The Heartland is a geographical area of Carpathian Rus that is defined by combination of three distinct Rusyn regions. These three are Pryashiv Rus, Lemkovyna, and Subcarpathian Rus. In addition to making up the majority of the total land area that Rusyns inhabit, this is where Rusyn identity is the strongest, and where most historical Rusyn figures come from. To learn more about the three regions, read the paragraphs below:

Pryashiv Rus is located in what is currently the Prešov and Košice regions of Slovakia. A territory roughly 100 miles wide and 12 miles on average from north to south, it is  characterized by a landscape of medium-sized mountains and a strong Rusyn patriotism as it was the central area for Rusyn culture in the 1990s and 2000s. Pryashiv itself is the Rusyn equivalent of the Slovak version Prešov, and should always be used when describing it as a Rusyn cultural entity. The majority of famous Rusyn thinkers and intellectuals that we know today such as Alexander Dukhnovych (Topol’a) and Adolf Dobriansky (Rudlov) come from this area. Reasons for this are not readily apparent, but the creation of new intellectuals and activists seems to have shifted east in modern times.

Subcarpathian Rus is the largest of the three regions that make up the heartland. Stuck further east bordering Romania, the majority of the Rusyn people reside here numbering around eight hundred thousand (800,000). It is also the only place to have legitimate cities in the capital and regional cities of Uzhhorod and Mukachevo. The south though flat like the rest of the Pannonian basin, is towered above by the Carpathians behind it, with certain peaks clearing two thousand meters in height. Linguistic diversity in this region is the greatest among the three, and because of this it is hard to implement methods of language standardization.

Lemkovyna is the only territory of the Rusyn heartland located on the northern slopes of the Carpathians in Poland. Its people go by the name Lemko or Lemko-Rusyn, owing to them using the word lem meaning “only” often in conversation. The Lemko homeland is particularly flat compared to other regions. While it does have certain higher ranges, and is much rougher in terrain than Poland proper, there was really no substantial geographical barrier to entry except for the Beskids in the far south-east. Many mountain passes to Pryashiv feel like little more than elevated roads over hills due to their size. Because of this and its own cultural formation, Lemkovyna architecture and clothing are quite a bit different from somewhere in the highlands further east.