Formation of farmlands and their arrangement in the Polish region of Orawa

Abstract

Farmlands in the Polish region of Orawa are relatively small and they resemble the chequered pattern (mosaic of lands). The above have been created by farmers who have cultivated the land in difficult highland conditions throughout the centuries. Walachian law played an important role in the settlement of people in Orawa. Law regulations required to start the sequences of villages. The early land divisions were mapped out by lands of forests. The created farmlands were then divided into narrower areas. Finally, the narrow pieces of land were subdivided athward. Nowadays farmlands are rather small and oblong. In consequence of multiple land division contemporary farmlands create chequerted pattern. In the past there were used rare area units, such as snur, rzimski, sóstka, gracjarz.