MASURIAN LAKELAND

Polish Pojezierze Mazurskie lake district, northeastern Poland. It is a 20,000-square-mile (52,000-square-kilometre) area immediately to the south of the Baltic coastal plains and extends 180 miles (290 km) eastward from the lower Vistula River to the Poland-Belarus border. It includes the wojewdztwa (provinces) of Elblag, Olsztyn, Suwalki, Torun, Ostroleka, and Lomza. There are more than 2,000 lakes, originally formed by meltwaters from the Vistula ice sheet, in the district. Shallow proglacial stream valleys in the region contain marshes and sand dunes. The morainal Dylewska Hills, which rise to about 1,000 feet (300 m), are southwest of the city of Olsztyn. Fertile black and brown soils are found in the western part of the district and produce wheat and sugar beets; sandy soils in the eastern part of the district produce potatoes and rye. The principal urban centres are Elblag, Olsztyn, and Elk.