Portal:Poland

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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, but has experienced a constitutional crisis and democratic backsliding since 2015.

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

From Polish history – show another

Soldiers of the Polish Legions' Vistula Regiment

The Polish Legions were Polish military units that served with the French Army, mainly from 1797 to 1803, although some units continued to serve until 1815. The legionaries were recruited from among soldiers, officers and volunteers who had emigrated to Italy and France after the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. Many Poles at that time believed that Revolutionary France and her allies would come to Poland's aid, as France's enemies included Poland's partitioners: Prussia, Austria and Russia. With Napoleon Bonaparte's support, Polish military units were formed, bearing Polish military ranks and commanded by Polish officers, such as Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, Karol Kniaziewicz, and Józef Wybicki. Serving alongside the French Army, Polish Legions saw combat in most of Napoleon's campaigns, from the West Indies, to Italy, to Egypt. When the Duchy of Warsaw was created in 1807, many veterans of the Legions formed a core around which the Duchy's army was raised under Prince Józef Poniatowski, which went on to fight alongside the French army in several campaigns, culminating in the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. (Full article...)

More selected articles

edit

Selected biography – show another

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (c. 1560–1621) was one of the most prominent military commanders of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of his era. He became a field hetman of Lithuania in 1601 and advanced to the post of grand hetman in 1605. He played a major role in the Wallachian campaign of 1599–1600, the Polish–Swedish War of 1600–11, the Polish-Muscovite War of 1605–18, and the Polish–Ottoman War of 1620–21. His most famous victory was the Battle of Kircholm (now Salaspils, Latvia) in 1605, in which he dealt a major defeat to a Swedish army three times the size of his own. He died on the front lines during the siege of the Khotyn Fortress, a few days before the Ottomans lifted the siege and agreed to negotiate. (Full article...)

More selected biographies

edit

Selected location – show another

Old Town Hall of Toruń by night

Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in northern Poland. Known in German as Thorn, it was founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1233 and ceded to the Kingdom of Poland under the terms of a treaty signed here in 1466. Seven years later, it became the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus. Today, Toruń is the seat of the legislature (sejmik) of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, forming with the city of Bydgoszcz, its western neighbor, the Bydgoszcz-Toruń metropolitan area. With its medieval spatial layout preserved almost intact and with many brick Gothic buildings, including the town hall, churches and burgher houses, Toruń is a popular tourist attraction and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also famous for its traditional gingerbread flavored with honey and spices. (Full article...)

More selected locations

edit

Did you know – show different entries

... that the thousand-year-old Bishop Petros with Saint Peter the Apostle (pictured) ended up in Poland after being saved from a watery grave?
... that Auschwitz survivor Bat-Sheva Dagan (born Izabella Rubinsztajn in Łódź, Poland) writes Holocaust stories for children that have happy endings "in order not to rob them of their faith in mankind"?
... that Sir Joseph Rotblat, a Polish-born physicist who helped design atomic bombs for the Manhattan Project during World War II, won the Nobel Prize for Peace?
... that the council of the Free City of Danzig Government in Exile was supposedly recognised in secret as the legal successor to the Danzig Senate by ethnic German expellees from Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland)?

More did you know...

edit

Poland now

Recent events

On 6 December, Stanisław Tym (pictured), a prominent comedian and satirist, died at the age of 87.
On 27 October, the discovery of a previously unknown waltz in A minor 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.

Ongoing

Constitutional crisis • Belarus–EU border crisis • Ukrainian refugee crisis • Polish presidency of the Council of the EU

Upcoming

Presidential election on 18 May 2025

Holidays and observances in January 2025
(statutory public holidays in bold)

New Year, 1 January
Three Kings' Day (carolers pictured), 6 January

Archive and more...

edit

Selected image – show another

A 5-zloty banknote from 1794

Credit: National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian Institution

A 5-zloty note from 1794, part of the first issue of banknotes in Poland. The notes, denominated 5 zł, 10 zł, 25 zł, 50 zł, 100 zł, 500 zł, and 1,000 zł, were issued during the Kościuszko Uprising, just one year before the Third Partition of Poland. The slightly uneven cut into the top design demonstrates the use of a counterfoil.
See other denominations.