Poland is a parliamentary republic.  Her official name, the Republic of Poland, dates back to the beginning of the 16th century.  The national emblem depicts a white eagle (this symbol more than seven hundred years old) against the red field.  Poland national colors are red and white.

 The bicameral parliament, comprising 460-member Sejm (lower chamber) and 100-member Senate (upper chamber), is the highest legislative authority, elected for a four-year term.  A president, who is elected for a five-year term by the people, is the Head of State.  A prime Minister chairs the Council of Ministers (government).

 Poland is situated in central Europe, at the junction of ancient merchant routes between north, south, east and west.  To the north, Poland is bounded by the Baltic Sea.  The three main ports of Gdynia, Gdansk and Szczecin are Poland’s gates to the world.  To the south, Poland is bounded by the Carpathians Mountains with the High Tatra.  To the east, by the majestic Bug River, and to the west by the navigable Oder River.  The Vistula, the largest of Polish rivers (1,047 km long), flows across the middle of the country.

 It is exactly on the Vistula that Warsaw, the country’s capital is situated.  So are a number of other historic Polish towns such as Cracow, Sandomierz, Plock, Torun and Gdansk.  They are all renowned for their magnificent antique districts and buildings dating back to the 12th or 13th century.  Together with dozens of others scattered ancient monuments they remind the onlooker not only of Poland’s difficult and stormy past but also of the period of splendor when, particularly in the 16th century, under the rule of the powerful Jagiellon dynasty, the country was flourishing.  It is significant that the rise at the time was not a result of a conquest but of a thrift, brisk foreign trade and cautious government.

 The acceptance of Christianity in 966 A.D.  is recognized as the beginning of the Polish statehood.  That act established Poland’s cultural identity, tied Poland closely to the circle of Latin civilization, and Polish people, to the Roman Catholic Church.  All this is reflected, for example, in the preserved ancient castles and, later, palaces, churches, courts and residences. They are all a part of the European architectural heritage as well as examples of the peculiar Polish style.  Together with hundreds of beautiful sacral buildings they have become an element of Poland’s urban and rural landscapes.

 Poland’s location in central Europe has always played an important role.  The periods of peace ensured the country development, improved living standards and worked for prosperity.  The wars in which Poland was embroiled caused only disaster.  This was the case, for instance, during World War I and especially during World War II, throughout which Poland lost more than 11 million people.

 Presently Poland neighbors upon Russia’s Kalingrad enclave (210 km) in the north, upon Lithuania (103 km), Belarus (416 km) and Ukraine (529 km) in the east, upon Slovakia (539 km) and the Czech Republic (790 km) in the south, and upon Germany (467 km) in the west.  Poland’s sea border, running along beautiful sandy beaches, is 524 km long.

 Poland is a medium size country.  With her area of 312,683 sq. km she is ninth biggest in Europe and 66th in the world.  She is bigger than Great Britain or Italy.  She occupies 3% of Europe territory.  Poland is basically a lowland country.  Her average altitude is 173 m above the sea level.  This does not mean however that her landscape is monotonous.

 Many parts of Poland are uneven, with ranges of picturesque hills and elevations.  The highest Polish mountain, Rysy, in the south of the country, is 2,499 m high.  Mountains and piedmont ranges attract  vacationers.  Scenic views, impressive routes, excellent conditions for winter sports, and numerous hotels and hostels, cable cars and ski-lifts make the area worth visiting the year round.  The northern lake district offers different but no less fascinating views.  Lakes there are usually connected by canals diving into woods.  In summer the area lures sailors and canoeists, in winter, ice boat skaters.

 Poland is a country of a temperate climate.  The spring is green, i.e. the first buds and leaves, usually appear at the beginning of April.  The leaves turn yellow, golden, red and then fall in October and November.  Winters are not particularly frosty.  Only in the northeast, do the temperatures sometimes fall below 20 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) .  Summers, have of late been increasingly dry and warm, sometimes even hot.  The average yearly precipitation is about 600 millimeters (24 inches).

 Vegetation in Poland is by no means poor, although no longer as rich as in the old days when vast forests of pine, oak, beech, fir, linden, ash, yew, polish larch and many other trees covered three quarters of the country’s territory.  At present, about 28 per cent of the country is wooded.  The Bialowieza Forest, 58,000 hectares of which remain within Polish territory, is a unique virgin woodland.  There are many other sanctuaries, national parks and scenic areas that abound in the fauna and flora of Poland.  Deer, wild boar, elk, fox, hare and badger predominate in the Polish forests.  Several brown bears live in the mountains in the south of the country.  A herd of more than Three hundred rare  European bison are in rangers’ special care.

 Poland is relatively well endowed with natural resources.  Her principal mineral assets are: bituminous coal (one of Europe’s best) in the south of the country, brown coal, non-ferrous metals, particularly zinc and lead, copper, nickel and cobalt ores, and also sulfur, rock and potassium salts.  Poland is moreover a world leader in silver mining.

 The engineering, food, textile, chemical, electronic, fuel and power industries are the most developed in Poland.  The country’s agriculture is based on small and medium size private farms.  The main crops are rye, potatoes, fodder crops, sugar beet, rape seed, and also fruits and vegetables.  Pig, cattle, and poultry breeding is developed too.

 For Europe, Poland is a medium population density country, with an average of 123 people per sq. km.  Poland’s population nears 38.5 million, ranking 7th in Europe and 25th in the world.  In different other countries, such as the United States, Russia, Germany, Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Canada, Ukraine, Brazil, Belarus and Lithuania there are several million Poles and people of Polish descent.  Ethnic minorities (Belorussian, Lithuanian, German, Ukrainian and Jewish) make approximately 3% of the country total population.  Sixty-two per cent of the population live in towns.  The largest of them are: Warsaw (1,642,000 residents), Lodz (831,000 residents), Cracow (746,000 residents), Wroclaw (643,000 residents), Poznan (583,000 residents), Gdansk (464,000 residents), Szczecin (418,000 residents), Bydgoszcz (384,000 residents), Katowice (359,000 residents) and Lublin (352,000 residents).

 There are 159 institutions of higher education in Poland, with an enrollment of about 682,000 students.  The Jagiellonian University of Cracow, founded in 1364, is the oldest in Poland and one of the oldest in entire Europe.  The two national holidays observed in Poland with particular ceremony are the 3rd of May (the anniversary of the constitution of 1791, the first in Europe and only second in the world, after the one of the Unites States of America) and the 11th of November (the independence day).

 A lot of foreign tourists visit Poland every year.  Many of them enjoy the traditional hospitality, friendliness and great traditional polish cuisine.  Even the most discriminate of the visitors can see for themselves how much Poland has contributed to the cultural achievements of Europe and the world in general.