It is a flat and deforested region comprising wetlands and agricultural plains that cover approximately 1,700 squared kilometres, with much of the land being situated below sea level.

Żuławy Wiślane extend from Poland's Pomerania Province in the west to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in the east, roughly between the cities of Elbląg, Malbork, Tczew and Gdańsk.

Żuławy are also categorised as an ethnographic region, historically settled by immigrant Mennonites from Germany and the Netherlands (Friesland) who became collectively known as Hollanders, or Olęders in Polish.

The first traces of settlements reach back to the period between 2,500 and 1,700 BC, being proved by excavation sites from Niedźwiedziówka, Lubieszewo, Ostaszewo, Kaczynos, Kończewice, Krasnołęka, Lasowice Wielkie or Lichnowy.

Before the thirteenth century population was generally restricted to morainic heights around the delta, in the surroundings of Gdańsk, Miłobądzu, Gorzędzieju, Lichnowach and Węgrach (the Slavic people), and alongside lake Drużno and Wysoczyźnie Elbląskiej (for Old Prussians).

In a space of one hundred years, the Slavic settlements reached the line Płonia Wielka, Cedry Wielkie, Ostaszewo, Lubieszewo, Świerki, Malbork.

After Poland regained independence in 1918, the settlements neither stayed in Germany nor were they included in the new Polish state; instead, they became part of the Free City of Danzig.

The Kuršininkai were considered Latvians until after World War I when Latvia gained independence from the Russian Empire, a consideration based on linguistic arguments.