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Under the Jagiellon dynasty, Poland forged an alliance with its neighbour, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A golden age ensued during the sixteenth century after the Union of Lublin which gave birth to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The szlachta (nobility) of Poland, far more numerous than in Western European countries, took pride in their freedoms and parliamentary system.

During the Golden Age period, Poland expanded its borders, to become the largest country in Europe.

Poland began to form into a recognizable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the tenth century under the Piast dynasty. Poland’s first historically documented ruler, Mieszko I, was baptized in 966, adopting Catholic Christianity as the nation’s new official religion, to which the bulk of the population converted in the course of the next centuries. In the twelfth century, Poland fragmented into several smaller states, which were later ravaged by the Mongol armies of the Golden Horde in 1241, 1259 and 1287. In 1320, Władysław I became the King of a reunified Poland. His son, Casimir III, is remembered as one of the greatest Polish kings.

Poland was also a centre of migration of peoples and the Jewish community began to settle and flourish in Poland during this era (see History of the Jews in Poland). The Black Death which affected most parts of Europe from 1347 to 1351 did not reach Poland.

It was postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now known as Poland. The exact ethnicity and linguistic affiliation of these groups was hotly debated. Many Slavic, Celtic, Baltic and Germanic tribes were among the prominent groups. The politically charged discussion on the origins of the Slavs; historically two partially opposing views are held: allochtonic or autochtonic. The purely allochtonic view is historic and has no scholar defending it, many scholars now tend toward an autochtonic view, the most radical of which is the theory of Paleolithic continuity. ^[3]

The most famous archeological find from the Poland’s prehistory is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, around 700 BC.

In terms of ethnicity Poland is a homogeneous state since the end of World War II. This is a major departure from much of Polish history. Resulting from the Holocaust and the flight and removal of German populations, Poland has become almost uniformly Catholic, with Catholics making up about 90% of the population (94.8% according to church baptism statistics) with 70% to 75% as practising Catholics (according to opinion polls). Religious minorities include Polish Orthodox (1.3% or about 509,500), Jehovah’s Witnesses (0.3% or about 123,034), Eastern Catholics (0.2%), Lutherans (0.2%), and smaller minorities of Mariavites, Polish Catholics, Pentecostals, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jews, Muslims (including the Tatars of Białystok and various Protestant (about 86,880 in the largest Evangelical-Augsburg Church and about as many in smaller churches). [3]

Poles (including Silesians and Kashubians) make up an overwhelming 99.3% majority of the Polish population. According to the 2002 census, the remainder of the population is made up of small minorities of Germans (152,897), Belarusians (c. 49,000), and Ukrainians (c. 30,000), as well as Tatars, Lithuanians, Roma, Lemkos, Russians, Karaites, Slovaks, and Czechs. Among foreign citizens, the Vietnamese are the largest ethnic group, followed by Greeks, and Armenians.

Poland, with 38.5 million inhabitants, has the eighth-largest population in Europe and the seventh-largest in the European Union. It has a population density of 127 inhabitants per square kilometer (328 per square mile). The number of Poles living abroad is estimated at around 20 million.

The climate is temperate. The climate is oceanic in the north and west and becomes gradually more continental as one moves south and east. Summers are generally warm, with average temperatures between 16° C (61° F) and 19° C (66° F). Winters are cold, with average temperatures around –1° C (30° F) in the northwest and –8° C (18° F) in the northeast. Precipitation falls throughout the year, although, especially in the east, winter is dryer than summer.

Many animals that have since died out in other parts of Europe still survive in Poland, such as the wisent in the ancient woodland of the Białowieża Forest and in Podlachia. Other such species include the brown bear in Białowieża, in the Tatras, and in the Beskids, the gray wolf and the Eurasian lynx in various forests, the moose in northern Poland, and the beaver in Masuria, Pomerania, and Podlachia. In the forests, one also encounters game animals, such as red deer, roe deer, and boars. In eastern Poland there are a number of ancient woodlands, like Białowieża, that have never been cleared by people. There are also large forested areas in the mountains, Masuria, Pomerania, and Lower Silesia.

Poland is the most important breeding ground for European migratory birds. Out of all of the migratory birds who come to Europe for the summer, one quarter breed in Poland, particularly in the lake districts and the wetlands along the Biebrza, the Narew, and the Warta, which are part of nature reserves or national parks. In Masuria, there are villages in which storks outnumber people.

Forests cover 28% of Poland’s land area. More than half of the land is devoted to agriculture. While the total area under cultivation is declining, the remaining farmland is more intensively cultivated. Livestock husbandry is especially widespread in the mountains.

More than 1% of Poland’s area—3,145 square kilometres (1,214 square miles)—is protected within 23 national parks. In this respect, Poland ranks first in Europe. Three more national parks are projected for Masuria, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, and the eastern Beskids. Most Polish national parks are located in the southern part of the country. In addition, wetlands along lakes and rivers in central Poland are legally protected, as are coastal areas in the north. There are also many nature reserves.

The Polish Baltic coast is 528 kilometres (328 miles) long and extends from Świnoujście on the islands of Usedom and Wolin in the west to Krynica Morska on the Vistula Spit in the east. For the most part, Poland has a smooth coastline, which has been shaped by the continual movement of sand by currents and winds from west to east. This continual erosion and deposition has formed cliffs, dunes, and spits, many of which have migrated landwards to close off former lagoons, such as Łebsko Lake in Słowiński National Park. The largest spits are Hel Peninsula and the Vistula Spit. The largest Polish Baltic island is Wolin. The largest port cities are Gdynia, Gdańsk, Szczecin, and Świnoujście. The main coastal resorts are Sopot, Międzyzdroje, Kołobrzeg, Łeba, Władysławowo, and the Hel Peninsula.

With almost 10,000 closed bodies of water covering more than one hectare (2.5 acres), Poland has one of the highest numbers of lakes in the world. In Europe, only Finland has a greater density of lakes. The largest lakes, covering more than 100 square kilometers (386 square miles), are Lake Śniardwy and Lake Mamry in Masuria, as well as Lake Łebsko and Lake Drawsko in Pomerania. In addition to the lake districts in the north (in Masuria, Pomerania, Kashubia, and Greater Poland), there is also a large number of mountain lakes in the Tatras, of which the Morskie Oko is the largest in area. The lake with the greatest depth—of more than 100 metres (330 feet)—is Lake Hańcza in the Wigry Lake District, east of Masuria in Podlaskie Voivodship.

Among the first lakes whose shores were settled are those in the Greater Polish Lake District. The stilt house settlement of Biskupin, occupied by more than 1,000 residents, was founded before the 7th century BC by people of the Lusatian culture. The ancestors of today’s Poles, the Polanie, built their first fortresses on islands in these lakes. The legendary Prince Popiel is supposed to have ruled from Kruszwica on Lake Gopło. The first historically documented ruler of Poland, Duke Mieszko I, had his palace on an island in the Warta River in Poznań.

Poland has 21 mountains of more than 2,000 metres (6,561 feet) in elevation, all in the High Tatras. The Polish Tatras, which consist of the High Tatras and the Western Tatras, is the highest mountain group of Poland and of the entire Carpathian range. In the High Tatras is Poland’s highest point, the northwestern peak of Rysy, 2,499 metres (8, 199 feet) in elevation. At its foot lies the mountain lake, the Morskie Oko. The second-highest mountain group in Poland is the Beskids, whose highest peak is Babia Góra, at 1,725 metres (5,659 feet). The next highest mountain group is the Karkonosze, whose highest point is Śnieżka, at 1,602 metres (5,256 feet). Among the most beautiful mountains of Poland are the Bieszczady Mountains in the far southeast of Poland, whose highest point in Poland is Tarnica, with an elevation of 1,346 metres (4,416 feet). Tourists also frequent the Gorce Mountains in Gorce National Park, with elevations around 1,300 metres (4,300 feet), and the Pieniny in Pieniny National Park, with elevations around 1,000 metres (3,300 feet). For a list of the most important mountain ranges of Poland, see the Category:Mountain ranges of Poland.

The lowest point in Poland—at 2 metres (7 feet) below sea level—is at Raczki Elbląskie, near Elbląg in the Vistula Delta.

of northern Europe, on the other. Both processes shaped the Sudetes and the Carpathians. The moraine landscape of northern Poland contains soils made up mostly of The geological structure of Poland has been shaped by the continental collision of Europe and Africa over the past 60 million years, on the one hand, and the Quaternary glaciationssand or loam, while the ice-age river valleys of the south often contain loess. The Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the Pieniny, and the Western Tatras consist of limestone, while the High Tatras, the Beskids, and the Karkonosze are made up mainly of granite and basalts. The Cracow-Częstochowa Upland is one of the oldest mountain ranges on earth.

The longest rivers are the Vistula, 1,047 km (678 miles) long; the Oder—which forms part of Poland’s western border—854 km (531 miles) long; its tributary, the Warta, 808 km (502 miles) long; and the Bug —a tributary of the Vistula—772 km (480 miles) long. The Vistula and the Oder flow into the Baltic Sea, as do numerous smaller rivers in Pomerania. The Łyna and the Angrapa flow by way of the Pregolya to the Baltic, and the Czarna Hańcza flows into the Baltic through the Neman. While the great majority of Poland’s rivers drain into the Baltic Sea, Poland’s Beskids are the source of some of the upper tributaries of the Orava, which flows via the Váh and the Danube to the Black Sea. The eastern Beskids are also the source of some streams that drain through the Dniester to the Black Sea.

Poland’s rivers have been used since early times for navigation. The Vikings, for example, traveled up the Vistula and the Oder in their longships. In the Middle Ages and in early modern times, when Poland-Lithuania was the breadbasket of Europe, the shipment of grain and other agricultural products down the Vistula toward Gdańsk and onward to western Europe took on great importance. For an overview of the most important rivers in Poland, see the Category:Rivers in Poland.

Poland’s territory extends across five geographical regions. In the northwest is the Baltic seacoast, which extends from the Bay of Pomerania to the Gulf of Gdansk. This coast is marked by several spits, coastal lakes (former bays that have been cut off from the sea), and dunes. The largely straight coastline is indented by the Szczecin Lagoon, the Bay of Puck, and the Vistula Lagoon. The centre and parts of the north lie within the Northern European Lowlands. Rising gently above these lowlands is a geographical region comprised of four hilly districts of moraines and moraine-dammed lakes formed during and after the Pleistocene ice age. These lake districts are the Pomeranian Lake District, the Greater Polish Lake District, the Kashubian Lake District, and the Masurian Lake District. The Masurian Lake District is the largest of the four and covers much of northeastern Poland. The lake districts form part of the Baltic Ridge, a series of moraine belts along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. South of the Northern European Lowlands lie the regions of Silesia and Masovia, which are marked by broad ice-age river valleys. Farther south lies the Polish mountain region, including the Sudetes, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, and the Carpathian Mountains, including the Beskids. The highest part of the Carpathians is the Tatra Mountains, along Poland’s southern border.

The major historical regions of Poland include Pomerania, Greater Poland, Silesia, Lesser Poland, Masovia, Warmia, Masuria, and Podlachia.

Poland (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska), is a country in Central Europe^[2] bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine and Belarus to the east; and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. It also shares a maritime border with Denmark and Sweden. The total area of Poland is 312,683 km²^[1] (120,728 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world. Poland’s population is over 38.5 million people, concentrated mainly in large and medium cities.

The first Polish state was created in 966, within territory very similar to the present boundaries of Poland. Poland became a kingdom in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a long association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by uniting to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth collapsed in 1795. Poland regained its independence in 1918 after World War I but lost it again in World War II, occupied by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, emerging several years later as a communist country within the Eastern Bloc under control of the former Soviet Union. In 1989, communist rule was overthrown and Poland became what is informally known as the “Third Polish Republic”. Today, as the 6th most populated member state of the European Union, Poland is a liberal democracy made up of sixteen voivodeships (Polish: województwo). Poland is also a member of NATO, the United Nations, OECD and the World Trade Organization.