It was one of the leading and fastest developing regions of Poland, with municipal rights modeled after Poznań and Kalisz becoming the basis of municipal form of government for several towns in the region, as two of five local Polish variants of medieval town rights.

However, this prowincja covered a larger area than the Greater Poland region itself, also taking in Kuyavia, Masovia and Royal Prussia.

However, following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Greater Poland was again partitioned, with the western part (including Poznań) going to Prussia.

Within the Prussian empire, western Greater Poland became the Grand Duchy of Posen (Poznań), which theoretically held some autonomy.

Following the end of World War I, the Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919) ensured that most of the region became part of the newly independent Polish state, forming most of Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939).

Northern and some western parts of Greater Poland remained in Germany, where they formed much of the province of Posen-West Prussia (1922–1938), whose capital was Schneidemühl (Piła).

The Polish population was oppressed, with many former officials and others considered potential enemies by the Nazis being imprisoned or executed, including at the notorious Fort VII concentration camp in Poznań.

These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2019[6]): Towns: The relief of Greater Poland, geological conditions and soil have been shaped by two glaciations: The highest elevation is Greater Kobyla Mountain (284 m (932 ft)) in the Ostrzeszowski Hills, the lowest area is located in the valley of the Warta River at the mouth of its tributary the Noteć (21 m (69 ft)) in the north-western part of the region.

The main mineral energy resources in Greater Poland are lignite, natural gas, oil and peat.

An abundance of raw materials used in the production of numerous medicines was recently discovered in the muds of Błażejewo, Oderbank and Mechnacz.

The area is situated in the Silesian Greater Poland agro-climatic region where the average annual temperature is about 8.2 °C, and in the north drops to around 7.6 °C.

There is also a major highway in the province, the A2 motorway, which when completed will run from the western border of Poland with Germany, through Poznań to Warsaw and then via Belarus to Moscow.

The main railway hubs located in Greater Poland are Poznań, Piła and Ostrów Wielkopolski.

PKP Intercity operate a number of trains a day between Warsaw and Berlin which provide a fast connection for the two cities also to Poznań.

the government expects to construct a high-speed rail line in the shape of a Y connecting Kalisz and Poznań from Łódź, Warsaw and Wrocław.

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 40.4 billion € in 2018, accounting for 8.1% of Polish economic output.

[10] The Greater Poland voivodeship's government is headed by the province's voivode (governor) who is appointed by the Polish Prime Minister.

The current voivode of Greater Poland is Łukasz Mikołajczyk, whilst the present marshal is Marek Woźniak.

The voivodeship is abundant in palaces, including in Antonin (often visited by Fryderyk Chopin), Czempiń, Kobylniki, Kołaczkowo (former home of Nobel Prize-winning novelist Władysław Reymont), Objezierze (visited by writers Adam Mickiewicz and Józef Ignacy Kraszewski) and Śmiełów (former place of stay of Adam Mickiewicz).

various types of kiełbasa), cheeses, honeys, beverages and various dishes and meals, officially protected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland.

Notable centers of traditional meat production include Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Krotoszyn, Kruszewnia, Nowy Tomyśl, Ostrzeszów, Rawicz, Trzcianka and Złotniki, whereas centers of traditional cheese and quark production include Wągrowiec, Gniezno, Kępno, Oborniki, Witkowo, Witoldzin and Września.

Other traditional Polish beers, officially protected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland, are produced in Bojanowo, Czarnków and Miłosław.