PHYSIOGRAPHY and SOILS
Jewish Central Poland and the 17 shtetls sit exactly in the centre of Europe’s 9th largest country— surrounded by the larger metropolises of Warsaw, Lodz and Bygodocz. The area is known as the Central Lowlands of the North European Plain—a large area all under 300m elevation. To the south the land rises due to the upland Carpathian Mountain Range, rising to 2500m above sea level. Poland largest river, is the Vistula (Wisla) which flows northwest from Warsaw and bends northward abruptly at Wloclawek before ending up at Gdansk and the Baltic. Scattered tributaries including the Warta and Oder flow through many of the shtetls and farm lands.
Jewish Central Poland, an area of approximately 100 km x 80 km is entirely in this drainage basin, flanking the Vistula on the south bank between Plock and Wloclawek. The soils are typically low to moderately fertile although the Kuyawy-Pomorskie region represent some of the better soils of central Poland due to the proximity of the Vistula and favourable glacial and floodplain deposits. Agricultural products grains and root crops grown are about 70% /30% ratio however yields have always been low throughout the 20th century.
Sources: Map Wikipedia
Britannica Szablowski, J. The_Vistula_River_and_water_managem.pdf