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Suwałki (Lithuanian: Suvalkai) is a town (district or Gubernia) in north-eastern Poland with 66,200 inhabitants (1995). It is situated in the Podlasie Voivodship (since 1999), previously capital of Suwalki Voivodship (1975-1998). The region was situated on the Grodno-Krolewiec route. The Czarna Hancza river flows through the town. Suwalki is located about 30 Km from the Southwestern Lithuanian border, where Lithuania has a district called Suwalk.
Suwalki was founded at the end of the XVIIth century by the Wigry Cameduls. Its development began in the first half of the XIXth century, during the Warsaw Duchy and the Polish Kingdom period. For about a hundred years Suwalki had a governor and was the capital of the province. At one point in history, the estate Serrey (Sereje) in the northern part of the oblast Sulwaki belonged to the House of Brandenburg.
In 1827, about 15 Km from the center of Sulwaki, there was a village called Zarzecze Jeleniewski, located on the river Hancza Czarna. On that year, Sulwaki was considered part of the Pawlow township, which was considered part of the Jeleniewo parish. In 1827 Zarzecze Jeleniewski had 11 houses and 65 residents. In 1895 the population grew to 103 residents, but there were still only 11 houses (Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1895, vol. 14])
Suwalki is also called Sulwaki by some people.