Western Krai

Western Krai (Russian: Западный край, literally Western Land) was an unofficial name for the westernmost parts of the Russian Empire, excluding the territory of Congress Poland^[1] (which was sometimes referred to as Vistula Krai). The term encompasses the lands annexed by the Russian Empire in the successive partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 18th century – in 1772, 1793, 1795 and located east of Congress Poland.^[1] This area is known in Poland as Ziemie Zabrane (Taken Lands, Stolen Lands)^[2] but is most often referred to in Polish historiography and common parlance as part of Zabór Rosyjski (the Russian Take). Together with Bessarabia and the former Crimean Khanate, the territory roughly overlapped also with the Jewish Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire, and included much of what is today Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania.