OUR COUNTRY
Full country
name: Republic of Poland
Short form: Poland
Flag: Two equal-sized horizontal bands -
upper white and lower red
Area: 312,677 sq km (121,944 sq mi)
Adm. Divisions: Poland is divided into 16
voivodships
Population: 38.6 million
Capital city: Warsaw (population 1.75
million)
People: 98% Polish, Others (Ukrainians,
Belorussians, Germans, Jews, Slovaks and
Lithuanians) ca. 2%
Language: Polish
Religion: 95% Roman Catholic, Eastern
Orthodox, Protestant and other ca 5%
Government: Parliamentary republic
President: Lech Kaczynski
Currency: Poland's official currency is
the zloty (PLN) divided into 100 groszy.
Time: GMT/UTC plus one hour
Electricity: ~230 volts, 50 Hz AC
Weights & measures: Metric
The Republic of Poland is situated in Central Europe, bounded to the north by the Baltic Sea and an enclave of Russia, to the north-east by Lithuania, to the east by Belarus, to the south-east by Ukraine, to the west by Germany and to the south by Slovakia and Czech. Situated in very heart of Europe, Poland has been both a bridge and a front line between eastern and western Europe.
Poland is one of the largest countries of Central Europe and it is a part of the North European Plain. It's most extensive physical feature is the great plain that covers the northern two thirds of the country. The southern third of the country consists of hills and mountains. In the southwest the Sudeten (Sudety) Mountains form part of the border with the Czech Republic. Further east several ranges of the western Carpathian Mountains continue along the border. The major range is the Beskids. Further south part of the Tatra Mountain range is located on Polish territory and contains Rysy, the highest mountain in Poland at 8,199 feet (2,499 meters). To the north of the Carpathians there are areas of hills, of which the most notable are the Holy Cross Mountains (Gory Swietokrzyskie). The longest river in Poland is the Vistula, which rises in the Beskids and flows in a wide, S-shaped curve across Poland until it reaches the Baltic Sea. The Oder River has its source in the Czech Republic and flows through Polish territory. It forms part of the border with Germany. The largest lakes are found in the Mazuria Lakes in the northeast. Some natural forests occur in the east. The remarkable one is Bialowieska Wilderness with its European bison (winsent) protected in a forest reserve.
The major historical cities like Warsaw, Cracow, Sandomierz, Kazimierz, Plock, Torun and Gdansk were built along the Vistula river. Modern architecture coexists with historical quarters that, like the Old towns in Warsaw and Gdansk, Cracow's center, and the market places of Kazimierz and Sandomierz, remember times from eight centuries ago.
Famuos Poles:
Scientists: Mikolaj Kopernik and Maria Curie-Sklodowska (Nobel Prize winner)
Fryderyk Chopin - Polish greatest composer
Winners of Nobel Prize for literature: Henryk Sienkiewicz, Wladyslaw Reymont, Czeslaw Milosz, Wislawa Szymborska
John Paul II- the first pope of Polish origin
Lech Walesa
Filmmakers - Roman Polanski, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Andrzej Wajda
Sportsmen - Adam Malysz
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