Historical region, northwest-central Europe, on the Baltic Sea between the Vistula rivers.
Occupied by Slavs and other peoples, it was ruled by Polish princes in the 10th century. German immigration into western and central Pomerania began in the late 12th century. Eastern Pomerania was held by the Knights of the {{link=Teutonic Order">Teutonic Order from 1308 until it was reconquered by Poland in 1466. Polish dukes ruled those regions under the Holy Roman Empire until the 17th century. The elector of Brandenburg acquired the duchies in 1637. Prussia united western and central Pomerania in 1815 as the province of Pommern. Most of the area is now in Poland; its westernmost section is in eastern Germany.