About the country
The Republic of Poland
- Area: 312,685 square kilometers
- Location: Central Europe. Poland shares borders with Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Russia. Its northern border runs along the Baltic Sea and is 440 kilometers long.
- Capital city: Warsaw (1.6 million)
- Population: 38.23 million
- Flag: White and red
- Political system: Parliamentary democracy. In May 2004, Poland became a member of the European Union.
- Official language: Polish
Poland is situated in the centre of Europe and covers 312,685 square kilometers, making it the ninth largest country in Europe. 91.3 percent of its territory lies 300 meters above sea level. Poland has a varied landscape: the coastal plains along the Baltic Sea; lake districts in the north; lowlands in central Poland; highlands and rugged mountain ranges in the south. The highest peaks are found in the Tatra Mountains, which are part of the Carpathians. The Sudety are the highest mountains in southwestern Poland. The longest rivers are the Vistula (1,047 km), Odra (854 km), Warta and Bug. Poland has some 9,300 lakes with surface areas of over one hectare.
Europe’s geographic center is located near Warsaw. (This is the intersection point of lines running north-south from Nordkyn in Norway to the Matapan Cape in Greece, and east-west from Cabo da Roca in Portugal to the central Urals.)
The country is divided into 16 provinces (known also as voivodships, from the Polish, województwa). Each province is divided administratively into districts (powiaty), and into even smaller local government units (known as gminy).
Lower Silesia - Wrocław's neighbourhood >>
