Polish historic regions are regions that were related to a former Polish state, or are within present-day Poland, with or without being identified in its administrative divisions. There are several historic and cultural regions in Poland that are called ethnographic regions. Their exact borders cannot be drawn, as the regions are not official political or administrative units. They are delimited by culture, such as country traditions, traditional lifestyle, songs, tales, etc. To some extent, the regions correspond to the zones of Polish language dialects. The correspondence, however, is by no means strict.

Historical regions within the current Polish state

The following historic regions within Poland's modern borders belonged to the Polish state during most of its existence, inhabited by a majority or a sizeable Polish- or Cashubian-speaking population, thus forming the core Polish territory: Another group of territories constituted (either directly or as a fief) a part of the Polish state for varying amounts of time, ranging from episodes in the Middle Ages (e.g. Kłodzko Land, Lusatia) to several hundreds of years in the case of most, like Silesia, Warmia and Powiśle. Among them, only Warmia, Powiśle, southern Masuria, as well as Upper, Cieszyn and eastern and northern Lower Silesia retained sizeable Polish-speaking populations into the beginning of 20th century. Regions forming part of Poland since first historic rulers Mieszko I and Bolesław I the Brave of the Piast dynasty: Regions forming part of Poland since the Late Middle Ages and the Jagiellonian dynasty:

Historical regions of former Polish states, currently entirely outside current Polish borders

Outside Poland are several historic regions which were once part of medieval Poland, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth or the Second Polish Republic. While these regions are important for Polish history, calling them Polish is in some cases controversial, as most of them, with the exceptions of Vilnius Region in Dzūkija, or Black Ruthenia, were either never or centuries ago predominantly populated by ethnic Poles and now lie beyond the borders of Poland. Regions either partially or entirely first included within Poland under the Piast dynasty (10th century–1370) are: Regions first included within Poland under the Jagiellonian dynasty (1386–1572), also by the Polish–Lithuanian union, are: Regions first under Polish suzerainty under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth: