Traditional Village System – Case Study from the Krempna Commune (Poland)

The study was conducted within the actual area of Krempna commune in Jaslo county Podkarpackie voivodeship in Poland. Historical data and maps were analysed using the ArcGIS 10.3 program. The changes in the number of villages, householders and human population were presented. Religious composition for the year 1785 and ethnic composition for the year 1939 were evaluated. Only in the case of Ukrainian population, the Moran’s test has shown dispersed distribution (Index Moran’s for Ukrainians = −0.478664; Z = −1.684100; P = 0.092162). The total number of householders increased from 915 in the year 1785 to 1,409 householders in the year 1939 and decreased to 349 in the year 1965 and 333 in the year 2018. The traditional village system (TVS) of Krempna commune was depopulated after World War II. As a result, the agricultural abandonment and forest succession developed. Class area (CA) of settlements decreased from 1174.02 ha in the year 1939 to 248.13 ha in the year 1965 and 240.2 ha in the year 2018, and CA of forests increased from 7,268.20 ha in the year 1939 to 15,465.20 ha in the year 1965 and 15,841.3 ha in the year 2018. Villages that had begun the core of TVS together with tserkvas and chapels in the centre of village, roadside crosses and traditional private farms were lost. The scale and results of such changes are interesting for future research, mainly in terms of change in TVS infrastructure and culture.