsing''; Czech: ''Slezsko''; Slovak: ''Sliezsko''; Kashubian: ''Sląsk''; Upper Sorbian: ''Šleska''; Lower Sorbian: ''Šlazyńska''. The names all relate to the name of a river (now Ślęza) and mountain (Mount Ślęża) in mid-southern Silesia. The mountain served as a cultic place. ''Ślęża'' is listed as one of the numerous Pre-Indo-European topographic names in the region (see old European hydronymy).〔 Zbigniew Babik, "Najstarsza warstwa nazewnicza na ziemiach polskich w granicach średniowiecznej Słowiańszczyzny", Uniwersitas, Kraków, 2001.〕 According to some Polish Slavists the name ‘Ślęża’ or ‘Ślęż’ is directly related to the Old Slavic words "ślęg" or "śląg" , which means dampness, moisture or humidity.〔Rudolf Fischer. Onomastica slavogermanica. Uniwersytet Wrocławski. 2007. t. XXVI. 2007. str. 83〕 They disagree with the hypothesis of an origin for the name ''Śląsk'' from the name of the Silings tribe, an etymology preferred by some German authors.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Silesia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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