Okolina

Okolina is a Polish noun meaning the surrounding area of a place—the vicinity or environs. It refers to the zone immediately around a city, town, landmark, or geographic feature and is used in geography, urban planning, and historical descriptions to denote the local hinterland that interacts with the central locality.

The concept is not an administrative unit; its boundaries are flexible and defined by the purpose of analysis. For example, planners may describe the economic or transport catchment of a town, the ecological corridor around a protected area, or the residential hinterland of a suburban center as its okolina. In historical sources, okolina may be used to indicate lands or jurisdictions that are in the vicinity of a town or fortification.

In linguistic usage, related terms include okolica (vicinity), okoliczny (local or nearby), and the phrase w okolicy (in the vicinity). The spelling okolina is common in modern usage, while variations may appear in older texts or regional writings; some contexts may use okolina as a proper name in place names, depending on the language.

See also: okolica; urban planning; geography; etymology.