Zakerzonia

Zakerzonia (Ukrainian: Закерзоння, romanized: Zakerzonnia, lit. 'Trans-Curzonia'; Polish: Zakerzonie) is an informal name for the territories of Poland to the west of the Curzon Line which used to have sizeable Ukrainian (old name: Rusyn/Ruthenian) populations, including significant Lemko, Boyko populations, before the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in 1939, and were claimed as ethnically Ukrainian territories by Ukrainian nationalists in the aftermath of World War II. However, before 1939, the areas of Zakerzonia were mostly inhabited by Poles, who constituted about 70% of the population of this area. Ukrainians lived in a minority in Zakerzonia, constituting about 20% of the area's population. "Zakerzonia" stands for "territory beyond the Curzon line", or in Ukrainian "Zakerzons'kyi krai". The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), at the height of their control of the territories, claimed plans of creation of Transcurzon Republic. The demography of Zakerzonia drastically changed by forcible resettlement of the Ukrainians, with ethnic cleansing operations being the resettlement of Ukrainians from Poland to the Soviet Union (1944–1946) and Operation Vistula (1947). Therefore, Poles today constitute over 95% of the population of Zakerzonia.