It is one of the wealthiest provinces in Poland, as natural resources such as copper, brown coal and rock materials are widely present.

The region withstood German invasions with decisive Polish victories at Niemcza (1017) and Głogów (1109), both commemorated with monuments.

It was divided into small realms reigned by Silesian branches of Piast dukes after the testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth in 1138.

Wrocław was mentioned as one of three centers of the Kingdom of Poland, along with Kraków and Sandomierz, in the early-12th-century Gesta principum Polonorum chronicle.

With the Ostsiedlung, the cultural and ethnic Germanic influence grew with an influx of immigrants from the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, and since the 1330s when it was subjugated to the Kingdom of Bohemia, although large portions of Lower Silesia still formed Polish-ruled duchies under the houses of Piast, Jagiellon and Sobieski, some up to the 17th and 18th century.

Medieval municipal rights modeled after Lwówek Śląski and Środa Śląska, both established by Henry the Bearded, became the basis of municipal form of government for several cities and towns in Poland, and two of five local Polish variants of medieval town rights.

In 1469, Lower Silesia passed to Hungary, and in 1490 it fell back to Bohemia, then ruled by the Jagiellonian dynasty, then together with it became part of the Habsburg monarchy (1526).

There was also a camp for kidnapped Polish children up to 5 years of age deemed "racially worthless" in Wąsosz,[6] and a youth prison in Wołów with several forced labour subcamps in the region,[7] whereas Kamieniec Ząbkowicki was the place of Aktion T4 murders of mentally ill children by involuntary euthanasia.

Although much of the region is relatively low-lying, Lower Silesia includes the Sudeten Foreland, as well as part of the Sudetes mountain range, that runs along the Polish/Czech border.

Ski resorts in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship include Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba in the Karkonosze mountains.

Wrocław Główny is the largest railway station in Poland, serving an average of 21.2 million passengers annually.

The voivodeship contains 11 spa towns (Długopole-Zdrój, Duszniki-Zdrój, Jedlina-Zdrój, Kudowa-Zdrój, Lądek-Zdrój, Polanica-Zdrój, Przerzeczyn-Zdrój, Szczawno-Zdrój, Świeradów-Zdrój), more than any other province of Poland.

Other rather unique historic structures include the Skull Chapel in Kudowa-Zdrój and the Vang Stave Church in Karpacz.

The Ducal Tower in Siedlęcin contains one of the best preserved medieval frescos in Poland, and the world's only in situ depiction of Sir Lancelot.

A portion of the underground structures built as part of the unfinished Nazi German Project Riese is available for tourists.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 41.1 billion euro in 2018, accounting for 8.3% of the Polish economic output.