Poland for beginners
Location
Poland is located in Central Europe (the geographic center of Europe is located near Warsaw) and has an area of 312 679 km ² – the 9th largest country in Europe and 63rd in the world. It has many neighbors : to the north its border is defined by the Baltic Sea (an economic zone is bordered by Sweden and Denmark) and a short border with Russia (Kaliningrad district), to the east Poland borders Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and the western frontier is formed with Germany.
Population
Poland’s population is over 38 million people. According to statistics about 96% of the population is formed by Poles – the homogeneity of the country is largely the result of its twentieth-century history, wars and the communist regime. It does not reflect the multicultural and multi-religious tradition of the former Polish Kingdom, which was inhabited by Poles, Jews, Tatars, Cossacks, Russians, Germans, and even the Italians and Dutch. Before World War II, minorities accounted for about 35% of the population but that figure is now about 4%. The demographic situation is slowly changing as Poland settles more and more foreigners – since 2004, Poland is a member of the European Union and has become more open and attractive to newcomers.
Language
The Polish language is an Indo-European language belonging to the Slavic language family(together with Czech, Russian and others). For foreigners is one of the most difficult languages to learn: it has a complex system of grammar with lots of exceptions to the rule and often difficult pronunciation. The Polish words for things like a violin (skrzypce), syringe (strzykawka) or beetle (chrzaszcz) are hard to pronounce even for Poles. Fortunately, in cities and tourist centers it is usually easy to communicate in English. This is the most popular foreign language and most young people speak it at least a basic level. Things like museums and restaurants are designed to accommodate foreign tourists. Only in smaller towns off the tourist trail can communication become a difficult task. In some regions like Lower Silesia and Masuria German is more common than English.
Geography
Poland is diverse in terms of landscape and topography, and is therefore attractive to tourists. From the north, Poland has access to the Baltic Sea. The Polish coast is famous for its sand dunes, long beaches ideal for long hours of walking and fine sand. South of the coast is the picturesque lake district band with thousands of glacial lakes – an ideal place for lovers of canoeing, water sports and camping. The central part of the country is lowlands, which constitute 75% of the Polish landscape. The south of the country is mountainous and consists of a range of heights (Jura Krakowsko-Czestochowska is the most beautiful, famous for its picturesque limestone island mountains, caves and ruins of medieval castles) and the mountains. The highest mountain range is the Tatras (part of the Carpathian Mountains) culminating at 2,503 meters above sea level at the Rysy peak. These beautiful and majestic alpine mountains are ideal for lovers of mountain hikes and rocky landscapes.