Names of Poland

[3] The full official name of the Polish state is Rzeczpospolita Polska which translates to "Republic of Poland".

Originally it was a generic term used to denote any state with a republican or similar form of government.

Gervase of Tilbury wrote in his Otia imperialia ("Recreation for an Emperor", 1211): Inter Alpes Huniae et Oceanum est Polonia, sic dicta in eorum idiomate quasi Campania.

In the 17th–18th centuries, Sarmaci ("Sarmatians") was a popular name by which Polish nobles referred to themselves (see Sarmatism).

The earliest recorded mention of "Poland" is found in a Latin text written in 1003 and titled "Annales Hildesheimenses": "Heinricus Berthaldi comitis filius, et Bruno frater regis, et ambo Bolizavones, Polianicus vide licet ac Boemicus, a rege infideliter maiestatis rei deficient."

In English: Henry, son of Berthold, and Bruno, brother of the king, and both Boleslaws, Polish and Czech, left the circle of friends of the Emperor.

Other Germanic languages use related exonyms: Non-Germanic languages which borrowed their word for Poland from Germanic include: The Lendians, a Proto-Polish tribe who lived around the confluence of the rivers Vistula and San (south-eastern Poland), are the source of another exonym.

An 18th century map labeled "Poland"
A Denarius from the 11th century with the Latin name "Polonie".
Poland of 11th century under Bolesław I the Brave .
Name "Polonia" in 11th century Annales Quedlinburgenses .
11th century „ Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum Adam of Bremen note Polans "trans Oddaram sunt Polanos".
Depiction of the legendary ruler Lech , with the description: "Lech the first prince of Poland"
Coat of arms of Poland
Coat of arms of Poland