The only desert located in Poland, and one of five natural deserts in Europe, it was created thousands of years ago by a melting glacier.
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe on the boundary between Eastern and Western European continental masses, and is considered at times a part of Eastern Europe.
Poland joined the European Union in 2004, along with the other members of the Visegrбd group.
Of all the countries involved in the war, Poland lost the highest percentage of its citizens: over six million perished, half of them Polish Jews.
Biskupin is the location of a life-size model of an Iron Age fortified settlement (grуd) in Poland.
The Poles can also be referred to as the inhabitants of the Republic of Poland and Polish emigrants irrespective of their ethnicity.
The Krakowiak, sometimes referred to as the Pecker Dance, is a fast, syncopated Polish dance from the region of Krakow and Little Poland.
Conflict between Augustus and the Sejm brought Poland to the brink of civil war in 1717.
B??dуw Desert is a desert located in Southern Poland in the Lesser Poland region it also stretches over the Zag??bie D?browskie region.
Wojsko Polskie (Polish Army) is the name applied to the military forces of Poland.
Their victory precipitated the Second Partition of Poland and set the stage for the Third Partition and the final dissolution of the Commonwealth in 1795.
Poland has also made a distinctive mark in motorcycle speedway racing thanks to Tomasz Gollob, a highly successful Polish rider.
Among those were the Vistulans (Wi?lanie) in southern Poland, with Krakуw and Wi?lica as their main centers, and later the eastern and western Polans (Polanie, lit.
On August 23, 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Ribbentrop–Molotov non-aggression pact, which secretly provided for the dismemberment of Poland into Nazi and Soviet-controlled zones.
After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Poland was occupied by German troops.
The People's Republic of Poland (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa) was officially proclaimed in 1952.
Poland became an associate member of the European Union (EU) and its defensive arm, the Western European Union (WEU) in 1994.
Jozef Pilsudski (1867-1935), who was to become Poland's first Chief of State, considered Russia as the greater enemy and formed Polish Legions to fight for Austria but independently.
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.
Poland's name was erased from the map and its territories being divided between Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
Poland's total population in 2007 was 38,530,080, the eighth-largest in Europe.
Casimir I of Poland (1037-1058) unified the country, Boleslav II of Poland made himself king in 1076, but had to abdicate in 1079.
Poland is subdivided into 16 administrative regions, known as voivodeships.
Polish people, or Poles, are a western Slavic ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland.
Poles then voted to join the European Union in a referendum in June 2003, with Poland becoming a full member on May 1, 2004.
The Black Death, one of the most deadly pandemics in human history, which affected most parts of Europe from 1347 to 1351, did not reach Poland.
Poland's Eastern frontiers once marked the outermost boundary of the influences of Western architecture on the continent.
In 1991, Poland became a member of the Visegrad Group and joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance in 1999 along with the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The mazurka (Polish: mazurek, named after Poland's Mazury (Masuria) district, is a Polish folk dance in triple metre with a lively tempo.
Of all the countries involved in World War II, Poland lost the highest percentage of its citizens: over six million perished, half of them Polish Jews.
Nevertheless, Poland was able to rebuild the economy, so that by 1939 the country was the eighth-largest steel producer in the world and had developed mining, textiles, and chemical industries.
In 1996 Poland achieved full OECD membership and submitted preliminary documentation for full EU membership.
Despite temporary slumps in social and economic standards, Poland was the first post-communist country to reach its pre-1989 GDP levels.
Famous modern singers, musicians and bands from Poland include Behemoth, Myslovitz, SBB, Riverside, Edyta Gуrniak, Lady Pank, Anita Lipnicka and Ich Troje.
Russian troops backed Augustus, resulting in the start of the Russian "Protectorate" period, in which Poland was forced to reduce its standing army.
The Elector of Saxony, Frederick Augustus I (1670-1733), who was elected king in 1697, contributed to the decline of Poland.
The Masurian Lake District is the largest of the four and covers much of northeastern Poland.
Pi?sudski, however, remained the most influential politician in Poland, and in fact became its dictator.
The novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz, who won the Nobel Prize in 1905, eulogised Poland's history.
Poland’s percentage of respondents asserting that they believe there is a God was the fourth highest among EU members behind Malta , Cyprus, Greece, and Portugal.
The lowest point in Poland-—at (seven feet (two meters) below sea level-—is at Raczki Elbl?skie, near Elbl?g in the Vistula Delta.
Lands under Duke Mieszko's rule encompassed Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Masovia, Silesia and Pomerania, and totaled about 96,525 square miles (250,000kmІ) in area, with a population of about one million.
Poland has a mixture of continental (Napoleonic) civil law and holdover communist legal theory, although the latter is gradually being removed.
Poland's provinces are largely based on the country's historic regions, whereas those of the past two decades (till 1998) had been centered on and named after individual cities.
Poland's neighbors viewed as dangerous measures that transformed the Commonwealth into a constitutional monarchy, and did want the rebirth of the strong Commonwealth.
During the Golden Age period, Poland became the largest country in Europe.
Poland's great Romantic literature flourished in the nineteenth century when the country had lost its independence.
The highest part of the Carpathians is the Tatra Mountains, along Poland’s southern border.
The Jews, persecuted all over Europe during the Crusades, fled to Poland where they were welcomed, settled in the towns, and began to carry on commerce and banking.
Poland of the thirteenth century, was no longer one solid political entity.
The Stone Age era in Poland lasted 500,000 years, and cultures ranged from early human groups with primitive tools to advanced agricultural societies using sophisticated stone tools, building fortified settlements and developing copper metallurgy.
Among the most beautiful mountains of Poland are the Bieszczady Mountains in the far southeast of Poland, whose highest point in Poland is Tarnica, with an elevation of 4416 feet (1346 meters).
The judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court of Poland, the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland, the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland, and the State Tribunal of Poland.
Chopin composed this polonaise as the dream of a powerful, victorious and prosperous Poland.
The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were marked by the economic and social evolution of Poland into a Western Christian state.
Prussia acquired the western lands from the Baltic through Greater Poland to Krakуw, as well as Warsaw and Lithuanian territories to the north-east (Augustуw, Mariampol) and Podlasie.
The Soviet Union instituted a new Communist government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the Eastern Bloc.
Polish culture and economy flourished under the Jagiellon dynasty, which originated in Lithuania and reigned over Poland from 1385 to 1572.
On September 17, Soviet troops marched into and then took control of most of the areas of eastern Poland having significant Ukrainian and Belarusian populations under the terms of this agreement.
The new Poland emerged 20 percent smaller by 29,900 square miles (77,500 square kilometers).
The warmest region in Poland is located in the south, where temperatures in the summer average between 73.4°F (23°C) and (86°F (30°C).
Poland in 2007 had a thriving private sector which created more than 300,000 new jobs during 2006 alone.
Poland has pursued a policy of economic liberalization since 1990 and in 2007 stood out as a successful example of the transition from a state-directed economy to a primarily privately owned market economy.
Shortly after the surrender of Germany in November 1918, Poland regained its independence as the Second Polish Republic.
Poland has signed friendship treaties replacing links severed by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact.
The szlachta (nobility) of Poland, far more numerous than in Western European countries, took pride in their freedoms and parliamentary system.
Dances of Poland include: the Polonaise, the krakowiak, the kujawiak, the mazurka, the oberek, and the troika.
The Germanic people lived in today's Poland for several centuries, while many of their tribes also migrated out in the southern and eastern directions.
At the war's conclusion, Poland's borders were shifted westwards, pushing the eastern border to the Curzon line.
Despite a sharp drop in religious observance, Poland remained one of the most devoutly religious countries in Europe.
Poland made the fourth-largest troop contribution to the Allied war effort, after the Soviets, the British and the Americans.
The Polish military continues to use mostly Soviet-era equipment, however after joining NATO in 1999 Poland has begun upgrading and modernizing its hardware to NATO standards.
Baroque and Neo-Classicist belle letters made a significant contribution to the cementing of Poland's peoples of many cultural backgrounds.
Meanwhile, members of the Polish nobility, thinking that John II Casimir of Poland was a weak king, or a Jesuit-King, encouraged Charles Gustav to claim the Polish crown.
Poland's national sports include football, volleyball, hockey, basketball and handball.
The last heroic attempt to save Poland's independence was a national uprising (1794) led by Tadeusz Ko?ciuszko, however it was eventually quenched.
The Union of Lublin, signed July 1, 1569, in Lublin, Poland, united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state.
Many animals that have since died out in other parts of Europe survive in Poland, such as the wisent (Bison bonasusin) the ancient woodland of the Bia?owie?a Forest and in Podlachia.
In 1989, communist rule was overthrown and Poland became what is informally known as the "Third Polish Republic."
Poland has also made a distinctive mark in motorcycle speedway racing thanks to Tomasz Gollob, a highly successful Polish rider.
Peoples belonging to numerous archaeological cultures identified with Celtic, Germanic and Baltic tribes lived in various parts of Poland from about 400 B.C.E.
More than one percent of Poland’s area—1214 square miles (3145 square kilometers)—is protected within 23 National Parks.
The first historically documented ruler of Poland, Duke Mieszko I (c. 935 – May 25, 992), had his palace on an island in the Warta River in Pozna?.
Poland's two million private farms occupy 90 percent of all farmland and account for roughly the same percentage of total agricultural production.
Poland became a kingdom in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a long association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by uniting to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The moraine landscape of northern Poland contains soils made up mostly of sand or loam, while the ice-age river valleys of the south often contain loess.
Poland has 21 mountains over 6561 feet (2000 meters) in elevation, all in the High Tatras.
And that's why Poland remains known as the country of pierogi and potatoes. And nobody even appreciates the creativity that goes behind creating the myriad potato dishes Poland is famous for!Jul 6, 2017
Poland is a very safe country. It is ranked 17 out of 162 of the safest and most dangerous countries. However, SafeAround recommends to be vigilant and don't leave belongings unattended. Use common sense while your stay in Poland as you would be in any other European country.
It is often assumed that all of the above names derive from the name of the Polans (Polanie), a West Slavic tribe which inhabited the territories of present-day Poland in the 9th-10th centuries. The origin of the name Polanie is theorized to be descendend ultimately from Proto-Slavic.
When talking about Poland, “religion” often means “Catholicism”. About 90% of Poles are Roman Catholics, although this number may be overestimated as the statistics often include people who were baptised Catholic, even if they later abandoned the Church.
Christmas Eve (Wigilia), Christmas Day, and Boxing Day (or St Stephen's Day) are important days that are celebrated in many Polish homes. Christmas preparations begin days before December 25. ... It is customary to break and give the Christmas wafer (oplatek), which is made of flour and water, to loved ones.
There is no Halloween in Poland but the All Saints' Day is celebrated by almost everyone. People visit cemeteries, light candles and bring flowers to commemorate their beloved ones. It's a bank holiday. Restaurants are open and so are pubs but no crowds and parties should be expected.
The Polish Santa is named Mikolaj (St. Nicholas in English), and children traditionally receive presents on his feast day and Christmas Day. In some regions of Poland, Gwiazdor stands in for Mikolaj on December 24 or the baby Jesus is the main gift-giver on Christmas Eve.Nov 19, 2017
People in Poland also like kissing under the mistletoe! In Polish Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Wesołych Świąt'. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.
Sharing of the oplatek (pronounced opwatek) is the most ancient and beloved of all Polish Christmas traditions. Oplatek is a thin wafer made of flour and water, similar in taste to the hosts that are used for communion during Mass. The Christmas wafer is shared before Wigilia, the Christmas Eve supper.
1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany. Britain and France are at war with Germany following the invasion of Poland two days ago. At 1115 BST the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced the British deadline for the withdrawal of German troops from Poland had expired.