Prussia (, , ) is a
historical region stretching from
Gdansk Bay to the end of
Curonian Spit on the southeastern coast of the
Baltic Sea, and extending inland as far as
Masuria. The territory and inhabitants were described by
Tacitus in
Germania in AD 98, where Suebi, Goths and other Germanic people lived on both sides of the
Vistula River, adjacent to
Aesti (further east). About 800–900 years later the Aesti were named
Old Prussians, who since AD 997 repeatedly successfully defended against take-over attempt by the newly created Duchy of the
Polans. The territory of the Prussians and neighboring
Couronians and
Livonians was in the 1230s under Papal Order established as
Teutonic Order State. Prussia was politically divided in the period 1466-1772, with western Prussia under protection of the crown of Poland-Lithuania and eastern Prussia a Polish fief until 1660. The unity of both parts of Prussia remained preserved by retaining its borders, citizenship and authonomy until western and eastern Prussia were also politically re-united under the
Kingdom of Prussia. It is famous for many lakes, as well as forests and hills. Since the military conquest by the Soviet Army in 1945 and the expulsion of the inhabitants it divided between northern
Poland (most of the
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship),
Russia's
Kaliningrad exclave, and southwestern
Lithuania (
Klaipeda Region). The former German state of
Prussia (1701–1947) derived its name from the region.