In the wider sense, it also encompassed Sieradz, Łęczyca, Brześć Kujawski and Inowrocław voivodeships, which were situated further east, and the Santok Land, located to the northwest.

[1] The region in the proper sense roughly coincides with the present-day Greater Poland Voivodeship (Polish: województwo wielkopolskie).

For example, the Rogalin Landscape Park is famous for about 2000 monumental oak trees growing on the flood plain of the river Warta, among numerous ox-bow lakes.

It was a unique protective privilege for Jews during their persecution in Western Europe, which in the following centuries made Poland the destination of Jewish migration from other countries.

King Casimir III the Great regained parts of northwestern Greater Poland, including Drezdenko in 1365 and Wałcz, Czaplinek and Człopa in 1368.

Allied Poles and Czech Hussites captured several towns of Teutonic-held northwestern Greater Poland, including Dobiegniew and Strzelce Krajeńskie, during the Polish–Teutonic War of 1431–1435.

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

During World War I, Germany also occupied eastern Greater Poland, and in August 1914, the German Army carried out the destruction of Kalisz.

Following the end of World War I, the Greater Poland uprising (1918–19) 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).

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

[11] The invading troops committed multiple massacres of Polish civilians and prisoners of war, including at Kłecko, Zdziechowa, Mogilno, Trzemeszno, Niewolno, Winiary, Wągrowiec, Mielno, Jankowo Dolne, Podlesie Kościelne and Obora.

[12] Afterwards, the occupiers launched the Intelligenzaktion genocidal campaign against the Polish population, and annexed the entire region into Nazi Germany.

[17] Major sites of massacres of Poles in the region included Dopiewiec, Dębienko, Winiary, Mędzisko, Paterek, Łobżenica, Górka Klasztorna, Kobylniki and Bukowiec.

[23] After their stay in the camp, the children were deported to Germany; only some returned to Poland after the war, while the fate of many remains unknown to this day.

[21] Due to poor feeding and sanitary conditions, epidemics spread in those camps, which, combined with frequent executions, led to a high mortality rate.

[29] A particularly notorious prison camp was operated in Żabikowo, where mostly Poles were imprisoned, but also Luxembourgers, Dutch, Hungarians, Slovaks, Americans, Russians and deserters from the Wehrmacht, and many were tortured and executed.

[30] The Polish resistance movement was active in the region, including the Union of Armed Struggle, Bataliony Chłopskie, Gray Ranks and Home Army.

[38] From August 1944 to January 1945, the Germans used hundreds of thousands of Poles as forced labour to build fortifications in the region ahead of the advancing Eastern Front.

With the reforms of 1975 it was divided into seven provinces, partially or wholly located in Greater Poland (the voivodeships of Bydgoszcz, Gorzów, Kalisz, Konin, Leszno, Piła and Poznań).

The region is rich in historical architecture of various styles from Romanesque and Gothic through Renaissance and Baroque to Neoclassical and Art Nouveau.

Several castles and palaces house museums, such as those in Dobrzyca, Gołuchów, Jarocin, Kołaczkowo, Koźmin Wielkopolski, Kórnik, Międzyrzecz, Poznań, Rogalin and Śmiełów.

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

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

Field hockey enjoys less popularity, however, the region is dominant in the sport in Poland, with 80 of the 86 men's Polish Championships won by local teams (as of October 2023).