Polska¹

How is the land laid out?

Polska is located southeast of the Baltic Sea and holds nearly 313 thousand square kilometers. Most if it is part of the North European Plain, although Polska rises somewhat toward the east. Much of the southeast is, therefore, described as the Polish Plateau. North of it is glaciated lowlands, with moraines and lakes. South of it are mountains: the Sudety² in the southwest and the Bekidy and Tatry ranges of the Karpaty³ in the southeast. Heights do not exceed 2,500 meters.

The principle river systems are the Odra⁴ and the Wisła.⁵ The Odra flows out of the Česká⁶ Republic southeast, into south central Polska, and then flows northwest until it reaches the German frontier, which it follows north until near the Baltic, where it turns northeast away from the border to enter an estuary, which again straddles the German boundary. Its main tributary, the Warta, flows north out of the plateau, then west.

The Wisła also starts in the plateau, and initially heads northeast before curving northwest, and finally north to end in the Gulf of Gdańsk. Its chief inflows are the Bug, which forms much of the Belarussian boundary, and the San, which emerges from the nation's southeast corner.

The only UNESCO World Heritage Site for a natural area is the Belovezhskaya Pushcha/ Białowież Forest, which is partly in Belarus (Belorussia).

Tourists visit the Bieszczady Mountains, the Masurian Lakes and the Tatra Mountains as well as the cities.

Map

Who lives there?

In 2008, more then 38 million lived here.⁷ More than 19 in 20 of the non-deaf⁸ speak Polish. About 19 in 20 are Roman Catholic Christians. There are several metropolitan areas of over a million: See the Table of Polish Cities.

The only UNESCO World Heritage Site honoring modern culture is the Centennial Hall in Wroclaw.

Who was there before?

In the first millenium eastern Polska--up to the Wisła--spoke a Slavonic language. Polish developed from the western branch of the group. The Slavonic speakers pushed westward beyond the river into what had been German speaking. But the Germans regained their primacy with genocidal wars. Meanwhile, in the tenth century, Christian missionaries crossed the Sudety and began the conversion of the Poles. Jews fleeing German hate settled in great numbers in Polska, but the cosmopolitan quality ended when Deutschland⁹ occupied the nation killing all the Jews who did not flee, followed by the Russian occupation, when Germans were pushed westward, and Poles, who had been a majority in parts of Lithuania, were expelled into today's Poland.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites honoring the culture of the past are:
Auschwitz-Birkenau, German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945), next to Oświęcim
Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork.
Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica
Cracow [Kraków]'s Historic Centre
Historic Center of Warsaw [Warszawa]
Kalwaria Zebryzdowska: the Mannerist Architectural and Park Landscape Complex and Pilgrimage Park
Medieval Town of Torún
Muskauer Park/ Park Muzakowski, partly in Deutschland (Germany).
Old City of Zamość
Wieliczka Salt Mine, Kraków metropolitan area
Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland¹⁰

Around the Area

north
northeast
east, from the northeast
east, from the southeast
south
west

Footnotes

1. Poland in English.
2. Also called Sudentes.
3. The Carpathians in English.
4. Oder in German.
5. Vistula in English.
6. Czech Republic in English.
7. world-gazetteer.com, accessed 3/12/2008.
8. Deaf estimates range from less than 1/2 to 6%.
9. Deutschland in German.
10. Consists of the St. Michael the Archangel Church in Dębno; the St. Leonard Church in Lipnica Dolna; the Church of St. Philip and St. Jacob in Sękowa; the Church of the Assumption of Holy Mary and St. Michael the Archangel, Haczów; the St. Michael the Archangel Church in Binarowa; and St. Philip's and St. James Church in Sękowa.