Welcome to Poland

Country’s full name: The Republic of Poland

National flag/Color: top - white, bottom - red

National banner: flag with national emblem - national symbol used by ships, civil air ports, diplomatic missions and consular posts

National emblem: white eagle in a crown against a red background

National anthem: Mazurek Dabrowskiego

The Republic of Poland is a country in Central Europe Poland is 69th largest country in the world and 9th largest in Europe

Neighbouring countries (border length):

- Russia (Kaliningrad District) (210 km)

- Lithuania (103 km)

- Byelorussia (416 km)

- Ukraine (529 km)

- Slovakia (539 km)

- Czech Republic (790 km)

- Germany (467 km)

- Length of sea border  (528 km)

Total length of national border   3582 km

• Capital: Warsaw

• Language: Polish

• Population: 38 130 302 (2009 estimate)

• Currency: 1 złoty = 100 groszy

• Area: 312,685 km²

• Political system: parliamentary democracy

The State of the Republic of Poland

In accordance with the Constitution of 2nd April 1997 (took effect on 17 October 1997), the organs of state are:

• Legislative authority: The Sejm and the Senate of the Republic of Poland,

• Executive authority: The President and the Council of Ministers,

• Judicial authority: The courts and tribunals. • The President: Lech Kaczyński; sworn into office on 23

December 2005.• The President is elected in a general election; the term

lasts for 5 years from the date the President is sworn into office.

The Parliament: Sejm and Senate of the Republic of Poland. The term lasts for 4 years.

Sejm - 460 deputies (posel), elected in national election. 

Senat - 100 senators, elected in national election.  

President of Poland Lech Kaczyński

Prime Minister

Donald Tusk

The Sejm building in Warsaw

Administrative divisionsThe administrative division of Poland is based on three levels of subdivision. The territory of Poland is divided into:- 16 voivodeships (provinces),- 379 powiats (counties), - 2,478 gminas (communes or municipalities).

Voivodeship Capital city or cities

in English in Polish

Greater Poland Wielkopolskie Poznań

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Kujawsko-Pomorskie Bydgoszcz / Toruń

Lesser Poland Małopolskie Kraków

Łódź Łódzkie Łódź

Lower Silesian Dolnośląskie Wrocław

Lublin Lubelskie Lublin

Lubusz Lubuskie Gorzów Wielkopolski / Zielona Góra

Masovian Mazowieckie Warsaw

Opole Opolskie Opole

Podlaskie Podlaskie Białystok

Pomeranian Pomorskie Gdańsk

Silesian Śląskie Katowice

Subcarpathian Podkarpackie Rzeszów

Świętokrzyskie Świętokrzyskie Kielce

Warmian-Masurian Warmińsko-Mazurskie Olsztyn

West Pomeranian Zachodniopomorskie Szczecin

Religion in Poland

• Catholic: 95 % • Orthodox: 1,5 % • Protestant (mainly Evangelical): 1 %

Pope John Paul II

Catholic St.Anne’s Church in WarsawLutheran Jesus Church

in CieszynGrabarka

Natural environment

Climate: continental

moderate, changeable weather

Average temperatures:• Januaryon the coast and the West from 0 to -1°North-East from -4,5° to -5,5°in the mountains (South)  -7°

• July:on the coast 16,5°in the South 19°

Average annual rainfall:  600 mm

Poland is mostly lowland.

The average height equals 173 m.

Low-laying parts of the country (lower than 300 m) constitute about 91,3 % of Poland’s territory,

Uplands (300-500 m) – 5,6 %,

Mountains (over 500 m) only 3,1

%.

The highest: Rysy 2499 m

(the Tatra mountains)  

The longest river: Wisła

(the Vistula) 1047 km

The biggest lake: Śniardwy

(Mazury Lake District)  11 383 ha

The deepest lake: Hańcza 108 m

National Parks

National Parks in Poland constitute the biggest form of nature protection.The main task of a national park is to study and preserve the unity of natural systems of the area, as well as to restore the disturbed or extinct elements of a native nature. There are 23 national parks in Poland with total area of ca. 315,000 ha, which cover approximately 1 per cent of the country's area. Polish National Parks are exceptional in Europe for their range of wildlife, their size and varying geographical interest.

SportSport

Adam Małysz

(born 1977) is a Polish ski jumper. He was born and still lives in the town of Wisła in southern Poland. He has won 38 World Cup competitions.

Małysz is the only ski jumper ever to win the World Cup 4 times and 3 times in a row - that is why he is considered the best ever ski jumper, by some. He is also the most titled ski jumper in the history of individual World Championships.

Agnieszka Radwańska (born 6 March 1989 in Kraków), full name Agnieszka Roma

Radwańska, is a WTA Tour top 10 Polish tennis player.

Robert Kubica (born 7 December 1984 in Kraków, Poland), Robert Kubica is the first Polish Formula One driver. 2006 - racing debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix, experienced his first podium finish at Monza, Italy at the Italian Grand Prix. During this race he finished third and stood on the podium next to Michael Schumacher (Germany) and Kimi Räikkönen (Finland). 2007 - survived a horrific crash at the Canadian Grand Prix. Kubica came out of the crash with only a sprained ankle and minor concussion. Robert Kubica2008 scored his very first victory in Formula 1 at Canadian Grand Prix (it was also the very first win for BMW Sauber team). Robert Kubica has brought Formula One to Poland, bringing along with him many new fans. He is currently racing for the BMW Sauber Formula One Team alongside his teammate Nick

Heidfeld.

Poland men's national Poland men's national volleyball team volleyball team

It is one of the world's strongest teams, currently ranked It is one of the world's strongest teams, currently ranked

seventh in the FIVB world ranking. They achieved their best seventh in the FIVB world ranking. They achieved their best

results in the 1970's, by winning gold medals at 1974 FIVB results in the 1970's, by winning gold medals at 1974 FIVB

Men's World Championship and the 1976 Olympic Games in Men's World Championship and the 1976 Olympic Games in

Montreal. They have also won five consecutive silver Montreal. They have also won five consecutive silver

medals at European Volleyball Championships, between medals at European Volleyball Championships, between

1975 and 1983. Their most recent success is a silver medal 1975 and 1983. Their most recent success is a silver medal

won during the 2006 FIVB Men's World Championship, after won during the 2006 FIVB Men's World Championship, after

losing the final to Brazil in straight sets and gold medal at losing the final to Brazil in straight sets and gold medal at

EuropeanEuropean

Volleyball Championships Volleyball Championships

(2009).(2009).

Otylia Jędrzejczak - (born 13 December 1983) is a Polish swimmer. She is the Olympic champion from Athens 2004 in the 200 metre butterfly. She finished 4th in this event in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She also swam in a third Olympiad, at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In Athens 2004 she also silvered in 400 m freestyle and 100 m butterfly. Three times she broke the world record in thewomen's 200 m butterfly (once in the 25-metre pool).

Monika Pyrek was born in Gdynia, competing at the 2004 Olympics, she placed fourth with 4.55 metres, just behind another Polish pole vaulter born in Gdynia, Anna Rogowska. Monika Pyrek won a silver medal in the 2005 World Championships in Athletics with the result 4.60 m. She also won the silver medal at the 2006 European Athletics Championships.Monika Pyrek's personal best is 4.82 metres. She has won the Polish Championship several times, most recently at the 2007 Polish Athletics Championships in Poznań. She won World Championships in Berlin.

Polish Culture

Famous peopleNicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was the first

astronomer to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology, which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe. His epochal book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), published in 1543 just before his death, is often regarded as the starting point of modern astronomy and the defining epiphany that began the scientific revolution. His heliocentric model, with the Sun at the center of the universe, demonstrated that the observed motions of celestial objects can be explained without putting Earth at rest in the center of the universe. His work stimulated further scientific investigations, becoming a landmark in the history of science that is often referred to as the Copernican Revolution.

Marie Skłodowska Curie (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a physicist and chemist of Polish upbringing and, subsequently, French citizenship. She was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity, the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes, and the first female professor at the University of Paris. Her achievements include the creation of a theory of radioactivity (a term coined by her), techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and the discovery of two new elements, polonium and radium.

Frederic Francois Chopin (Polish: Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, 1810–1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He was one of the great masters of Romantic music. Chopin's compositions were written primarily for the piano as solo instrument. Though they are technically demanding, the emphasis in his style is on nuance and expressive depth. Chopin invented musical forms such as the instrumental ballade and was responsible for major innovations in the piano sonata, mazurka, waltz, nocturne, étude, impromptu and prélude.

Stanisław Moniuszko(born 5 May 1819 in Ubiel near Minsk - 4 June 1872 in Warsaw, Congress Poland) was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. His output includes many songs and operas, and his musical style is filled with patriotic Polish folk themes. He is generally referred to as the father of Polish national opera.

Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 1798 – 26 November 1855) is generally regarded as the greatest Polish-Lithuanian romantic poet. He ranks as one of Poland's Three Bards alongside Zygmunt Krasiński and Juliusz Słowacki. Mickiewicz is also regarded as thegreatest Slavic poet, alongside Alexander Pushkin, and as one of the best authors of the Romantic school.

Mikołaj Rej or Mikołaj Rey (Nicholas Rey) of Nagłowice, Poland (4 February 1505 – between 8 September and 5 October 1569) was one of the best-known Polish poets and writers of the Renaissance, as well as a politician and musician. From 1541 or 1548 he was a Calvinist. He is considered, along with Biernat of Lublin and Jan Kochanowski, to be one of the founders of Polish literary language and literature.

Bolesław Prus (Hrubieszów, 20 August 1847 – 19 May 1912, Warsaw), whose actual name was Aleksander Głowacki, was a Polish journalist and novelist who is known especially for his novels The Doll and Pharaoh. Prus was the leading exponent of realism in 19th-century Polish literature (though he was not devoid of fantasy or poetry) and remains a distinctive voice in world literature. He adopted the pen name "Prus" from his family coat-of-arms.

Polish Nobel laureates

1903 – Maria Skłodowska-Curie – Nobel Prize in Physics 1905 – Henryk Sienkiewicz – Nobel Prize in Literature 1911 – Maria Skłodowska-Curie – Nobel Prize in

Chemistry 1924 – Władysław Reymont – Nobel Prize in Literature 1980 – Czesław Miłosz – Nobel Prize in Literature 1983 – Lech Wałęsa – Nobel Peace Prize 1995 – Józef Rotblat – Nobel Peace Prize 1996 – Wisława Szymborska – Nobel Prize in Literature

Famous painters

Juliusz Kossak

Jan Matejko

Józef ChełmońskiJózef BrandtStanisław Wyspiański

Customs

Customs, manners, and style of clothing have reflected the influences of East and West. The traditional costumes worn by the nobility in the 16th and 17th centuries were inspired by rich Eastern ornamental style. Notably, the Buczak family were among the most powerful of the 17th century nobility and persist to this day as a formidable political force. Polish cuisine is yet another aspect of Poland's cultural identity. Distinctive Polish foods include kielbasa, pierogi (pierożki), pyzy (meat-filled dough balls), kopytka, gołąbki, śledzie, bigos, kotlety and much more.

Polish folk groupsŚląsk Song and Dance Ensemble (is one of the largest Polish folk ensembles. It was founded on July 1, 1953 by Stanisław Hadyna and is named after the Silesia ("Śląsk") region. Śląsk originally focused on the folk traditions of Upper Silesia, Cieszyn Silesia, and the Beskids. It was later expanded to include all Polish regions. The ensemble has performed more than 6,000 shows for over 20 million people in the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, China, Mexico, and many other countries, as well as the Vatican.

Mazowsze was established to maintain regional artistic traditions and the traditional folk repertoire of songs and dances of the Masovian countryside. At the beginning Mazowsze's repertoire contained songs and dances from only a few regions of Poland – Opoczno and Kurpie, but it soon extended its range by adopting the traditions of other regions.

Music

TrubadurzyEwa Demarczyk

Czerwone Gitary

Czesław Niemen

Skaldowie

Kayah

Edyta Górniak

Kombii

Ania Wyszkoni

Andrzej Piaseczny

Doda

Notable films

With Fire and Sword a historical drama directed by Jerzy Hoffman, released in 1999. The film is based on a novel of the same name, the first part in The Trilogy of Henryk Sienkiewicz. At the time of its filming it was the most expensive Polish film ever made.

Katyń is a 2007 Polish film about the 1940 Katyn massacre, directed by Academy Honorary Award winner Andrzej Wajda. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film for the 80th Academy Awards. The Pianist is a 2002 film directed by

Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman. The film is a co-production between Polish, French, German, and British film companies.In addition to winning the Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, the film won the Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was also awarded seven French Césars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Brody (who became the only American actor to win one).

The Cathedral (Polish: Katedra) is the title of a science fiction short story by Jacek Dukaj, winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award in 2000; and of a 2002 short animated movie by Tomasz Bagiński, based on the story. The film was nominated in 2002 for the Academy Award for Animated Short Film for the 75th Academy Awards. The movie won the title of Best Animated Short at Siggraph 2002 in San Antonio as well as several other awards.

The end

Prezentację przygotowała: Joanna Kowalik (projekt Twórczy Uczeń)