Lublin, city in southeastern Poland, capital of Lublin Province. Food processing (especially beer and sugar) and the manufacture of trucks, agricultural machinery, and electrical products are the chief industries. Two universities are located in the city. Lublin was the seat of several important diets, notably that of 1569, which decreed the union of Poland and Lithuania. Lublin belonged to the Austrian Empire from 1795 until it was made a part of the Russian Empire in 1815. It was held by Russia until 1918, when it became the seat of a temporary Polish Socialist government. Population (1997 estimate) 356,000.