Poland Advice:

Poland is a parliamentary republic. Her official name, the Republic of Poland, dates back to the beginning of the 16th century. The national emblem pictures a white eagle (the symbol more than seven hundred years old) against the red field. Poland's national colours 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. President, who is directly elected for a five-year term, is the Head of State. Prime Minister chairs the Council of Ministers (government).

Poland is situated in east-central Europe, at the junction of ancient merchant routes between north and south, east and west. To the north Poland is bounded by the Baltic Sea.

To the south, Poland is bounded by the Carpathians with the High Tatra. To the east - by the majestic Bug River, and to the west - by the diligent, navigable Oder. The Vistula, the largest of the Polish rivers (1,047 km long), flows across the middle of the country.

Presently Poland neighbours upon Russia's Kaliningrad 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 sand beaches, is 524 km long.

The acceptance of Christianity in 966 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 cast - les and, later, palaces, courts and residences. They are both 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 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 per cent of Europe's territory.

Polish is basically a lowland country. Her average altitude is 173 in 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 in high. Mountain and piedmont ranges attract holiday-makers. Scenic views, impressive routes, excellent conditions for winter sports, and numerous pensions, 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, canoeists and wanderers, in winter - ice-boat skaters.

Polish is a country of a temperate climate. The spring 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 temperatures fall below 20 degrees Celsius (the country's record low has been 34 degrees Celsius below zero). Summers have of late been increasingly dry and wann, sometimes even hot (38 degrees Celsius being record high). The average yearly precipitation is about 600 millimetres (24 inches).

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 this country 7th in Europe and 25th in the world in this respect. 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 (Beloiussian, Lithuanian, German, Ukrainian and Jewish) make up 2 per cent - 3 per cent of the country's total. Sixty-two per cent of the population live in towns. The largest of them are: Warsaw (1,642,000 residents), Lodz (83 1,000 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 enrolment of about 682,000 students. The Jagiellonian University of Cracow, founded in 1364, is the oldest in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe.

Very interesting, rich in beautiful episodes, is the history of the Polish national anthem. This history has been preserved in numerous documents and relies solicitously kept in a certain country house in the north of Poland. In this house, presently the museum of national anthem, the author of the words of the anthem was born. He wrote the words in July 1797, in a distant but friendly Italy which extended its hospitality to Polish soldiers whose own country had disappeared from the political map. Beginning with the words "Poland has not perished yet...," sung spontaneously to the tune of a popular mazurka, it became the song of the Polish legions in Italy. Winning fame and the hearts of all Poles, the mazurka outlived the country's partitions. One can even say that it was the mazurka that brought the soldiers to the day of independence. Several years later, in 1926, the legionaries' song be- came Poland's national anthem.

The two national holidays observed in Poland with particular ceremony are the 3rd of May (the anniversary of the signing of the constitution of 1791, the first in Europe and second in the world at large) and the II th of November (the independence day). .

 

.