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In addition, the police and other agencies have been steadily replacing and modernising their fleets of vehicles. Poland's economy is considered to be one of the more resilient of the post-Communist countries and is one of the fastest growing within the EU. The average temperatures in Wrocław are 20 °C 68 °F in the summer and 0 °C 32.

State television operates two mainstream channels, TVP 1 and TVP 2, as well as regional programs for each of the country's 16 as. For a long time, has been incredibly popular, with some men going so far as to spend vast amounts of money to import their own Russian brides. The first historically met ruler of Poland, Dukehad his palace on an island in the Warta River in. polish dating eu The Soviet secretly executed thousands of Polish prisoners of war inter alia ahead of the. It was created on 18 October 1558, when King established a permanent postal route from to. Print Headquarters of the publicly funded national television network in Poland has a number of major media outlets, chief among which are the national television channels. As a result of this process, many hospitals were updated with the latest medical equipment. With a population of approximately 38. Its overall autobus is still increasing.

Since then, Poland has been a predominantly Catholic nation, however throughout its history, religious tolerance was an important part of the political culture. Archived from on 17 May 2016. Despite the victory at the , his ultimate defeat ended Poland's independent existence. The country now has a developing network of , composed of and such as , , , , ,.

Ukraine and Romania dating - The reason for this was the decision of Casimir the Great to quarantine the nation's borders.

Website Poland : Polska , officially the Republic of Poland Polish: Polska , is a located in. It is divided into 16 , covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres 120,733 sq mi , and has a largely climate. With a population of approximately 38. Poland's capital and largest is. Other major cities include , , , , , and. The establishment of the Polish state can be traced back to A. The was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented with the by signing the. This union formed the , one of the largest about 1 million km 2 and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, with a political system which adopted Europe's first written national constitution, the. More than a century after the at the end of the 18th century, Poland in 1918 with the. In September 1939, started with the by , followed by the invading Poland in accordance with the. More than six million Poles died in the war. In 1947, the was established as a under. In the aftermath of the , most notably through the emergence of the , Poland reestablished itself as a republic. Poland is a and. It has the eighth largest and one of the most dynamic , simultaneously achieving a very high rank on the. Additionally, the is the largest and most important in. Poland is a and country, which maintains a along with very high standards of , , safety, education and. Poland has a developed school. The country provides free , state-funded and a system for all citizens. Poland has 15 , 14 of which are cultural. Poland is a member state of the , the , the , , the , the , and the. In some languages, such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish, the exonym for Poland is Lechici , which derives from the name of a semi-legendary ruler of Polans,. Reconstruction of a , settlement in , c. During this time, the , spanning both the Bronze and Iron Ages, became particularly prominent. The most famous archaeological find from is the fortified settlement now reconstructed as an open-air museum , dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, around 700 BC. Throughout the period, many distinct ancient ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland in an era that dates from about 400 BC to 500 AD. These groups are identified as , , , , and tribes. Also, recent archeological findings in the region, confirmed the presence of the on the territory of Poland. These were most likely expeditionary missions sent out to protect the trade. The exact time and routes of the original migration and settlement of lacks written records and can only be defined as fragmented. The Slavic tribes who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. Up until the creation of state and his subsequent conversion to Christianity in 966 AD, the main religion of Slavic tribes that inhabited the geographical area of present-day Poland was. With the the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the religious authority of the. However, the transition from paganism was not a smooth and instantaneous process for the rest of the population as evident from the. Piast dynasty Map of Poland under the rule of Duke , who is considered to be the creator of the Polish state, c. Poland's first ruler, , accepted Christianity with the in 966, as the new of his subjects. The bulk of in the course of the next few centuries. In 1000, , continuing the policy of his father Mieszko, held a and created the of and the of , , and. However, the pagan unrest led to the transfer of the capital to Kraków in 1038 by. Earliest known contemporary depiction of a Polish ruler. King of Poland, who ruled the nation between 1025 and 1031. In 1109, Prince defeated the King of Germany at the , stopping the German march into Poland. The significance of the event was documented by in. In 1138, Poland fragmented into several smaller duchies when Bolesław divided his lands among his sons. In 1226, , one of the regional dukes, invited the to help him fight the pagans; a decision that led to centuries of warfare with the Knights. In the middle of the 13th century, the Silesian branch of the Piast dynasty and , ruled 1238—41 nearly succeeded in uniting the Polish lands, but the invaded the country from the east and defeated the combined Polish forces at the where Duke Henry II the Pious died. In 1320, after a number of earlier unsuccessful attempts by regional rulers at uniting the Polish dukedoms, consolidated his power, took the throne and became the first king of. His son, reigned 1333—70 , has a reputation as one of the greatest Polish kings, and gained wide recognition for improving the country's infrastructure. He also extended royal protection to , and encouraged their immigration to Poland. Casimir III realized that the nation needed a class of educated people, especially lawyers, who could codify the country's laws and administer the courts and offices. His efforts to create an institution of higher learning in Poland were finally rewarded when granted him permission to open the. He built extensively during his reign, and reformed the Polish army along with the country's civil and criminal laws, 1333—70. The of the nobles began to develop under Casimir's rule, when in return for their , the king made a series of concessions to the nobility, and establishing their legal status as superior to that of the townsmen. When Casimir the Great died in 1370, leaving no legitimate male heir, the came to an end. During the 13th and 14th centuries, Poland became a destination for German, Flemish and to a lesser extent Walloon, Danish and Scottish migrants. Also, Jews and Armenians began to settle and flourish in Poland during this era see and. The , a plague that ravaged Europe from 1347 to 1351 did not significantly affect Poland, and the country was spared from a major outbreak of the disease. The reason for this was the decision of Casimir the Great to quarantine the nation's borders. Jagiellon dynasty was fought against the , and resulted in a decisive victory for the , 15 July 1410. The spanned the late and early of Polish history. Beginning with the Władysław II Jagiełło , the Jagiellon dynasty 1386—1572 formed the. The partnership brought vast -controlled into Poland's sphere of influence and proved beneficial for the Poles and Lithuanians, who coexisted and cooperated in one of the largest in Europe for the next four centuries. In the Baltic Sea region the struggle of Poland and Lithuania with the Teutonic Knights continued and culminated in the 1410 , where a combined Polish-Lithuanian army inflicted a decisive victory against the Teutonic Knights, allowing for territorial expansion of both nations into the far north region of. In 1466, after the , King gave royal consent to the , which created the future , a Polish vassal. The Jagiellon dynasty at one point also established dynastic control over the kingdoms of 1471 onwards and. In the south, Poland confronted the and the by whom they were attacked on 75 separate occasions between 1474 and 1569 , and in the east helped Lithuania fight the. Some historians estimate that Crimean Tatar slave-raiding cost Poland-Lithuania one million of its population between the years of 1494 and 1694. The royal residence is an early example of architecture in Poland. Poland was developing as a state, with a predominantly agricultural economy and an increasingly powerful. This tolerance allowed the country to avoid most of the religious turmoil that spread over Europe during the 16th century. The European evoked in late Jagiellon Poland kings and a sense of urgency in the need to promote a , and during this period Polish culture and the nation's economy flourished. In 1543, a Polish astronomer from , published his epochal work On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres , and thereby became the first proponent of a predictive mathematical model confirming the , which became the accepted basic model for the practice of modern astronomy. Another major figure associated with the era is the classicist poet. Polish—Lithuanian Commonwealth The passed by the Polish national assembly Sejm Konwokacyjny , extended religious freedoms and tolerance in the Commonwealth, and was the first of its kind act in Europe, 28 January 1573. The 1569 established the , a more closely unified federal state with an , but which was governed largely by the nobility, through a system of with a central parliament. The 1573 guaranteed religious freedom for the Polish nobility Szlachta and Mieszczanie. However, the Chłopi were still subject to severe limitations imposed on them by the nobility. The establishment of the Commonwealth coincided with a period of stability and prosperity in Poland, with the union thereafter becoming a European power and a major cultural entity, occupying approximately one million square kilometers of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as an agent for the dissemination of through into areas of modern-day Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Western Russia. In the 16th and 17th centuries, suffered from a number of dynastic crises during the reigns of the kings and and found itself engaged in major conflicts with , Sweden and the Ottoman Empire, as well as a series of minor uprisings. In 1610, a Polish army under command seized Moscow after winning the. In 1611, the Tsar of Russia to the King of Poland. The at its greatest extent after the. During the first half of the 17th century, Poland covered an area of about 1,000,000 square kilometres 390,000 sq mi. After the signing of , Poland had in the years 1618—1621 an area of about 1 million km 2 390,000 sq mi. From the middle of the 17th century, the nobles' democracy, suffering from internal disorder, gradually declined, thereby leaving the once powerful Commonwealth vulnerable to foreign intervention. Starting in 1648, the engulfed the south and east, eventually leaving Ukraine divided, with the eastern part, lost by the Commonwealth, becoming a dependency of the Tsardom of Russia. This was followed by the , a Swedish invasion of Poland, which marched through the Polish heartlands and ruined the country's population, culture and infrastructure—around four million of Poland's eleven million inhabitants died in famines and epidemics throughout the 17th century. However, under the Commonwealth's military prowess was re-established, and in 1683 Polish forces played a major role in the against the , commanded by , the Grand Vizier of the. King defeated the at the on 12 September 1683. Sobieski's reign marked the end of the nation's golden era. Finding itself subjected to almost constant warfare and suffering enormous population losses as well as massive damage to its economy, the Commonwealth fell into decline. The government became ineffective as a result of large-scale internal conflicts e. The nobility fell under the control of a handful of , and this, compounded with two relatively weak kings of the , and , as well as the rise of and after the only served to worsen the Commonwealth's plight. Despite this The Commonwealth-Saxony gave rise to the emergence of the Commonwealth's first reform movement, and laid the foundations for the. During the later part of the 18th century, the Commonwealth made attempts to implement fundamental internal reforms; with the second half of the century bringing a much improved economy, significant population growth and far-reaching progress in the areas of education, intellectual life, art, and especially toward the end of the period, evolution of the social and political system. The most populous capital city of replaced Danzig as the leading centre of commerce, and the role of the more prosperous townsmen increased. Partitions Main articles: and The of 1764 resulted in the elevation of a Polish aristocrat connected to the faction of to the monarchy. However, as a one-time personal admirer of Empress , the new king spent much of his reign torn between his desire to implement reforms necessary to save his nation, and his perceived necessity to remain in a political relationship with his Russian sponsor. This led to the formation of the 1768 , a szlachta rebellion directed against the Polish king and his Russian sponsors, which aimed to preserve Poland's independence and the szlachta's traditional privileges. Disregarding this loss, in 1773 the king established the , the first government education authority in Europe. Corporal punishment of children was officially prohibited in 1783. The convened by Stanisław II August in 1788 successfully adopted the , the first set of modern supreme national laws in Europe. However, this document, accused by detractors of harbouring revolutionary sympathies, generated strong opposition from the Commonwealth's nobles and conservatives as well as from Catherine II, who, determined to prevent the rebirth of a strong Commonwealth set about planning the final dismemberment of the Polish-Lithuanian state. Russia was aided in achieving its goal when the , an organisation of Polish nobles, appealed to the Empress for help. In May 1792, Russian forces crossed the Commonwealth's frontier, thus beginning the. The defensive war fought by the Poles ended prematurely when the King, convinced of the futility of resistance, capitulated and joined the Targowica Confederation. The Confederation then took over the government. Russia and Prussia, fearing the mere existence of a Polish state, arranged for, and in 1793 executed, the , which left the country deprived of so much territory that it was practically incapable of independent existence. Eventually, in 1795, following the failed , the Commonwealth was by all three of its more powerful neighbours, and with this, effectively ceased to exist. Era of insurrections , carried out by , , and in , and. Poles , particularly near the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. An unsuccessful attempt at defending Poland's sovereignty took place in 1794 during the , where a popular and distinguished general , who had several years earlier served under in the , led Polish insurrectionists against numerically superior Russian forces. Despite the victory at the , his ultimate defeat ended Poland's independent existence. In 1807, temporarily recreated a Polish state as the satellite , after a successful against Prussian rule. But, after the failed , Poland was again split between the victorious powers at the of 1815. The eastern part was ruled by the Russian as , which had a very. However, over time the Russian monarch reduced Polish freedoms, and Russia annexed the country in virtually all but name. Meanwhile, the Prussian controlled territory of Poland came under increased Germanization. Thus, in the 19th century, only Austrian-ruled , and particularly the , allowed free Polish culture to flourish. Throughout the period of the partitions, political and cultural repression of the Polish nation led to the organisation of a number of uprisings against the authorities of the occupying Russian, Prussian and Austrian governments. In 1830, the began in when, led by Lieutenant , young at the in Warsaw revolted. They were joined by large segments of Polish society, and together forced Warsaw's Russian garrison to withdraw north of the city. Capture of the by the Polish army during the against , 29 November 1830. Over the course of the next seven months, Polish forces successfully defeated the Russian armies of Field Marshal and a number of other Russian commanders; however, finding themselves in a position unsupported by any other foreign powers, save distant France and the newborn United States, and with Prussia and Austria refusing to allow the import of military supplies through their territories, the Poles accepted that the uprising was doomed to failure. Upon the surrender of Warsaw to General , many Polish troops, feeling they could not go on, withdrew into Prussia and there laid down their arms. After the defeat, the semi-independent Congress Poland lost its constitution, army and legislative assembly, and was integrated more closely with the Russian Empire. During the a series of revolutions which swept across Europe , Poles took up arms in the to resist Prussian rule. Initially, the uprising manifested itself in the form of civil disobedience, but eventually turned into an armed struggle when the Prussian military was sent in to pacify the region. Eventually, after several battles the uprising was suppressed by the Prussians, and the was more completely incorporated into Prussia. In 1863, a new Polish uprising against Russian rule began. The started out as a spontaneous protest by young Poles against into the Imperial Russian Army. However, the insurrectionists, despite being joined by high-ranking Polish-Lithuanian officers and numerous politicians, were still severely outnumbered and lacking in foreign support. They were forced to resort to guerrilla warfare tactics and failed to win any major military victories. Afterwards no major uprising was witnessed in the Russian-controlled Congress Poland, and Poles resorted instead to fostering economic and cultural self-improvement. Despite the political unrest experienced during the partitions, Poland did benefit from large-scale industrialisation and modernisation programs, instituted by the occupying powers, which helped it develop into a more economically coherent and viable entity. This was particularly true in Greater Poland, Silesia and Eastern Pomerania controlled by Prussia later becoming a part of the ; areas which eventually, thanks largely to the and , were reconstituted as a part of the , becoming the country's most prosperous regions. Reconstruction Marshal was a hero of the Polish independence campaign and the nation's premiere statesman between 1918 until his death on 12 May 1935. During , all the agreed on the reconstitution of Poland that United States President proclaimed in Point 13 of his. A total of 2 million Polish troops fought with the armies of the three occupying powers, and 450,000 died. Shortly after the , Poland regained its independence as the II Rzeczpospolita Polska. It reaffirmed its independence after , the most notable being the 1919—21 when Poland inflicted a crushing defeat on the at the , an event which is considered to have halted the advance of Communism into Europe and forced to rethink his objective of achieving global socialism. Map of Poland during the , 1921—39 During this period, Poland successfully managed to fuse the territories of the three former partitioning powers into a cohesive nation state. Railways were restructured to direct traffic towards instead of the former imperial capitals, a new network of national roads was gradually built up and a was opened on the Coast, so as to allow Polish exports and imports to bypass the politically charged. The inter-war period heralded in a new era of Polish politics. Whilst Polish political activists had faced heavy censorship in the decades up until the First World War, the country now found itself trying to establish a new political tradition. For this reason, many exiled Polish activists, such as who would later become prime minister returned home to help; a significant number of them then went on to take key positions in the newly formed political and governmental structures. Tragedy struck in 1922 when , inaugural holder of the presidency, was assassinated at the Gallery in Warsaw by painter and right-wing nationalist. In 1926, a , led by the hero of the Polish independence campaign Marshal , turned rule of the Second Polish Republic over to the nonpartisan Healing movement in an effort to prevent radical political organizations on both the left and the right from destabilizing the country. The movement functioned integrally until Piłsudski's death in 1935. Following Marshall Piłsudski's death, Sanation split into several competing factions. By the late 1930s, Poland's government had become increasingly rigid; with a number of radical political parties that threatened the stability of the country such as the banned. As a subsequent result of the in 1938, Czechoslovakia ceded to Poland the small 350 sq mi region. The area was a point of contention between the Polish and Czechoslovak governments in the past and the two countries. World War II Polish army's tanks during military maneuvers shortly before the , 1939 The formal beginning of was marked by the on 1 September 1939, followed by the on 17 September. On 28 September 1939. As agreed earlier in the , Poland was split into two zones, , the other, including all of , fell under. In 1939—41, the Soviets deported hundreds of thousands of Poles to distant parts of the Soviet Union. The Soviet secretly executed thousands of Polish prisoners of war inter alia ahead of the. Pilots of the during the , October 1940 Poland made the fourth-largest troop contribution in Europe and its troops served both the in the and Soviet leadership in the. In the west, the Polish expeditionary corps played an important role in the and and are particularly remembered for the. In the east, the Soviet-backed distinguished itself in the battles for and. Polish servicemen were also active in the theatres of naval and air warfare; during the Polish squadrons such as the achieved considerable success, and by the end of the war the could claim 769 confirmed kills. Meanwhile, the was active in the protection of convoys in the and Atlantic Ocean. The domestic underground resistance movement, the Home Army , fought against German occupation. The in Poland was one of the three largest resistance movements of the entire war, and encompassed an unusually broad range of clandestine activities, which functioned as an complete with and. The resistance was loyal to the exiled government and generally resented the idea of a communist Poland; for this reason, in the summer of 1944 they initiated , of which the that begun on 1 August 1944 was the best known operation. The objective of the uprising was to drive the German occupiers from the city and help with the larger fight against Germany and the. Secondary motives were to see Warsaw liberated before the Soviets could reach the capital, so as to underscore Polish sovereignty by empowering the Polish Underground State before the Soviet-backed could assume control. A lack of Allied support and Stalin's reluctance to allow the 1st Army to help their fellow countrymen take the city led to the uprising's failure and subsequent. Map of with deportation routes and massacre sites. Major marked with yellow stars. Germany's Nazi marked with white skulls in black squares. The border in 1941 between and the marked in red. German forces under direct order from set up six , all of which operated in the heart of Poland. They included , and. The Germans from the Third Reich and across occupied Europe to murder them in the death camps set up in the. Grave of a killed during the. The battle lasted 63 days and resulted in the deaths of 200,000 civilians in 1944. It is estimated that, of pre-war Poland's Jewry, approximately 90% were killed. Throughout the , many members of the Armia Krajowa, supported by the , and millions of ordinary Poles — at great risk to themselves and their families —. Grouped by nationality, Poles represent the largest number of people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. To date, 6,620 Poles have been awarded the title of by the State of Israel—more than any other nation. Some estimates put the number of Poles involved in rescue efforts at up to 3 million, and credit Poles with sheltering up to 450,000 Jews. Around 150,000 Polish civilians were killed by Soviet Communists between 1939 and 1941 during the Soviet Union's occupation of eastern Poland , and another estimated 100,000 Poles were killed by the UPA in the regions of and between 1943 and 1944 in what became known as the. The massacres were part of a vicious campaign waged by Ukrainian nationalists against the local Polish population in the German-occupied territories of eastern Poland. At the war's conclusion, in 1945 Poland's borders , resulting in considerable territorial losses. Over 2 million Polish inhabitants of along the in accordance with Stalin's agreements. The western border was moved to the. As a result, Poland's territory was reduced by 20%, or 77,500 square kilometres 29,900 sq mi. The shift forced the migration of , most of whom were Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, and Jews. Over 90% of deaths were non-military in nature. Population numbers did not recover until the 1970s. Post-war communism At , 4 June 1989 — political poster featuring to encourage votes for the party in the At the insistence of , the sanctioned the formation of a new provisional pro-Communist coalition government in Moscow, which ignored the based in London; a move which angered many Poles who considered it a by the Allies. In 1944, Stalin had made guarantees to and that he would maintain Poland's sovereignty and allow democratic elections to take place. However, upon achieving victory in 1945, the elections organized by the occupying Soviet authorities were falsified and were used to provide a veneer of 'legitimacy' for Soviet hegemony over Polish affairs. The Soviet Union instituted a new government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the. Despite widespread objections, the new Polish government accepted the Soviet annexation of the pre-war eastern regions of Poland in particular the cities of and and agreed to the permanent garrisoning of units on Poland's territory. Military alignment within the throughout the came about as a direct result of this change in Poland's political culture and in the European scene came to characterise the full-fledged integration of Poland into the brotherhood of communist nations. The Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa. In 1956, after the death of , the régime of became temporarily more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. A similar situation repeated itself in the 1970s under , but most of the time persecution of groups persisted. Despite this, Poland was at the time considered to be one of the least oppressive states of the. Despite persecution and imposition of , it eroded the dominance of the and by 1989 had triumphed in Poland's first since the end of the Second World War. The Solidarity movement heralded the. The country became a member of the European community of nations on 1 May 2004. A programme, initiated by in the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its socialist-style planned economy into a. As with other post-communist countries, Poland suffered slumps in social and economic standards, but it became the first post-communist country to reach its pre-1989 GDP levels, which it achieved by 1995 largely thanks to its booming economy. Most visibly, there were numerous improvements in human rights, such as , no censorship , civil liberties 1st class and political rights 1st class , as ranked by non-governmental organization. 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 in in June 2003, with on 1 May 2004. Poland joined the in 2007, as a result of which, with other member states of the European Union have been dismantled, allowing for within most of the EU. In contrast to this, a section of Poland's eastern border now constitutes the external EU border with , Russia and Ukraine. That border has become increasingly well protected, and has led in part to the coining of the phrase , in reference to the seeming 'impossibility' of gaining entry to the EU for citizens of the. Candles and flowers on the following the including in a plane crash over Smolensk in Russia, 10 April 2010 In an effort to strengthen military cooperation with its neighbors, Poland set up the with Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, with a total of 3,000 troops ready for deployment. Also, in the east Poland created the battle groups with Lithuania and Ukraine. These battle groups will operate outside of NATO and within the European defense initiative framework. On 10 April 2010, the President of the Republic of Poland, , along with 89 other high-ranking Polish officials near , Russia. The president's party was on their way to attend an annual service of commemoration for the victims of the when the tragedy took place. In 2011, the responsible for the functioning of the was awarded to Poland. The same year took place in both and the Sejm. They were won by the ruling. Poland joined in 2012, as well as organised the along with Ukraine. In 2013, Poland also became a member of the. In 2014, the , , was chosen to be , and resigned as prime minister. The 2015 elections were won by the opposion Party PiS. In the north-west is the 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 of the country lie within the. Rising above these lowlands is a geographical region comprising four hilly districts of and formed during and after the. These lake districts are the Lake District, the Greater Polish Lake District, the Lake District, and the. The Masurian Lake District is the largest of the four and covers much of north-eastern Poland. The lake districts form part of the Baltic Ridge, a series of moraine belts along the southern shore of the. South of the Northern European Plain are the regions of , and , which are marked by broad ice-age river valleys. Farther south is a mountainous region, including the , the , the , and the , including the. The highest part of the Carpathians is the , along Poland's southern border. Geology in the region The geological structure of Poland has been shaped by the of Europe and Africa over the past 60 million years and, more recently, by the glaciations of northern Europe. Both processes shaped the and the. The moraine landscape of northern Poland contains soils made up mostly of sand or , while the ice age river valleys of the south often contain. The , the , and the consist of , while the , the , and the are made up mainly of and. The has some of the oldest rock formation on the continent of Europe. Poland has 70 mountains over 2,000 metres 6,600 feet in elevation, all in the. The Polish Tatras, which consist of the High Tatras and the Western Tatras, is the highest mountain group of Poland and of the entire Carpathian range. In the High Tatras lies Poland's highest point, the north-western summit of , 2,499 metres 8,199 ft in elevation. At its foot lie the mountain lakes of Black Lake below Mount Rysy and the Marine Eye. The second highest mountain group in Poland is the , whose highest peak is , at 1,725 metres 5,659 ft. The next highest mountain groups are the in the , the highest point of which is at 1,603 metres 5,259 ft , and the , the highest point of which is at 1,425 metres 4,675 ft. Other notable uplands include the , which are noted for their interesting rock formations, the in the far southeast of the country, in which the highest Polish peak is at 1,346 metres 4,416 ft , the in , whose highest point is at 1,310 metres 4,298 ft , the in , the highest point of which is Wysokie Skałki Wysoka at 1,050 metres 3,445 ft , and the in , which have two similarly high peaks: at 612 metres 2,008 ft and at 593 metres 1,946 ft. The lowest point in Poland — at 1. In the the Coal Fields of region in the in southern Poland is an area of sparsely vegetated sand known as the. It covers an area of 32 square kilometres 12 sq mi. It is not a natural desert but results from human activity from the onwards. The Baltic Sea activity in created which in the course of time separated the bay from the sea creating two lakes. As waves and wind carry sand inland the dunes slowly move, at a rate of 3 to 10 metres 9. Some dunes reach the height of up to 30 metres 98 ft. The highest peak of the park is Rowokol 115 metres or 377 feet. The river is the longest in Poland, flowing the entire length of the country for 1,047 kilometres 651 mi. The longest rivers are the : Wisła , 1,047 kilometres 651 mi long; the : Odra which forms part of Poland's western border, 854 kilometres 531 mi long; its tributary, the , 808 kilometres 502 mi long; and the , a tributary of the Vistula, 772 kilometres 480 mi 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 Sea, and the flows into the Baltic Sea 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 navigation. The , for example, traveled up the Vistula and the Oder in their. In the Middle Ages and in early modern times, when the Polish—Lithuanian Commonwealth was the breadbasket of Europe; the shipment of grain and other agricultural products down the Vistula toward and onward to other parts of Europe took on great importance. In the valley of river in there is a unique natural of water containing calcium salts, that is an object of protection in in. The origin of the name of the reserve Niebieskie Źródła, that means Blue Springs, comes from the fact that red waves are absorbed by water and only blue and green are reflected from the bottom of the spring, giving that atypical colour. With almost ten thousand closed bodies of water covering more than 1 hectare 2. In Europe, only has a greater density of lakes. The largest lakes, covering more than 100 square kilometres 39 sq mi , are and in , and and in. The , located in the region of Poland, contains more than 2,000 lakes. In addition to the lake districts in the north in Masuria, Pomerania, , 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 7th century BC by people of the. Lakes have always played an important role in Polish history and continue to be of great importance to today's modern Polish society. The ancestors of today's Poles, the , built their first fortresses on islands in these lakes. The legendary Prince ruled from tower erected on the. The first historically documented ruler of Poland, Duke , had his palace on an island in the Warta River in. Nowadays the Polish lakes provide a location for the pursuit of water sports such as and. The Polish coast is approximately 528 kilometres 328 mi long and extends from island in the west to in the east. The Polish Baltic coast is approximately 528 kilometres 328 mi 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. This continual and has formed cliffs, dunes, and spits, many of which have migrated landwards to close off former lagoons, such as Łebsko Lake in Słowiński National Park. The largest spits are and the. The coast line is varied also by and and a few lakes, e. The largest Polish Baltic island is called known for its. The largest sea are , , , , and and the main coastal resorts — , , , , , and the Hel Peninsula. Land use fields in Poland is the fourth most forested country in Europe. Forests cover about 30. Its overall percentage is still increasing. The largest forest complex in Poland is. More than 1% of Poland's territory, 3,145 square kilometres 1,214 sq mi , is protected within 23. Three more national parks are projected for , the Polish Jura, and the eastern. In addition, along lakes and rivers in central Poland are legally protected, as are coastal areas in the north. There are over 120 areas designated as , along with numerous and other e. Since Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004, Polish agriculture has performed extremely well and the country has over two million private farms. It is the leading producer in Europe of potatoes and world's second largest in 1989 the world's largest producer of , and one of the more important producers of barley, oats, , flax, and fruits. Poland is the European Union's fourth largest supplier of pork after Germany, Spain and France. Biodiversity , an ancient woodland in eastern Poland, is now home to 800 wild. According to the , the territory of of the continental forest spanning Central and Northern European ecoregions as well as the Carpathian conifer forest. 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 , in the Tatras, and in the Beskids, the and the in various forests, the in northern Poland, and the in Masuria, Pomerania, and Podlaskie. In the forests there are game animals, such as , and. In eastern Poland there are a number of ancient woodlands, like Białowieża forest, that have never been cleared or disturbed much by people. There are also large forested areas in the mountains, Masuria, Pomerania, and. Poland is host to the largest population in Europe. Poland is the most important breeding ground for a variety of European. One quarter of the global population of 40,000 breeding pairs live in Poland, particularly in the lake districts and the wetlands along the , the , and the , which are part of nature reserves or national parks. Poland has historically been home to the two largest European species of mammals — żubr and tur. Both survived in Poland longer than anywhere else. The last aurochs of Europe became extinct in 1627, in the , while survived until the only in the , but have been reintroduced to other countries since. Climate The climate is mostly throughout the country. The climate is in the north and west and becomes gradually warmer and towards the south and east. Summers are generally warm, with average temperatures between 18 and 30 °C 64. Winters are rather cold, with average temperatures around 3 °C 37. The warmest region in Poland is in the southwest of the country, where temperatures in the summer average between 24 and 32 °C 75 and 90 °F but can go as high as 34 to 39 °C 93. The warmest cities in Poland are in , and in Lower Silesia. The average temperatures in Wrocław are 20 °C 68 °F in the summer and 0 °C 32. The coldest region of Poland is in the northeast in the near the borders with and. Usually the coldest city is. The climate is affected by which come from and. The biggest impact of the is observed in and seashore area from to. Poland ranks in the top 20 percent of the most peaceful countries in the world, according to the. The government structure centers on the , led by a. The president appoints the cabinet according to the proposals of the prime minister, typically from the majority coalition in the. The president is elected by popular vote every five years. The current is and the is. Polish voters elect a parliament consisting of a 460-member lower house Sejm and a 100-member Senate. The Sejm is elected under according to the , a method similar to that used in many parliamentary political systems. The Senat, on the other hand, is elected under the method, with one senator being returned from each of the 100 constituencies. 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 Senat 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 State Tribunal 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 Senat, 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 citizens and residents, of the law and of principles of community life and social justice. Law The building in The is the supreme law in contemporary Poland, and the Polish legal system is based on the principle of civil rights, governed by the code of Civil Law. Historically, the most famous Polish legal act is the. Historian describes it as the first of its kind in Europe. The Constitution was instituted as a : Ustawa rządowa and then adopted on 3 May 1791 by the of the. Primarily, it was designed to redress long-standing political defects of the Polish—Lithuanian Commonwealth and its. Previously only the signed by each of Poland's elected kings could perform the function of a set of basic laws. The adopted in 1791 was the first modern constitution in Europe. The new Constitution introduced political equality between and the , and placed the under the protection of the government. The Constitution abolished pernicious parliamentary institutions such as the , which at one time had placed the at the mercy of any deputy who might choose, or be by an interest or foreign power, to have rescinded all the legislation that had been passed by that sejm. The 3 May Constitution sought to supplant the existing anarchy fostered by some of the country's , with a more and democratic. The adoption of was treated as a threat by Poland's neighbours. In response , Austria and Russia formed an anti-Polish alliance and over the next decade collaborated with one another to their weaker neighbour and destroyed the Polish state. In Poland, freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Article 25 section I. The Republic and Article 54 section II. The Freedoms, Rights and Obligations of Persons and Citizens of the. Poland's precursor of feminism, , founded a group of in 1842. Prior to the in 1795, tax-paying females were allowed to take part in political life. Since 1918, following the return to independence, all women could vote. Poland was the 15th 12th sovereign country to introduce universal women's suffrage. Currently, in Poland abortion is allowed only in special circumstances, such as when the woman's life or health is endangered by the continuation of pregnancy, when the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act, or when the fetus is seriously malformed. Homosexuality in Poland was confirmed as legal in 1932. Also, Poland recognises gender change. Trafficking women is 'illegal and rare' top results worldwide. It guarantees a multi-party state, the freedoms of religion, speech and assembly, and specifically casts off many Communist ideals to create a ' '. It requires public officials to pursue ecologically sound public policy and acknowledges the inviolability of the home, the right to form trade unions, and to strike, whilst at the same time prohibiting the practices of forced medical experimentation, torture and corporal punishment. Foreign relations Main articles: and In recent years, Poland has extended its responsibilities and position in European and international affairs, supporting and establishing friendly relations with other European nations and a large number of 'developing' countries. In 1994, Poland became an associate member of the European Union EU and its defensive arm, the WEU , having submitted preliminary documentation for full membership in 1996, it formally joined the European Union in May 2004, along with the other members of the. In 1996, Poland achieved full membership, and at the 1997 Madrid Summit was invited to join the NATO in the first wave of finally becoming a full member of NATO in March 1999. Poland has forged a special relationships with , with whom it co-hosted the UEFA football tournament, in an effort to firmly anchor the country within the Western world and provide it with an alternative to aligning itself with the. Despite many positive developments in the region, Poland has found itself in a position where it must seek to defend the rights of ethnic Poles living in the ; this is particularly true of , where in 2005 the regime launched a campaign against the Polish ethnic minority. Poland is the sixth most populous member state of the European Union and has a grand total of 51 representatives in the. Ever since joining the union in 2004, successive Polish governments have pursued policies to increase the country's role in European and regional affairs. Administrative divisions Main article: Poland's current provinces are largely based on the country's historic regions, whereas those of the past two decades to 1998 had been centred on and named for individual cities. The new units range in area from less than 10,000 square kilometres 3,900 sq mi for Opole Voivodeship to more than 35,000 square kilometres 14,000 sq mi for Masovian Voivodeship. Administrative authority at voivodeship level is shared between a government-appointed governor , an elected regional assembly and an executive elected by that assembly. The voivodeships are subdivided into often referred to in English as counties , and these are further divided into also known as communes or municipalities. Major cities normally have the status of both gmina and powiat. Poland has 16 voivodeships, 379 powiats including 65 cities with powiat status , and 2,478 gminas. Plans call for the force, once fully active, to consist of 53,000 people who will be trained and equipped to counter potential threats. The military is subordinate to the. However, its commander-in-chief is the President of the Republic. The Polish army's size is estimated at around 101,500 soldiers 2016. The Polish Navy primarily operates in the Baltic Sea and conducts operations such as maritime patrol, search and rescue for the section of the Baltic under Polish sovereignty, as well as hydrographic measurements and research. Also, the Polish Navy played a more international role as part of the , providing logistical support for the. The current position of the Polish Air Force is much the same; it has routinely taken part in assignments, but otherwise, with the exception of a number of units serving in , has seen no active combat. In 2003, the Block 52 was chosen as the new general multi-role fighter for the air force, the first deliveries taking place in November 2006. Crew of a during a exercise at the Military Training Area near The most important mission of the armed forces is the defence of Polish territorial integrity and Polish interests abroad. Poland's national security goal is to further integrate with and European defence, economic, and political institutions through the modernisation and reorganisation of its military. The armed forces are being re-organised according to NATO standards, and since 2010, the transition to an entirely contract-based military has been completed. Compulsory military service for men was discontinued in 2008. From 2007, until conscription ended in 2008, the mandatory service was nine months. From 1953 to 2009 Poland was a large contributor to various United Nations peacekeeping missions. The Polish Armed Forces took part in the , deploying 2,500 soldiers in the south of that country and commanding the 17-nation. The military was temporarily, but severely, affected by the , which killed the Chief of the Army's General Staff and Air Force commanding general , among others. Currently, Poland's military is going through a significant modernization phase, which will be completed in 2022. Under the program, the military plans to purchase new tracked , self-propelled , and helicopters, a mid-range system, , , and coastal. Also, the army plans to modernize its existing inventory of , and update its stock of. Poland is currently spending 2% of its GDP on defense, and is expected to grow to 2. In May 2017 the has assured that the Polish army will be increased to 250,000 active personnel. Law enforcement and emergency services A patrol van belonging to the Polish Policja Poland has a highly developed system of law enforcement with a long history of effective policing by the Policja. The structure of law enforcement agencies within Poland is a multi-tier one, with the State Police providing criminal-investigative services, serving to maintain public order and a number of other specialized agencies, such as the , acting to fulfill their assigned missions. In addition to these state services, private security companies are also common, although they possess no powers assigned to state agencies, such as, for example, the power to make an arrest or detain a suspect. Emergency services in Poland consist of the , units of the and. Emergency medical services in Poland are, unlike other services, provided for by local and regional government. Since joining the European Union all of Poland's emergency services have been undergoing major restructuring and have, in the process, acquired large amounts of new equipment and staff. All emergency services personnel are now uniformed and can be easily recognised. In addition, the police and other agencies have been steadily replacing and modernising their fleets of vehicles. Poland's economy is considered to be one of the more resilient of the post-Communist countries and is one of the fastest growing within the EU. Having a strong domestic market, low private debt, flexible currency, and not being dependent on a single export sector, Poland is the only European economy to have avoided the. Since the , Poland has pursued a policy the economy. It is an example of the transition from a to a primarily. The country's most successful exports include machinery, furniture, food products, clothing, shoes and cosmetics. Poland's largest trading partner is Germany. Poland is a member of the and the EU. The of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed the development of the private sector. Also, several organizations have become active in the country. The biggest privatisations have been the sale of the national telecoms firm to in 2000, and an issue of 30% of the shares in Poland's largest bank, , on the Polish stockmarket in 2004. The Polish banking sector is the largest in the Central and Eastern European region, with 32. The banks are the largest and most developed sector of the country's. They are regulated by the. During the transformation to a market-oriented economy, the government privatized several banks, recapitalized the rest, and introduced legal reforms that made the sector more competitive. This has attracted a significant number of strategic foreign investors ICFI. Poland's banking sector has approximately 5 national banks, a network of nearly 600 cooperative banks and 18 branches of foreign-owned banks. In addition, foreign investors have controlling stakes in nearly 40 commercial banks, which make up 68% of the banking capital. Poland has a large number of private farms in its agricultural sector, with the potential to become a leading producer of food in the European Union. The biggest money-makers abroad include smoked and fresh fish, fine chocolate, and dairy products, meats and specialty breads, with the exchange rate conducive to export growth. Food exports amounted to 62 billion in 2011, increasing by 17% from 2010. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Warsaw leads in foreign investment. According to data, Polish PPS GDP per capita stood at 70% of the EU average in 2017, up from 50 percent in the year prior to the accession to the EU in 2004. Since the opening of the labor market in the , Poland experienced a of over 2. The emigration has increased the average wages for the workers who remained in Poland, in particular for those with intermediate level skills. Products and goods manufactured in Poland include: electronics, buses and trams , , helicopters and planes , , trains , ships , , , military equipment , , medicines , , food , , , clothes , glass, pottery , chemical products and others. Poland is also one of the world's biggest producers of , and , as well as , , , , , and. Corporations is the largest exchange by market capitalization in. Poland is recognised as a regional economic leader within Central Europe, with nearly 40 percent of the 500 biggest companies in the region by revenues as well as a. The country's largest firms compose the index, which is traded on the. The economic transition in 1989 has resulted in a in the number and value of investments conducted by Polish corporations abroad. Over a quarter of these companies have participated in a foreign project or , and 72 percent decided to continue foreign expansion. According to reports made by the , the value of Polish foreign direct investments reached almost 300 billion at the end of 2014. The estimated that in 2014 there were around 1,437 Polish corporations with interests in 3,194 foreign entities. Well known Polish brands include, among others , , , , , , , , , , , , , PKP , , and. The list includes the largest companies by turnover in 2016: Rank 2016 Corporation Sector Headquarters Revenue millions PLN Employees 1. SA Oil and gas 79,553 4,445 2. Oil and gas 33,196 5,168 3. Energy 28,092 44,317 4. Insurance 22,212 36,419 5. Oil and gas 20,931 33,071 6. SA Mining 19,556 18,578 7. SA Energy 17,646 26,710 8. Financial services 14,283 22,556 9. Banking 13,544 5,303 10. Energy 11,255 23,805 Tourism The is a. Tourist attractions in Poland vary, from the mountains in the south to the sandy beaches in the north, with a trail of nearly every architectural style. The most visited city is , which was the former capital of Poland and serves as a relic of of Renaissance. Kraków also held of. Among other notable sites in the country is , one of the oldest cities in Poland. Wrocław possesses a huge market square with two , as well as the oldest with one of the world's largest number of animal species and is famous for its. The Polish capital and its historical were entirely reconstructed after. Other cities attracting tourists include , , , , and the historic site of the in. Poland's main tourist offerings include outdoor activities such as skiing, sailing, mountain hiking and climbing, as well as agrotourism, sightseeing. Tourist destinations include the coast in the north; the and in the east; on the south , the and the , where , the highest peak of Poland, and the famous mountain trail are located. The and lie in the extreme south-east. There are in the country, many in the and along the popular. Energy is a lignite-fired power station that produces 27—28 TWh of electricity per year, or twenty percent of the total power generation in Poland. The electricity generation sector in Poland is largely —based. Many power plants nationwide use Poland's position as a major European exporter of coal to their advantage by continuing to use coal as the primary raw material in production of their energy. In 2013, Poland scored 48 out of 129 states in the Energy Sustainability Index. The three largest Polish coal mining firms , and extract around 100 million tonnes of coal annually. All three of these companies are key constituents of the 's lead economic indexes. Renewable forms of energy account for a smaller proportion of Poland's full energy generation capacity. However, the national government has set targets for the development of renewable energy sources in Poland which should see the portion of power produced by renewable resources climb to 7. This is to be achieved mainly through the construction of and a number of stations. Poland has around 164,800,000,000 m 3 of proven natural gas reserves and around 96,380,000 barrels of proven oil reserves. However, the small amounts of fossil fuels naturally occurring in Poland is insufficient to satisfy the full energy consumption needs of the population. Therefore, the country is a net importer of oil and natural gas. The 5 largest companies supplying Poland with electricity are , , , and. Transport , motorways and junction near Transport in Poland is provided by means of , , and. Positioned in Central Europe with its eastern and part of its northeastern border constituting the longest land border of the with the rest of and. Since joining the EU in May 2004, Poland has invested large amounts of public funds into modernization projects of its transport networks. The country now has a developing network of , composed of and such as , , , , ,. At the end of 2017, Poland had 3421,7 km of highways. In addition to these newly built roads, many local and regional roads are being fixed as part of a national programme to rebuild all roads in Poland. Polish authorities maintain a program of improving operating speeds across the entire Polish rail network. Additionally, in December 2014, Poland began to implement connecting major Polish cities. The Polish government has revealed that it intends to connect all major cities to a future high-speed rail network by 2020. Most intercity rail routes in Poland are operated by , whilst regional trains are run by a number of operators, the largest of which is. Currently, it is the line with highest railway speed in Poland. The air and maritime transport markets in Poland are largely well developed. Poland has a number of international airports, the largest of which is , the primary global hub for. LOT is the 28th and the world's 12th , established in 1929 from a merger of 1922 and 1925. Other major airports with international connections include , ,. Seaports exist all along Poland's Baltic coast, with most freight operations using , , and as well as , and as their base. Passenger ferries link Poland with all year round; these services are provided from Gdańsk and by , from Gdynia and from the. Science and technology Physicist and chemist was the first person to win two. She also established Poland's in 1925. Over the course of history, the Polish people have made considerable contributions in the fields of science, technology and mathematics. Perhaps the most renowned Pole to support this theory was Mikołaj Kopernik , who triggered the by placing the. He also derived a , which made him a pioneer of. Copernicus' achievements and discoveries are considered the basis of Polish culture and cultural identity. Poland's tertiary education institutions; traditional , as well as technical, medical, and economic institutions, employ around 61,000 researchers and members of staff. There are around 300 research and development institutes, with about 10,000 researchers. In total, there are around 91,000 scientists in Poland today. However, in the 19th and 20th centuries many Polish scientists worked abroad; one of the most important of these exiles was , a physicist and chemist who lived much of her life in France. In the first half of the 20th century, Poland was a flourishing centre of mathematics. Outstanding Polish mathematicians formed the with , , , and with , , and. Over 40 research and development centers and 4,500 researchers make Poland the biggest research and development hub in Central and Eastern Europe. Multinational companies such as: ABB, , , , , , , , , , and all have set up research and development centres in Poland. Companies chose Poland because of the availability of highly qualified labour force, presence of universities, support of authorities, and the largest market in East-Central Europe. According to a KPMG report in 2011 80% of Poland's current investors are content with their choice and willing to reinvest. Communications Headquarters of in. Poland's postal service can trace its roots to the year 1558. The public postal service in Poland is operated by the Polish Post. It was created on 18 October 1558, when King established a permanent postal route from to. The service was dissolved during the foreign partitions in the 18th century. After regaining independence in 1918, Poland saw the rapid development of the postal system as new services were introduced including , payment of pensions, delivery of magazines, and. The government-owned enterprise of Polish Post, Telegraph and Telephone Polska Poczta, Telegraf i Telefon was established in 1928. During communication was provided mainly through the military authorities. Many important events in the history of Poland involved the postal service, like the in 1939, and the participation of the Polish Scouts' Postal Service in the. At present, the service is a modern state-owned company that provides a number of standard and express delivery as well as home-delivery services. With an estimated number of around 83,000 employees 2013 , Poczta Polska also has a personal tracking system for parcels. In 2017 the company adopted a strategy that assumes increasing revenues to 6. Population of Poland 1900—2010 in millions of inhabitants Poland, with its 38,544,513 inhabitants, has the and the sixth-largest in the. It has a population density of 122 inhabitants per square kilometer 328 per square mile. In recent years, Poland's population has decreased due to an increase in emigration and a decline in the birth rate. Since , a significant number of Poles , primarily to the , and in search of better work opportunities abroad. With better economic conditions and Polish salaries at 70% of the EU average in 2016, this trend started to decrease in the 2010s and workforce became needed in the country. As a result, the Polish Minister of Development suggested that Poles abroad should return to Poland. Polish minorities are still present in the neighboring countries of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania, as well as in other countries see for population numbers. Altogether, the number of ethnic Poles living abroad is estimated to be around 20 million. The largest number of can be found in the , , and. The TFR in Poland was estimated in 2013 at 1. Urbanization Dolina Jadwigi — a Polish-Kashubian road sign with the village name Polish język polski, polszczyzna is a spoken primarily in Poland and the of Poles. It belongs to the subgroup of. Polish is the of Poland, but it is also used throughout the world by in other countries. It is one of the official. Its written standard is the , which has 9 additions to the letters of the basic ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż , with the notable exclusion of q, v, and x, which are used mainly for foreign words. The deaf communities use belonging to the. Until recent decades Russian was commonly learned as a second language, but after the has been replaced by English as the most common second language studied and spoken. In 2015, more than 50% of Poles declared to speak English — Russian came second and German came third, other commonly spoken foreign languages include French, Italian and Spanish. According to the Act of 6 January 2005 on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional languages, 16 other languages have officially recognized status of minority languages: 1 regional language - spoken by around 366,000 people, but only 108,000 declared its everyday use in the census of 2011 , 10 languages of 9 national minorities minority groups that have their own independent state elsewhere and 5 languages of 4 ethnic minorities spoken by the members of minorities not having a separate state elsewhere. Jewish and Romani minorities each have 2 minority languages recognized. Languages having the status of national minority's language are Armenian, Belarusian, Czech, German, Yiddish, Hebrew, Lithuanian, Russian, Slovak and Ukrainian. Languages having the status of ethnic minority's language are , called Lemko in Poland and. Also, official recognition is granted to two : and. Official recognition of a language provides certain rights under conditions prescribed by the law : of education in that language, of having the language established as the secondary administrative language or help language in bilingual and of financial support from the state for the promotion of that language. Ethnicity Main articles: , , , are a Polish ethnographic group living in the region of The Poles are a ethnic group and a nation native to Poland, who share a common ancestry, culture, history, religion and are native speakers of the Polish language, along with its various regional dialects. The formation of the Polish identity and ethnicity can be traced to the 10th century when Duke politically unified the Slavic tribes of , , , , and. Following the formation of the in 1569, the country over the next two centuries contained. The Commonwealth was primarily comprised of three nations: , , and Ukrainians and Belarusians — there were also sizable minorities of groups such as Germans, Jews, Armenians and Tatars. After the partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century, the bulk of the ethnic Polish population was primarily located in. When Poland regained its independence in 1918, Poles constituted the majority of the population in the country, during the , with sizable Ukrainian, Belarusian, Jewish and German minorities. Today, Poland is primarily inhabited by ethnic Poles. In the , 37,310,341 96. Other minority national and ethnic groups in Poland include the , , , , , , , , , and. Ethnic Poles themselves can be divided into many diverse sub-groups, such as , , , , , , , , , , , and among many others. Since then, Poland has been a predominantly Catholic nation, however throughout its history, religious tolerance was an important part of the political culture. In 1264, the , also known as a Charter of Jewish Liberties, granted living in the Polish lands unprecedented legal rights not found anywhere in Europe. In 1424, the Polish king was pressed by the Bishops to issue the , outlawing early Protestant. Then in 1573, the marked the formal beginning of extensive religious freedoms granted to all faiths in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The act was not imposed by a king or consequence of war, but rather resulted from the actions of members of the Polish-Lithuanian society. It was also influenced by the events of the 1572 French , which prompted the Polish-Lithuanian nobility to see that no monarch would ever be able to carry out such reprehensible atrocities in Poland. The act is also credited with keeping the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth out of the , fought between German Protestants and Catholics. He held the papacy between 1978 and 2005. Religious tolerance in Poland spurred many theological movements such as Calvinist and a number of other Protestant groups, as well as atheists, such as ex-Jesuit philosopher , one of the first atheist thinkers in Europe. Also, in the 16th century, from the Netherlands and Germany settled in Poland—after being persecuted in Western Europe—and became known as the. The of is the oldest standing synagogue in Poland. In 2014, an estimated 87% of the population belonged to the Catholic Church. Though rates of religious observance are lower at 52%, Poland remains one of the most religious countries in Europe. Contemporary religious minorities include about 506,800 , various Protestants about 150,000 — including 77,500 in the , 23,000 in the , 10,000 in the and other smaller denominations — 126,827 , , , , and , including the of region. There are also several thousand neopagans, some of whom are members of the. From 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, reigned as of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the only Polish Pope to date. Additionally he is credited with having played a significant role in hastening the downfall of communism in Poland and throughout. Freedom of religion is now guaranteed by the 1989 statute of the Polish Constitution, enabling the emergence of additional denominations. The between the and Poland guarantees the teaching of religion in state schools. According to a 2007 survey, 72% of respondents were not opposed to in public schools; alternative courses in ethics are available only in one percent of the entire public educational system. Famous sites of Roman Catholic pilgrimage in Poland include the in the southern Polish city of , ,. Many tourists also visit the in just outside. Orthodox pilgrims visit Mountain Grabarka near. Health in Poland's healthcare system is based on an all-inclusive insurance system. State subsidised healthcare is available to all Polish citizens who are covered by this general health insurance program. However, it is not compulsory to be treated in a state-run hospital as a number of private medical complexes exist nationwide. All medical service providers and hospitals in Poland are subordinate to the , which provides oversight and scrutiny of general medical practice as well as being responsible for the day-to-day administration of the healthcare system. In addition to these roles, the ministry is tasked with the maintenance of standards of hygiene and patient-care. Hospitals in Poland are organised according to the regional administrative structure, resultantly most towns have their own hospital Szpital Miejski. Larger and more specialised medical complexes tend only to be found in larger cities, with some even more specialised units located only in the capital, Warsaw. However, all have their own general hospital most have more than one , all of which are obliged to have a trauma centre; these types of hospital, which are able to deal with almost all medical problems are called 'regional hospitals' Szpital Wojewódzki. The last category of hospital in Poland is that of specialised medical centres, an example of which would be the , Poland's leading, and most highly specialised centre for the research and treatment of cancer. In 2012, the Polish health-care industry experienced further transformation. Hospitals were given priority for refurbishment where necessary. As a result of this process, many hospitals were updated with the latest medical equipment. In 2016, the average life expectancy at birth was 77. Education Wearing of traditional is a common feature of Polish university ceremonies. The Komisja Edukacji Narodowej established in 1773, was the world's first state ministry of education. The education of Polish society was a goal of the nation's rulers as early as the 12th century. The library catalogue of the of Kraków dating back to 1110 shows that in the early 12th-century Polish academia had access to European and Classical literature. The was founded in 1364 by in Kraków—the school is. As of 2012 , , coordinated by the , ranks Poland's educational system higher than the OECD average. It is compulsory that children participate in one year of formal education before entering the 1st class at no later than 7 years of age. Corporal punishment of children in schools is officially prohibited since 1783 before the partitions and criminalised since 2010 in schools as well as at home. At the end of the 6th class when students are 13, students take a compulsory exam that will determine their acceptance and transition into a specific lower secondary school gimnazjum—middle school or junior high. They will attend this school for three years during classes 7, 8, and 9. Students then take another compulsory exam to determine the upper secondary level school they will attend. There are several alternatives, the most common being the three years in a liceum or four years in a. Both end with a maturity examination —similar to French , and may be followed by several forms of higher education, leading to or inżynier the Polish first cycle qualification , second cycle qualification and eventually doktor third cycle qualification. In Poland, there are 500 university-level institutions for the pursuit of higher education. There are 18 fully accredited traditional universities, 20 technical universities, 9 independent medical universities, 5 universities for the study of economics, 9 agricultural academies, 3 pedagogical universities, a theological academy, 3 maritime service universities and 4 national military academies. Also, there are a number of higher educational institutions dedicated to the teaching of the arts—amongst these are the 7 academies of music. Main article: The culture of Poland is closely connected with its intricate 1,000-year. Its unique character developed as a result of its geography at the confluence of European cultures. With origins in the culture of the , over time Polish culture has been profoundly influenced by its interweaving ties with the , and worlds as well as in continual dialog with the many other ethnic groups and minorities living in Poland. The people of Poland have traditionally been seen as hospitable to artists from abroad and eager to follow cultural and artistic trends popular in other countries. In the 19th and 20th centuries the Polish focus on cultural advancement often took precedence over political and economic activity. These factors have contributed to the versatile nature of Polish art, with all its complex nuances. Music : mazurek , stylized in 1832 , commemorating the Artists from Poland, including famous musicians like , , or and traditional, regionalized , create a lively and diverse music scene, which even recognizes its own music genres, such as and. As of 2006 , Poland is one of the few countries in Europe where and dominate over pop music, while all kinds of genres are encouraged. The origins of Polish music can be traced as far back as the 13th century; manuscripts have been found in , containing compositions related to the Parisian. Other early compositions, such as the melody of and a coronation for Polish kings by an unknown composer , may also date back to this period, however, the first known notable composer, , was born and lived in the 15th century. During the 16th century, two main musical groups — both based in and belonging to the King and Archbishop of — led to the rapid development of Polish renaissance music. Composers writing during this period include , , , , and. In the 17th and 18th centuries, renowned Polish baroque composers included , , , , , and. Most of the compositions written were either , or secular compositions such as and for voices or instruments. At the end of the 18th century, Polish classical music evolved into national forms like the. Also, 's , which premiered on 1 March 1794, is regarded as the first Polish national. In the 19th century the most popular composers were: and his pupils and. Important opera composers of the era were and whilst the list of famous soloists and composers included ,. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries the most prominent composers or musicians could said to have been and , and. Inspired by poems of Traditional Polish folk music has had a major effect on the works of many well-known Polish composers, and no more so than on Fryderyk Chopin, a widely recognised national hero of the arts. All of Chopin's involve the piano and are technically demanding, emphasising nuance and expressive depth. As a great composer, Chopin invented the known as the and made major innovations to the , , , , , , and , he was also the composer of a number of polonaises which borrowed heavily from traditional Polish folk music. It is largely thanks to him that such pieces gained great popularity throughout Europe during the 19th century. Nowadays the most distinctive folk music can be heard in the towns and villages of the mountainous south, particularly in the region surrounding the winter resort town of. Today Poland has a very active music scene, with the jazz and metal genres being particularly popular among the contemporary populace. Polish jazz musicians such as created a unique style, which was most famous in the 1960s and 1970s and continues to be popular to this day. Since the fall of communism throughout Europe, Poland has become a major venue for large-scale music festivals, chief among which are the , and. Though not Polish in its origin, the painting symbolizes Poland's cultural heritage and is among the country's most precious treasures. The , later developed by , produced monumental portrayals of customs and significant events in Polish history. Other institutions like the were more innovative and focused on both historical and contemporary styles. In recent years, art academies such as the , , and gained much recognition. Interior of the in , which holds one of the largest collections of contemporary art in the country Perhaps the most prominent and internationally admired Polish artist was , who specialized in the style of and whose paintings are often collected by celebrities and well-known personas. Prior to the 19th century only and Italian-born had the privilege of being recognized abroad. The movement witnessed the birth of modern Polish art, and engaged in a great deal of formal experimentation led by , , , and a group of Polish. Within historically-orientated circles, dominated with his monumental and theme. Since the inter-war years, Polish art and documentary photography has enjoyed worldwide fame and in the 1960s the was formed. Throughout the entire country, many national museum and art institutions hold valuable works by famous masters like , , , and. The most distinguished painting of Poland is by Leonardo da Vinci, held at the in. Although not Polish, the work had a strong influence on Polish culture and has been often associated with Polish identity. Other prominent 20th-century artists originating from Poland include , , , , , and. Architecture on the in is an example of architecture. Polish cities and towns reflect a whole spectrum of European architectural styles. Richly decorated and are the common elements of the Polish Renaissance architecture, as evident in the in Poznań. For some time the late renaissance style known as , most notably in the in , coexisted with the early baroque style, typified in the. Nonetheless, a number of ancient structures has survived: castles, churches, and stately homes, often unique in the regional or European context. Some of them have been painstakingly restored, like , or completely reconstructed, including the and of Warsaw and the Old Town of. The architecture of Gdańsk is mostly of the Hanseatic variety, a Gothic style common among the former trading cities along the Baltic sea and in the northern part of Central Europe. The architectural style of is mainly representative of German architecture, since it was for centuries located within the Holy Roman Empire. The centre of on the is a good example of a well-preserved medieval town. Poland's ancient capital, , ranks among the best-preserved and Renaissance urban complexes in Europe. The second half of the 17th century is marked by architecture. Side towers, such as those of in Białystok, are typical for the Polish baroque. The classical is represented by the University in Wrocław. The profuse decorations of the in Warsaw are characteristic of the style. The centre of Polish classicism was Warsaw under the rule of the last Polish king. The is the most notable example of Polish. Some of the best preserved and oldest structures include wooden , and primarily located across southern Poland in the and regions of the Carpathian mountains. Numerous examples of secular structures such as dworek , , , , and country inns can still be found across most regions of Poland. These structures were mostly built using the , common to eastern and northern Europe since the Middle Ages and also going further back to the old Slavic building traditions, exemplified by the wooden a type of fortified settlement built between the 6th and 12th centuries. These traditional construction methods were utilized all the way up to the start of the 20th century, and gradually faded in the first decades when Poland's population experienced a demographic shift to urban dwelling away form the countryside. Literature was an untiring promoter of Poland's culture and heritage. His is considered a masterpiece of. It was composed by an abbot named Piotr Peter within the Latin language chronicle from between 1269 and 1273, which described the history of the monastery in ,. The sentence was allegedly uttered almost a hundred years earlier by a settler, who expressed pity for his spouse's duty of grinding by the. The sentence has been included in the. He was the author of popular books such as and. Most records in Latin and the contain the oldest extant manuscript of fine Polish entitled the , as well as the earliest Polish-language bible, the so-called. One of the first printing houses was established by in the 1470s, while was considered the pioneer of commercial print in Poland. Haller's , an astronomical wall calendar from 1474, is Poland's oldest surviving print. The tradition of extending Polish historiography in Latin was subsequently inherited by , Bishop of in the 13th century, and in the 15th century. This practice, however, was abandoned by , who became one of the first authors to write most of his works in Polish, along with. Poland also hosted a large number of famed poets and writers from abroad like , and. A Polish writer who utilized Latin as his principal tool of expression was , one of the most renowned Latin poets of his time, who was laureled by the. Other writers of the Polish Renaissance include , , and. Throughout this period Poland also experienced the early stages of. The main figure of Polish Reformation was , who, with the permission of King , created the European Protestant Congregation of London in 1550. During the era, the greatly influenced Polish literature and literary techniques, often relying on God and religious matters. The leading baroque poet was , who incorporated into his publications. Subsequently, the was dominated by , , , and two Polish monarchs, and. In 1776, composed the first proper entitled , which was a milestone for Polish literature. Banquet in Nero's Palace, an illustration from a c. Adam Mickiewicz is widely regarded as one of the greatest Polish, and poets. He is known primarily for the , a masterpiece of Polish literature. A Polish prose poet of the highest order, , the son of dramatist , won worldwide fame with his English-language novels and stories that are informed with elements of the. Conrad's books and published novels like , and are believed to be one of the finest works ever written, placing Conrad among the greatest novelists of all time. In the 20th century, five Polish and poets were awarded the — for , for , , and. Cinema was one of the greatest Polish film directors, and the recipient of a , the , as well as Honorary and Awards. The history of Polish cinema is as long as history of itself. Over decades, Poland has produced outstanding directors, film producers, cartoonists and actors that achieved world fame, especially in. Moreover, Polish inventors played an important role in the development of world cinematography and modern-day television. Among the most famous directors and producers, who worked in Poland as well as abroad are , , , the , , , and , , , and. In the 19th century, throughout partitioned Poland, numerous amateur inventors, such as , were eager to construct a film projector. In 1894, Prószyński was successful in creating a , one of the first cameras in the world. The invention, which took photographs and projected pictures, was built before the lodged their patent. He also patented an , the first successful hand-held operated film camera. In 1897, , obtained a British patent for his. This prototype of television could easily transmit image and sound, thus allowing a live remote view. Following the invention of appropriate apparatus and technological development in the upcoming years, his then-impossible concept became reality. Polish cinema developed rapidly in the. The most renowned star of the era was Polish actress. During this time, the also evolved in Poland. Films in the with Jewish themes, such as 1937 , played an important part in pre-war Polish cinematography. In 1945 the government established '', a state-run film production and distribution organization, with director as the head of the company. Ford's 1960 was viewed by millions of people in the , and. In 2015, by won the. Other well-known Polish Oscar-winning productions include 2002 by Roman Polański. Media Headquarters of the publicly funded national television network in Poland has a number of major media outlets, chief among which are the national television channels. State television operates two mainstream channels, TVP 1 and TVP 2, as well as regional programs for each of the country's 16 as. In addition to these general channels, TVP runs a number of genre-specific programmes such as , , , , and , the latter is a state-run channel dedicated to the transmission of Polish language television for the abroad. Rzeczpospolita , founded in 1920 is one of the oldest newspapers still in operation in the country. Weeklies include , , , , , and. Poland also has emerged as a major hub for video game developers in Europe, with the country now being home to hundreds of studios. One of the most popular video game series developed in Poland includes. Cuisine Selection of hearty traditional comfort food from Poland including , , , , and specialty breads Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to become very eclectic due to Poland's history. Polish cuisine shares many similarities with other cuisines, especially and as well as , , , , and culinary traditions. It is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and beef depending on the region and winter vegetables cabbage in the dish , and spices. It is also characteristic in its use of various kinds of the most notable of which are as well as such as from the Polish word. Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of cream and eggs. Festive meals such as the meatless Christmas Eve dinner or breakfast could take days to prepare in their entirety. The main course usually includes a serving of meat, such as roast, chicken, or breaded pork cutlet , vegetables, side dishes and salads, including surówka — shredded root vegetables with lemon and sugar carrot, celeriac, beetroot or sauerkraut : kapusta kiszona, pronounced. The side dishes are usually potatoes, rice or kasza cereals. Meals conclude with a dessert such as , a pastry , or drożdżówka , and tea. The Polish national dishes are ; ; ; ; ; ; roast ; sour zupa ogórkowa, pronounced ; mushroom soup, zupa grzybowa, quite different from the North American ; zupa pomidorowa pronounced ; variety of meat broth; sour rye soup; ; and among others. Traditional alcoholic beverages include honey , widespread since the 13th century, beer, wine and vodka old Polish names include okowita and gorzałka. The world's first written mention of vodka originates from Poland. The most popular alcoholic drinks at present are beer and wine which took over from vodka more popular in the years 1980—98. Tea remains common in Polish society since the 19th century, whilst coffee is drunk widely since the 18th century. Other frequently consumed beverages include various mineral waters and juices, soft drinks popularized by the fast-food chains since the late 20th century, as well as , and. Sports The in Warsaw, home of , and one of the host stadiums of and are among the country's most popular sports, with a rich history of international competitions. The most significant sportspeople from Poland include , , , , , , and. The golden era of occurred throughout the 1970s and went on until the early 1980s when the achieved their best results in any FIFA World Cup competitions finishing 3rd place in and tournaments. The team won a gold medal at the and two silver medals, and. Poland, along with Ukraine, hosted the. Żużel race in the The is ranked in the world. The first Polish driver, , has brought awareness of Formula One racing to Poland. He won the and now does following a crash in 2011 that left him unable to drive F1 cars. Poland has made a distinctive mark thanks to , a highly successful Polish rider. The top division has one of for any sport in Poland. The , one of the major teams in international speedway, has won the championships three times consecutively, in 2009, 2010, and 2011. No team has ever managed such feat. Poles made significant achievements in mountaineering, in particular, in the and the winter ascending of the. The most famous Polish climbers are , , , , , , , , and women , and. Polish mountains are one of the tourist attractions of the country. Hiking, climbing, skiing and mountain biking and attract numerous tourists every year from all over the world. Water sports are the most popular summer recreation activities, with ample locations for fishing, canoeing, kayaking, sailing and windsurfing especially in the northern regions of the country. Fashion and design is Poland's most successful clothing retailer, operating over 1,700 stores across the world. Fashion was always an important aspect of Poland and its. Poland belongs to one of the most and best-dressed countries in the world. Although the Polish fashion industry is not as famed in comparison to the industries of and , it still contributed to global trends and clothing habits. Moreover, several Polish designers and stylists left a lifelong legacy of beauty inventions and , which are still in use nowadays. Throughout history, the clothing styles in Poland often varied due to foreign influence, especially from the neighbouring countries and the. Because of its geographical position, Poland was metaphorically referred to as a trade route that linked with the , and. This allowed the to absorb several habits, which were present in the Middle East at the time. The high-class and wore attire that somewhat resembled oriental styles. The outfits included a , , , and a type of called , brought by merchants. Wealthy Polish aristocrats also kept captive and in their courts; this affected the national dress. The most famous example is the or simply Polonaise, a woman's garment with draped and swagged , worn over an underskirt or. Another notable example is the , a long mantle with collar and hood, which was possibly introduced by 's Polish mistress. Established in 1999, the retail store is Poland's best clothing store chain, operating over 1,700 retail shops in 19 countries. In 2016 it was announced that Reserved is moving into a former store at in , one of the most prestigious and busiest shopping promenades in Europe. In the early 20th century, the underdeveloped fashion and cosmetics industry in was heavily dominated by western styles, mostly from the and the. This inspired Polish beautician to seek employment abroad and create a line of cosmetics company called in. Faktorowicz also raised to fame by inventing modern and providing services to artists of the era like , , , , and. Another Pole that contributed to the development of was , the founder of Helena Rubinstein Incorporated Cosmetics Company, which made her one of the richest women in the world, and was bought by. The percentages of ethnic Poles and of minorities depend on how we count. Around 98% declared some sort of Polish - including Silesian, Kashubian, Goral, Wielkopolanin, Masovian, etc. The claim of the fourth biggest Ally needs to be reconsidered, however. Throughout the war, Poland's position varied from the 2nd biggest Ally after the , when Polish army outnumbered the French to perhaps the 5th at the end of it after the US, Soviet Union, China and Britain. Please see the analysis in. The confusion often stems from the fact that as war progressed, some resistance movements grew larger — and other diminished. Polish territories were mostly freed from Nazi German control in the years 1944—45, eliminating the need for their respective anti-Nazi partisan forces in Poland although the continued to fight against the Soviets. Several sources note that Polish was the largest resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Europe. Certainly, Polish resistance was the largest resistance till German and in 1941. After that point, the numbers of and begun growing rapidly. The numbers of quickly caught up and were very similar to that of the Polish resistance. The numbers of Tito's were roughly similar to those of the Polish and Soviet partisans in the first years of the war 1941—42 , but grew rapidly in the latter years, outnumbering the Polish and Soviet partisans by 2:1 or more estimates give Yugoslavian forces about 800,000 in 1945, to Polish and Soviet forces of 400,000 in 1944. Number and demographical-social structure. Folia Geographica Socio-Oeconomica in Polish. 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