Portal:Poland

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.

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From Polish history – show another

Life cycle of the Polish cochineal in Johann Philipp Breyne's Historia naturalis Cocci Radicum... (1731)

Ancient Slavs developed a method of obtaining crimson dye from Polish cochineal, a scale insect, whose larvae are dark red sessile parasites living on the roots of various herbs growing on the sandy soils of Central Europe. Despite the labor-intensive process of harvesting the larvae and a relatively modest yield, the dye continued to be a highly sought-after commodity and a popular alternative to kermes throughout the Middle Ages until it was superseded by Mexican cochineal in the 16th century. The insects were killed with boiling water or vinegar and dried in the sun or in an oven, ground, and dissolved in sourdough or in light rye beer called kvass in order to remove fat. The extract could then be used for dyeing silk, wool, cotton or linen. In the 15th–16th centuries, along with grain, timber and salt, it was one of Poland's and Lithuania's chief exports, mainly to southern Germany and northern Italy as well as to France, England, the Ottoman Empire and Armenia. Its historical importance is still reflected in most modern Slavic languages where the words for the color red and for June – the month of Polish cochineal harvest – both derive from the Proto-Slavic *čьrvь, meaning "a worm" or "larva". (Full article...)

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Stefan Czarniecki

Stefan Czarniecki (1599–1665) was a Polish military commander who rose from a petty nobleman to a magnate holding one of the highest offices in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, something that was unprecedented in Polish-Lithuanian history. In 1664 he attained the office of the voivode of Kijów (now Kiev, Ukraine) and in 1665, a few weeks before his death, he became field hetman of the Crown. Czarniecki's major successes came during the Khmelnytsky Uprising in Ukraine, the Russo-Polish War of 1654–67, and the Second Northern War. His use of guerrilla warfare against the Swedes is considered one of the main reasons for the eventual Polish victory in the latter conflict. Czarniecki is regarded as a national hero, his status in Polish history best illustrated by a mention in the national anthem. (Full article...)

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Szczecin as seen from the Oder River

Szczecin is one of Poland's largest seaports, located at the mouth of the Oder River where it empties into the Szczecin Lagoon. It is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, a region in the northwestern part of the country. Founded by the Slavs in the 8th century, it passed into German, Danish and Swedish hands during the course of history. In 1720, following the Great Northern War, Sweden ceded Stettin, as it was then known, to Prussia. Nine years later it became the birthplace of Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, better known as Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. After the city's destruction during World War II and subsequent expulsion of its German population, Szczecin was rebuilt and resettled with Poles and Ukrainians. Its major industries include shipbuilding, metallurgy, fishing and beer making. (Full article...)

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Did you know – show different entries

... that Lilpop, Rau i Loewenstein (logo pictured) was the largest manufacturing company in Poland before its factory was destroyed by the Germans during World War II?
... that World War II resistance fighter Jerzy Zakulski, who rescued a Jewish mother and child from the Kraków Ghetto, was executed by Poland after the war?
... that Father Józef Kowalski, an Auschwitz prisoner, was one of 108 Polish Martyrs beatified in front of 600,000 people by Pope John Paul II?
... that the village of Borzęcin was first mentioned in historical documents by the Polish chronicler Jan Długosz in his Liber beneficiorum?

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Poland now

Recent events

On 27 March, Poland suspended the right to claim asylum by people who cross the border from Belarus (border fence pictured).
On 18 February, Marian Turski, a historian, journalist and Holocaust survivor, died at the age of 98.
On 6 December, Stanisław Tym, 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.

Ongoing

Constitutional crisis • Belarus–EU border crisis • Ukrainian refugee crisis • Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Upcoming

Presidential election on 18 May 2025

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

April Fool's Day, 1 April
Easter (Easter eggs pictured), 20 April
Easter Monday, 21 April

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A 25-Danzig-gulden note

Credit: Banknote design credit: Bank of Danzig; photographed by Andrew Shiva

The Danzig gulden was the currency of the Free City of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland) between 1923 and 1939. Inflation in Danzig during 1922 had spiralled out of control, and the city abandoned the German Papiermark in favour of the Danzig gulden the following year. The obverse this 25-gulden note shows the Gothic St. Mary's Church on the obverse and Neptune's Fountain on the reverse.

Other denominations: