Portal:Poland

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Welcome to the Poland Portal — Witaj w Portalu o Polsce

Cityscape of Kraków, Poland's former capital

Poland is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic to the southwest, Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, Lithuania to the northeast, and the Baltic Sea and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast to the north. It is an ancient nation whose history as a state began near the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century when it united with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to form the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation. In a series of agreements in the late 18th century, Russia, Prussia and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. It regained independence as the Second Polish Republic in the aftermath of World War I only to lose it again when it was occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. The nation lost over six million citizens in the war, following which it emerged as the communist Polish People's Republic under strong Soviet influence within the Eastern Bloc. A westward border shift followed by forced population transfers after the war turned a once multiethnic country into a mostly homogeneous nation state. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union called Solidarity (Solidarność) that over time became a political force which by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A shock therapy program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country completed, Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.

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Christmas in Poland

A szopka krakowska (example pictured left) is a nativity scene traditionally constructed in Kraków during the Christmas season. Its distinctive feature is the use of architectural details of Kraków's historical landmarks as a backdrop for the nativity of Jesus.

Christmas carol singing has long been a popular tradition in Poland. The oldest known Polish carols date back to the 15th century. Among the most beloved (recordings listed right) are the lulling "Lulajże, Jezuniu" ("Sleep, Little Jesus"), the joyful "Dzisiaj w Betlejem" ("Tonight in Bethlehem"), and the majestic "Bóg się rodzi" ("God is Born").

Media related to Polish Christmas carols at Wikimedia Commons

Lulajże, Jezuniu

Dzisiaj w Betlejem

Bóg się rodzi

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From Polish history – show another

A stone circle in Węsiory, northern Poland

Peoples belonging to numerous archaeological cultures identified with Celtic, Germanic and Baltic tribes, lived in various parts of what is now Poland in Antiquity – an era that dates from about 400 BC to AD 450–500. Many of them developed relatively advanced material culture and social organization, as evidenced by the archaeological record, such as the richly furnished dynastic princely graves. Some preserved written remarks by Roman authors that are relevant to the developments on Polish lands provide additional insight. Celtic peoples established a number of settlement centers, beginning in the early 4th century BC, mostly in southern Poland, which was at the outer edge of their expansion. Through their highly developed economy and crafts, they exerted lasting cultural influence (La Tène culture) disproportional to their small numbers in the region. Germanic peoples lived in today's Poland for several centuries (Wielbark culture). With the expansion of the Roman Empire, the Germanic tribes came under Roman cultural influence. As nomadic peoples invaded from the east, the Germanic people left for the safer and wealthier lands in southern and western Europe. The northeast corner of contemporary Poland's territory remained populated by Baltic tribes. (Full article...)

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Selected biography – show another

Henryk Sienkiewicz

Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916) was a Polish journalist, novelist and philanthropist, best remembered for his historical novels. Born into an impoverished Polish noble family in Russian-ruled Congress Poland, he began publishing journalistic and literary pieces in the late 1860s. In the late 1870s he explored the United States, sending back travel essays that won him popularity with Polish readers. He began serializing novels in the 1880s and soon became one of the most popular Polish writers of the turn of the century. Numerous translations gained him international renown, culminating in his receipt of the 1905 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "outstanding merits as an epic writer." In Poland he is best known for his Trilogy of historical novels — With Fire and Sword, The Deluge and Sir Michael — set in the 17th-century Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, while he is mostly remembered abroad for Quo Vadis, a novel set in Nero's Rome. Several of his works have been filmed, some more than once, with the 1951 Hollywood adaptation of Quo Vadis receiving most international recognition. (Full article...)

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Courtyard of the Lublin Castle

Lublin is the largest city in eastern Poland. Dating back to early Middle Ages, the city played an important role in the nation's history. It was the site of the Lublin Union which established the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, and of the Lublin Committee which introduced the communist regime in Poland in 1944; seat of a major yeshiva and the Jewish Council of Four Lands in the 16th–18th centuries, but also of the Majdanek extermination camp during the Holocaust. Its colleges include the Marie Curie University, as well as the Catholic University of Lublin where Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II, gave lectures in ethics. Since Lublin's biggest employer, the state-owned truck manufacturer FSC, was acquired by the South Korean Daewoo and then entered bankruptcy in 2001, the city has been struggling to improve its economic performance and standards of living, making it one of the main beneficiaries of EU development funds. (Full article...)

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Did you know – show different entries

... that Jeremi Wiśniowiecki (pictured) was one of the wealthiest Polish magnates, ruling over 200,000 subjects living on estates in what is today Ukraine?
... that the settlements of Mikuszowice and Komorowice were divided by a national border for centuries, but are now part of one city and one country?
... that 120 Polish miners died in the rubble when the newly built train tunnel collapsed along the Poprad River Gorge (pictured) in the Beskid Mountains?
... that Lem, Poland's first scientific artificial satellite, sees blue stars while Heweliusz, its second, sees red stars?

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Poland now

Recent events

On 27 October, the discovery of a previously unknown waltz in A minor (manuscript pictured) attributed to Frédéric Chopin, found at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, was announced.
On 14 September, southwestern Poland was hit by severe floods caused by heavy rains brought by Storm Boris.
Poland won 23 medals, including eight gold, at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, ranking 16th in the medal table.
On 18 August, Polish cyclist Katarzyna Niewiadoma won the 2024 Tour de France Femmes.
Poland won 10 medals, including one gold, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, ranking 42nd in the medal table.