The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Republic of Both Nations, formally the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania, after 1791 the Commonwealth of Poland, was a
dualistic state, a bi-confederation, of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch,
who was both the king of Poland and the grand duke of Lithuania.
It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th-
and 17th-century Europe. At its peak in the early 17th century, the
Commonwealth spanned some 450,000 square miles (1,200,000 km2) and sustained a
multi-ethnic population of 11 million. The
union was formalized by the Union of Lublin in July 1569, but the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were in a de-facto personal union since 1386 with the
marriage of the Polish female king (as she was crowned as actual ruler) Jadwiga of Poland and Lithuania's Grand
Duke Jogaila, who was crowned King jure uxoris Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland.
The First Partition of Poland in 1772 and the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 greatly reduced
the nation's size and the Commonwealth disappeared as an independent state
following the Third Partition of Poland in 1795.
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