and its tributaries, including the Notec River. The region is distinguished from Lesser Poland with the lowland landscape, and from both Lesser Poland and Mazovia with its numerous lakes. In the strict meaning, it covers an area of about 33000 km2, and has a population of 3.5 million. In the wider sense, it has almost 60000 km2, and 7 million inhabitants.

The region's main metropolis is Poznan, near the