In 1883, Kolberg wrote about inhabitants of the Lublin and Chełm regions (at that time the area belonged to the Lublin Governorate, an administrative unit of the Kingdom of Poland):

“The western part of the Lublin Governorate is inhabited by the Polish people who follow the Latin rite; whereas the south-east part includes the Ruthenian people who follow the Eastern Greek rite”.

The culture of Polish people was described in ‘The Lublin Region’, while the Ruthenians from east were described in ‘The Chełm Region’.