Bukovina

Bukovina

The official German name, die Bukowina, of the province under Austrian rule (1775–1918), was derived from the Polish form Bukowina, which in turn comes from the Slavic word for beech tree. This was due to the fact that from 1775 until 1849, Bukovina was administered as an integral part of neighbouring Galicia, whose internal government was, by active Austrian policy, controlled by Polish bureaucrats and nobles (szlachta). Another German name for region, das Buchenland, is mostly used in poetry, and means "beech land", or "the land of beech trees".

During the Middle Ages, the region was the northwestern third of "Tara de Sus" (Upper Country in Romanian) part of the Moldavian Principality, as opposed to "Tara de Jos" (Lower Country). The region was the cradle of the Moldavian Principality, and remained its political center until 1574, when its capital was moved from Suceava to Iasi.