The easternmost part of Pomerania is alternatively known as Pomerelia, consisting of four sub-regions: Kashubia inhabited by ethnic Kashubians, Kociewie, Tuchola Forest and Chełmno Land.

Farther Pomerania in turn comprises several other historical subregions, most notably the former Principality of Cammin, the Nowogard County, and the Słupsk and Sławno Land.

The Polish unit called województwo zachodniopomorskie (West Pomeranian Voivodeship) includes the whole Polish part of Hither Pomerania, but only the western two-thirds of Farther Pomerania, with the remaining easternmost one-third (Słupsk, Ustka, and Miastko) has been part of the województwo pomorskie ([East-]Pomeranian Voivodeship).

Similarity but to lesser extent, borders of the combined German districts Vorpommern-Rügen and Vorpommern-Greifswald deviate significantly in numerous locations from the historical ones with Mecklenburg and Brandenburg.

Since the late 12th-early 13th century, the Griffin Duchy of Pomerania stayed with the Holy Roman Empire and the Principality of Rugia with Denmark, while Pomerelia, under the ruling of Samborides, was a part of Poland.

[20][21][22][23] Pomerania, during its alliance in the Holy Roman Empire, shared borders with West Slavic state Oldenburg, as well as Poland and the expanding Margraviate of Brandenburg.

In the early 14th century the Teutonic Knights invaded and annexed Pomerelia from Poland into their monastic state, which already included historical Prussia.

As a result of the Teutonic rule, in German terminology the name of Prussia was also extended to conquered Polish lands like Gdańsk Pomerania, although it was not inhabited by Baltic Prussians but Lechitic Poles.

Meanwhile, the Ostsiedlung started to turn Slavic narrow Pomerania into an increasingly German-settled area; the remaining Wends and Polish people, often known as Kashubians, continued to settle within Pomerelia.

[26] In 1466, with the Teutonic Order's defeat in the Thirteen Years' War, Pomerelia became again part of the Polish Crown and formed the Pomeranian Voivodeship within the provinces of Royal Prussia and Greater Poland.

[31] With the extinction of the Griffin house during the same period, the Duchy of Pomerania was divided between the Swedish Empire and Brandenburg-Prussia in 1648, while Pomerelia remained in with the Polish Crown.

Following the German Empire's defeat in World War I, however, eastern Pomerania/Pomerelia was returned to the rebuilt Polish state, while German-majority Gdańsk/Danzig was transformed into the independent Free City of Danzig.

[33] The Sturmabteilung, Schutzstaffel, Hitler Youth and Bund Deutscher Osten launched attacks on Polish institutions, schools and activists.

[36] The Polish population suffered heavily during the Nazi oppression; more than 40,000 died in executions, death camps, prisons and forced labour, primarily those who were teachers, businessmen, priests, politicians, former army officers, and civil servants.

After Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, the German–Polish border was shifted west to the Oder–Neisse line,[39] and all of Pomerania was in the Soviet Occupation Zone.

[40]: 381ff [41][42] Most of Hither or Western Pomerania (Vorpommern) remained in Germany, and most of the expelled Pomeranians found refuge there, later many moved on to other German regions and abroad.

During the 1980s, the Solidarity and Die Wende ("the change") movements overthrew the Communist regimes implemented during the post-war era; since then, Pomerania is democratically governed.

In other parts, Poles are the dominant ethnic group since the territorial changes of Poland after World War II, and the resulting Polonization.

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, however, the dominating Low German standard version is the Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, and Central Pomeranian texts are often rewritten.

Kashubian and East Low German are also spoken by the descendants of émigrées, most notably in the Americas (e.g. Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Canada).

The Diocesan Museum in Pelplin contains one of the finest collections of medieval art in Poland, and the country's sole copy of the Gutenberg Bible.

Key producing industries are shipyards, mechanical engineering facilities (i.e. renewable energy components), and sugar refineries, along with paper and wood fabricators.

[1] Service industries today are an important economical factor in Pomerania, most notably with logistics, information technology, life science, biotechnology, health care, and other high-tech branches often clustering around research facilities of the Pomeranian universities.

Sports enjoying either great popularity or success in Pomerania are football, basketball, speedway, handball, volleyball and rugby union.

Most popular and accomplished football teams are Arka Gdynia, Lechia Gdańsk and Pogoń Szczecin, based in the three largest cities.

Other popular men's clubs are Czarni Słupsk, Spójnia Stargard, Trefl Sopot, Wilki Morskie Szczecin, Polpharma Starogard Gdański.

With ten Polish Championship titles KPS Chemik Police is among the most successful women's volleyball clubs in Poland (as of October 2023).