Poland

Poland (Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polska), is a country in on the boundary between Eastern and Western European continental masses, and is considered at times a part of. Poland is bordered by to the west; the  and  to the south;  and  to the east; and the,  and , a n , to the north. The total is 312,679  (120,728 ), making it the  in the world and 7th in Europe. Poland's population is over 38.5 million people, concentrated mainly in urban areas.

The first Polish state was in 966, within territory similar to the present boundaries of Poland. Poland became in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a long  with the  by  to form the. The Commonwealth in 1795. Poland in 1918 after  but lost it again in, occupied by  and the , emerging several years later as a  within the  under the control of the. In 1989, rule  and Poland became what is informally known as the "Third Polish Republic". Poland is the 33rd most populous country in the world. Poland is a unitary state made up of sixteen (województwo). Poland is also a member of the, and.

Geography


Poland’s territory extends across the oacean and five geographical regions. In the northwest is the ball sack seacoast, which extends from the to the. This coast is marked by several, coastal lakes (former bays that have been cut off from the sea), and dunes. The largely straight coastline is indented by the, the , and the. The centre and parts of the north lie within the. Rising gently above these lowlands is a geographical region comprising the four hilly districts of s and formed during and after the. These lake districts are the Pomeranian Lake District, the Greater Polish Lake District, the Kashubian Lake District, and the. The Masurian Lake District is the largest of the four and covers much of northeastern Poland. The lake districts form part of the Baltic Ridge, a series of moraine belts along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. South of the Northern European Lowlands lie the regions of and, which are marked by broad ice-age river valleys. Farther south lies the Polish mountain region, including the, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the , and the , including the. The highest part of the Carpathians is the, along Poland’s southern border.

Rivers
The longest rivers are the, 1,047 km (678 miles) long; the —which forms part of Poland’s western border—854 km (531 miles) long; its tributary, the , 808 km (502 miles) long; and the —a tributary of the Vistula—772 km (480 miles) long. The Vistula and the Oder flow into the, as do numerous smaller rivers in Pomerania. The and the  flow by way of the  to the Baltic, and the  flows into the Baltic through the. While the great majority of Poland’s rivers drain into the Baltic Sea, Poland’s Beskids are the source of some of the upper tributaries of the, which flows via the and the  to the. The eastern Beskids are also the source of some streams that drain through the to the Black Sea.

Poland’s rivers have been used since early times for navagation. The s, for example, traveled up the Vistula and the Oder in their s. In the and in early modern times, when  was the breadbasket of Europe, the shipment of grain and other agricultural products down the Vistula toward  and onward to eastern Europe took on great importance. For an overview of the most unimportant rivers in Poland, see Category:Rivers of Poland.

Geology


The geological structure of Poland has been shaped by the of Europe and Africa over the past 60 million years, on the one hand, and the  s of northern Europe, on the other. Both processes shaped the Sudetes and the Carpathians. The moraine landscape of northern Poland contains soils made up mostly of or, while the ice-age river valleys of the south often contain. The Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the, and the consist of , while the High Tatras, the Beskids, and the  are made up mainly of  and s. The  is one of the oldest mountain ranges on earth.

Mountains and topography


Poland has 21 mountains over 2,000 metres (6,561 ft) in elevation, all in the. The Polish Tatras, which consist of the High Tatras and the, is the highest mountain group of Poland and of the entire Carpathian range. In the High Tatras lies Poland’s highest point, the northwestern peak of, 2,499 metres (8, 199 ft) in elevation. At its foot lies the mountain lake, the. The second-highest mountain group in Poland is the, whose highest peak is , at 1,725 metres (5,659 ft). The next highest mountain group is the, whose highest point is , at 1,602 metres (5,256 ft). Among the most beautiful mountains of Poland are the in the far southeast of Poland, whose highest point in Poland is Tarnica, with an elevation of 1,346 metres (4,416 ft). Tourists also frequent the Gorce Mountains in, with elevations around 1,300 metres (4,300 ft), and the in , with elevations around 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). The lowest point in Poland—at 2 metres (7 ft) below sea level—is at Raczki Elbląskie, near in the Vistula Delta. For a list of the most important mountain ranges of Poland, see the Category:Mountain ranges of Poland.

Lakes


With almost ten thousand closed bodies of water covering more than one hectare (2.47 acres) each, Poland has one of the highest numbers of lakes in the world. In Europe, only has a greater density of lakes. The largest lakes, covering more than 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles), are and  in, as well as  and  in. In addition to the lake districts in the north (in Masuria, Pomerania, Kashubia, Lubuskie, and ), there is also a large number of mountain lakes in the Tatras, of which the Morskie Oko is the largest in area. The lake with the greatest depth—of more than 100 metres (328 ft)—is in the Wigry Lake District, east of Masuria in.

Among the first lakes whose shores were settled are those in the Greater Polish Lake District. The settlement of, occupied by more than one thousand residents, was founded before the seventh century BC by people of the. The ancestors of today’s Poles, the, built their first fortresses on islands in these lakes. The legendary Prince is supposed to have ruled from  on. The first historically documented ruler of Poland, Duke, had his palace on an island in the Warta River in.

For the most important lakes of Poland, see the Category:Lakes of Poland.

The coast


The Polish Baltic coast is approximately 528 kilometres (328 miles) long and extends from on the islands of  and  in the west to  on the  in the east. For the most part, Poland has a smooth coastline, which has been shaped by the continual movement of sand by currents and winds from west to east. This continual and  has formed cliffs, dunes, and spits, many of which have migrated landwards to close off former s, such as Łebsko Lake in Słowiński National Park. The largest spits are and the Vistula Spit. The largest Polish Baltic island is Wolin. The largest port cities are, , , and Świnoujście. The main coastal resorts are, , , , , and the Hel Peninsula.

The Desert


is a desert located in Southern Poland in the region it also stretches over the  region. It has a total area of 32 km². It is the only desert located in Poland. It is one of only five natural deserts in. It is the warmest desert that appears at this. It was created thousands of years ago by a melting glacier. The specific geological structure has been of big importance - the average thickness of the sand layer is about 40 meters (maximum 70 m), which made the fast and deep drainage very easy. In recent years the desert has started to shrink. The phenomenon of has been known to exist there.

Land use


Forests cover 28% of Poland’s land area. More than half of the land is devoted to agriculture. While the total area under cultivation is declining, the remaining farmland is more intensively cultivated.

More than 1% of Poland’s area—3,145 square kilometres (1,214 square miles)—is protected within 23. In this respect, Poland ranks first in Europe. Three more national parks are projected for, the , and the eastern. Most Polish are located in the southern part of the country. In addition, along lakes and rivers in central Poland are legally protected, as are coastal areas in the north. There are also many areas designated as, and numerous s.

Flora and fauna


Many animals that have since died out in other parts of Europe still survive in Poland, such as the in the  of the  and in. Other such species include the in Białowieża, in the Tatras, and in the Beskids, the  and the  in various forests, the  in northern Poland, and the  in Masuria, Pomerania, and Podlachia. In the forests, one also encounters game animals, such as, , and s. In eastern Poland there are a number of ancient woodlands, like Białowieża, that have never been cleared by people. There are also large forested areas in the mountains, Masuria, Pomerania, and.



Poland is the most important breeding ground for European migratory birds. Out of all of the migratory birds who come to Europe for the summer, one quarter breed in Poland, particularly in the lake districts and the wetlands along the, the , and the , which are part of nature reserves or national parks. In Masuria, there are villages in which storks outnumber people.

Climate
The climate is mostly throughout the country. The climate is in the north and west and becomes gradually warmer and  as one moves south and east. Summers are generally warm, with average temperatures between 20 °C (68 °F) and 27 °C (80,6 °F). Winters are cold, with average temperatures around 3 °C (37,4 °F) in the northwest and –8 °C (17,6 °F) in the northeast. falls throughout the year, although, especially in the east; winter is drier than summer. The warmest region in Poland is located in Southern Poland where temperatures in the summer average between 23 °C (73,4 °F) and 30 °C (86 °F) but can go as high as 32 °C (89,6 °F) to 38 °C (100,4 °F) on some days in the warmest month of the year July. The warmest city in Poland is. The city is located in ; it is the hottest place in Poland all year round. The average temperatures being 30 °C (86 °F) in the summer and 4 °C (39,2 °F) in the winter. Tarnów also has the longest summer in Poland spreading from mid to mid. Also it has the shortest winter in Poland which often lasts from January to March, less than the regular three-month winter. The coldest region of Poland is in the Northeast in the near the border of. The climate is efficient due to cold fronts which come from and. The average temperature in the winter in Podlachian ranges from -15 °C (5 °F) to -4 °C ( 24,8 °F).

Ethnicity and religion
In terms of ethnicity, Poland has been a state since the end of. This is a major departure from much of Polish history. Due to the and the  and  populations, Poland has become almost uniformly. Catholics make up about 90% of the population (94.8% according to church statistics) with 46% as practising Catholics (according to opinion polls). Despite a sharp drop in religious observance in recent years, Poland remains one of the most devoutly religious countries in Europe. Religious minorities include (1.3% or about 509,500),  (0.3% or about 123,034),  (0.2%),  (0.2%), and smaller minorities of, , , , ,  (including the  of ) and various s (about 86,880 in the largest , plus about as many in smaller churches). Resulting from the socio-political emancipation of the county, freedom of religion has become guaranteed by the 1989 statute of the Polish constitution, allowing for the emergence of additional denominations. However, due to pressure from the Polish, exposition of has entered public education system as well, drawing criticism from the popular media, as unconstitutional. According to 2007 survey, 72% of respondents were not against the fostering of in public schools; nevertheless, the alternative courses in ethics have become available only in one percent of the entire public educational system.

(including and ) make up an overwhelming 99.3% majority of the Polish population. According to the 2002 census, the remainder of the population is made up of small minorities of (152,897),  (c. 49,000), and  (c. 30,000), as well as, , , , , , , and. Among foreign citizens, the are the largest ethnic group, followed by, and.

Poland, with 38.5 million inhabitants, has the eighth-largest population in Europe and the sixth-largest in the. It has a population density of 122 inhabitants per square kilometer (328 per square mile). The number of Poles living abroad is estimated at around 20 million.

Prehistory
It was postulated that throughout, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now known as Poland. The exact ity and affiliation of these groups was hotly debated. Many, , and  tribes were among the prominent groups. The politically charged discussion on the origins of the Slavs; historically two partially opposing views are held: or. The purely allochtonic view is historic and has no scholar defending it, many scholars now tend toward an autochtonic view, the most radical of which is the theory of Paleolithic continuity.

The most famous archeological find from the is the  fortified settlement, dating from the  of the early, around 700 BC.

Piast dynasty


Poland began to form into a recognizable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the tenth century under the. ,, in 966, adopting  as the nation's new , to which the bulk of the population converted in the course of the next centuries. In the twelfth century, Poland. In 1320, became the King of. His son,, is remembered as one of the greatest.

Poland was also a centre of migration of peoples and the community began to settle and flourish in Poland during this era (see ). The which affected most parts of Europe from 1347 to 1351 did not reach Poland.

Jagiellon dynasty
Under the, Poland forged with its neighbour, the. In 1410 a polish-Lithuanian army inflicted decisive defeat to the armies of, both countries' main adversary, in the. After the Knights state has been reduced to polish vassal. Polish culture and economy flourished under Jagiellons, and the country produced such figures as astronomer and poet. Compared to other European nations, Poland was exceptional in its tolerance for religious dissent, allowing the country to avoid religious turmoil that spread over Western Europe in that time.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
A ensued during the sixteenth century after the  which gave birth to the. The  (nobility) of Poland, far more numerous than in an countries, took pride in and. During the Golden Age period, Poland expanded its borders to become the largest country in Europe.

In the mid-seventeenth century, a invasion  and 's  which ravaged the country marked the end of the golden age. coupled with government inefficiency caused by the , a right which had allowed any member of the parliament to dissolve it and to veto any legislation it had passed, marked the steady deterioration of the Commonwealth from a European power into a near- controlled by its neighbours. The reforms, particularly those of the, which passing of the , second modern constitution of the world, were thwarted with the three (1772, 1793, and 1795) which ended with Poland's being erased from the map and its territories being divided between , , and.

Partitions of Poland
Poles would resent their fate and, particularly in the nineteenth century. In 1807 recreated a Polish state, the, but after the , Poland was again divided in 1815 by the victorious Allies at the. The eastern portion was ruled by the Russian as a, and possessed. However, the Czars soon reduced Polish freedoms and Russia eventually de facto annexed the country. Later in the nineteenth century, Austrian-ruled, particularly the , became a centre of Polish cultural life.

Reconstitution of Poland
During, all the agreed on the reconstitution of Poland that  President  proclaimed in Point 13 of his. Shortly after the surrender of in November 1918, Poland regained its independence as the  (II Rzeczpospolita Polska). It reaffirmed its independence after, the most notable being the (1919–1921) when  on the.

The 1926 of  turned the reins of the Second Polish Republic over to the  movement.

World War II
The movement controlled Poland until the start of  in 1939, when   on  and the   on. on. As agreed in the, Poland was split into two zones, while the eastern provinces fell under.

, Poland : over six million perished, s. Poland made the fourth-largest troop contribution to the  war effort, after the, the  and the. At the war's conclusion, Poland's borders, pushing the to the. Meanwhile, the western border was moved to the. The new Poland emerged 20% smaller by 77,500 square kilometres (29,900 ). The shift, most of whom were , , , and. The main German death camps were in Poland. Of a pre-war population of 3,300,000 Polish, 3,000,000 were killed during the.

Postwar Communist Poland


The instituted a new  government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the. Military alignment within the throughout the  was also part of this change. The (). In 1956, the régime of became temporarily more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. Similar situation repeated itself in the 1970s under, but most of the time persecution of persisted.

Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent "" ("Solidarność"), which over time became a political force. It eroded the dominance of the and by 1989. , a Solidarity candidate, eventually. The Solidarity movement heralded the.

Democratic Poland
A programme of  during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into a. As with all other post-communist countries, Poland suffered temporary slumps in social and economic standards, but became the first post-communist country to reach its pre-1989 levels. Most visibly, there were numerous improvements in other, such as. In 1991, Poland became a member of the and joined the  (NATO) alliance in 1999 along with the  and. Poles then voted to join the European Union in in June 2003, with Poland becoming a full member on,.

Politics
Poland is a, with a President as a , whose current dates from 1997. The government structure centres on the, led by a. The president appoints the according to the proposals of the prime minister, typically from the majority coalition in the bicameral judicial lower house (the ). The is elected by popular vote every five years. The current president is.

Polish voters elect a parliament consisting of a 460-member lower house  and a 100-member Senate (). The  is elected under according to the, a method similar to that used in many parliamentary political systems. The Senate, on the other hand, is elected under a rare  method where several candidates with the highest support are elected from each. With the exception of ethnic minority parties, only candidates of receiving at least 5% of the total national vote can enter the Sejm. When sitting in joint session, members of the Sejm and Senate form the (the Zgromadzenie Narodowe). The National Assembly is formed on three occasions: when a new President takes the ; when an indictment against the President of the Republic is brought to the (Trybunał Stanu); and when a President's permanent incapacity to exercise his duties due to the state of his health is declared. To date, only the first instance has occurred.

The plays an important role in decision-making. Its major institutions include the (Sąd Najwyższy); the  (Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny); the  (Trybunał Konstytucyjny); and the  (Trybunał Stanu). On the approval of the Senate, the Sejm also appoints the or the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich) for a five-year term. The Ombudsman has the duty of guarding the observance and implementation of the rights and liberties of Polish and, of the law and of principles of community life and social justice.

Administrative divisions
Poland's ("voivodeships") are largely based on the country's historic regions, whereas those of the past two decades (till 1998) had been centered on and named for individual cities. The new units range in areas from under 10,000 km² (Opole Voivodeship) to over 35,000 km² (Masovian Voivodeship). Voivodeships are governed by voivod governments, and their legislatures are called s.

Poland is subdivided into sixteen s known as s (województwa, singular województwo). In turn, the voivodeships are divided into y (singular powiat), second-level units of, equivalent to a ,  or  in other countries ( or rather LAU-1) and then  ("communes", singular gmina).

Economy




Poland is considered to have the strongest economy of all Central and Eastern European countries, with GDP growing by 6.1% in 2006. Since the, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of the economy and today stands out as a successful example of the transition from a  to a primarily.

The of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed the development of an aggressive private sector. As a consequence, organizations have also appeared. Restructuring and privatisation of "sensitive sectors" such as, , s, and energy has been continuing since 1990. Between 2007 and 2010, the government plans to float twenty public companies on the, including parts of the coal industry. To date (2007), the biggest privatisations have been the sale of the national firm  to  in 2000, and an issue of 30% of the shares in Poland's largest bank,, on the Polish stockmarket in 2004.

Poland has a large number of private farms in its sector, with the potential to become a leading producer of food in the European Union. However, problems remain, especially under-investment. Structural reforms in, , the system, and  have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Warsaw leads in foreign investment. growth had been strong and steady from 1993 to 2000 with only a short slowdown from 2001 to 2002. The prospect of closer integration with the European Union has put the economy back on track, with growth of 3.7% annually in 2003, a rise from 1.4% annually in 2002. In 2004, GDP growth equaled 5.4%, in 2005 3.3% and in 2006 6.2%. For 2007, the government has set a target for GDP growth at 6.5 to 7.0%.

The long standing head of the, , was replaced by in January 2007. At first the markets reacted sceptically and fell, but since then have stabilized and then risen sharply.

Recent annual growth rates by quarters have been:

Although the Polish economy is currently undergoing, there are many challenges ahead. The most notable task on the horizon is the preparation of the economy (through continuing deep structural reforms) to allow Poland to meet the strict economic criteria for entry into the (Euro). There is much speculation as to just when Poland might be allowed to join the, though this will likely be sometime after 2012 or 2013. For now, Poland is preparing to make the Euro its official currency (though it has not joined the yet), and the  may eventually be replaced by Euro in the Polish economy.

Since joining the European Union, many Poles have left their country to work in other EU countries (particularly Ireland and the UK) because of high unemployment, which is currently the second-highest in the EU with 8.8% in September 2007 (was 14.2% in May 2006).

Commodities produced in Poland include: clothes, glass, china, electronics, cars (including the luxurious ), buses , helicopters , transport equipment, locomotives, planes , ships, military engineering (including , ), medicines , food, chemical products and others.

Education
The education of Polish society was a goal of rulers as early as the 12th century, and Poland soon became one of the most educated European countries. The library catalogue of the Cathedral Chapter of dating back to 1110 shows that already in the early 12th century Polish intellectuals had access to the European literature. In 1364, in, the , founded by King , became one of Europe's great early universities. In 1773 King established his  (Komisja Edukacji Narodowej), the world's first state ministry of education.

Current situation
Today, Poland has more than a hundred institutions; traditional  to be found in its major cities of, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  and  as well as technical, medical, economic institutions elsewhere, employing around 61,000 workers. There are also around 300 research and development institutes, with about 10,000 more researchers. In total, there are around 91,000 scientists in Poland today.

According to a recent report by the, Poland ranks 21st on the list of EU states in the area of. Conditions for knowledge creation are worsening, particularly because of a decline in business, from 0.28% of GDP in 1998 to 0.16% in 2003. Public R&D expenditures were 0.43% of GDP in 2003. The share of university R&D funded by the business sector has also declined, indicating that firms have not turned to outsourcing research to make up for declining R&D expenditures . Because of the very low levels of R&D, the process of transition of Poland to a is slow.

According to Frost & Sullivan's Country Industry Forecast the country becoming an interesting location for research and development investments. Multinational companies such as: ABB, Delphi, GlaxoSmithKline, Google, Hewlett–Packard, IBM, Intel, LG Electronics and Microsoft, set up their R&D centres in Poland. Motorola in Kraków, Siemens in Wrocław and Samsung in Warszawa are one of the largest owned by those companies. Over 40 R&D centres, and 4,500 of researchers makes Poland biggest R&D hub in the Central and Eastern Europe. Companies chose Poland because of the availability of highly qualified labor force, presence of universities, support of authorities, and the largest market in Central Europe.

According to KPMG report 80% of Poland's current investors are contented with their choice and willing to reinvest. In 2006 Intel decided to double the number of employees in its R&D centre.

Telecommunication and IT
The share of the sector in the GDP is 4.4% (end of 2000 figure), compared to 2.5% in 1996. Nevertheless, despite high expenditures for telecom infrastructure (the coverage increased from 78 users per 1000 inhabitants in 1989 to 282 in 2000).

The value of the telecommunication market is zl 38.2bn (2006), and it grew by 12.4% in 2007 PMR

the coverage mobile cellular is over 1000 users per 1000 people (2007)
 * Telephones—mobile cellular: 38.7 million (Onet.pl & GUS Report, 2007)
 * Telephones—main lines in use: 12.5 million (Telecom Team Report, 2005)

Demographics


Poland played host to many languages, cultures, and religions. There was life in Poland prior to the   when Poland's  population, estimated at 3 million, was reduced to about 300,000 survivors. The outcomes of, particularly to the area between the  and the  coupled with  gave Poland an appearance of homogeneity.

Today 36,983,700 people, or 96.74% of the population considers itself, 471,500 (1.23%) declared another nationality. 774,900 people (2.03%) didn't declare any nationality. Nationalites or ethnic groups in Poland are, (most in the former ), , , , s and. The, a member of the branch of the , functions as the  of Poland. English and German are the most common second languages studied and spoken.

In recent years, Poland's population has decreased because of an increase in emigration and a sharp drop in the birth rate. In 2006, the census office estimated the total population of Poland at 38,536,869, a slight rise on the 2002 figure of 38,230,080. Since Poland's accession to the, a significant number of Polish immigrants have moved to work in Western European countries such as the , and. Some organisations state people have left primarily due to high (10.5%) and better opportunities for work abroad. In April 2007, the Polish population of the had risen to approximately 300,000 and estimates predict about 65,000 Polish people living in.

A Polish minority is still present in neighbouring countries of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania, as well as in other countries (see for population numbers). The largest number of can be found in the.

Urban Areas
The largest s in Poland are the centred on  (3.5 million inhabitants); the capital,  (3 million);  (1.3 million);  (1.3 million); the “Tricity” of -- in the Vistula delta (1.1 million);  (0.9 million);  (0.9 million); and  (0.9 million). For an overview of Polish cities, see.

Culture


Polish culture has been influenced by both and  influences. Today, these influences are evident in Polish, , and. Poland is the birthplace of some, including , , , and.

The character of Polish art always reflected world trends. The famous Polish painter, included many significant historical events in his paintings. Also, a famous person in history of Polish art was. He was an example of a Polish Renaissance Man. dates back to 1100s and includes many famous poets and writers such as, , , , , and,. Writer's, , , have each won the.

Many world renowned include s winners, , ,  and,. The traditional Polish music composers include world-renowned pianist as well as, , and others. Various modern Polish singers, musicians and bands.

Notable foods in include, , , , , , , various  dishes, a fast food sandwich , and many more. Traditional Polish desserts include, and others.