 |
The Largest Cities |
| Warszawa | 1,692,854 (2005) |
| 1,676,600 (2004) | |
| 1,609,800 (2001) | |
| Łódż | 774,004 (2005) |
| 776,400 (2004) | |
| 786,500 (2001) | |
| Kraków | 757,430 (2005) |
| 757,800 (2004) | |
| 740,700 (2001) | |
| Wrocław | 636,268 (2005) |
| 636,800 (2004) | |
| 634,000 (2001) |
 |
The Country |
Poland is situated in eastern Europe. It is bounded to the north by the Baltic Sea and an enclave of Russia, to the north-east by Lithuania, to the east by Belarus, to the south-east by Ukraine, to the south by Slovakia and Czech Republic and to the west by Germany.
Most of the territory lies in the drainage area of the Baltic Sea, mainly in the basins of Wisła (the longest Polish river, 1,047 km) and Odra rivers.
Lowlands comprise 91 % of the territory. The highest peak is Mt. Rysy 2,499 masl in the Tatras chain within the Carpathian Mountains.
Podzol and pseudopodzol soil types prevail; brown-earth soils are also relatively common. In the south are extensive areas of loess soils.
According to the relief structure Poland can be divided into five east-west trending zones. In the north is the Baltic Coastal Plain with sandy beaches, dunes and swamps. In the western part of this zone is the Pomeranian Bay (Zatoka Pomorska) with Szczecin Lagoon (Zalew Szczecinski), into which the river Odra discharges. To the east is the Gulf of Gdansk (Zatoka Gdanska), where the Wisla river forms a largfe delta. South of this zone is a belt of morainic terrain with thousands of lakes. River valleys divide the region into three parts: the Pomeranian (Pojezierze Pomorskie), the Masurian and the Great Poland lakelands. The third zone is one of lowlands composed of geologically recent deposits. The basins of the main rivers divide this zone into the Silesian Lowland (Nizina Slaska), whish lies in the upper Odra, the Great Poland Lowland (Nizina Wielkopolska),which lies in the middle Warta basin, the Mazovian Lowland (Nizina Mazowiecka) and the Podlasian Lowland (Nizina Podlaska) which lie in the middle Vistula basin. The Silesian and Great Poland lowlands are important agricultural areas.
South of the central lowlands is a belt of uplands; the Little Poland Uplands (Wyzyna Malopolska), rich in mineral resources and an important industrial region. In the west is the Silesian-Kraków up-thrust with deposits of coal, iron, zinc and lead. In the east lies the ancient rocks of the Swietokrzyskie Mountains.
The southernmost part of Poland embraces scenic mountain chains. In the east the Carpathian Mountains and in west the Sudeten Mountains (part of the Bohemian massif.
About 46% of the country is arable land, 13% meadows and pastures, 28% forest and woodland.
There are more than 9,000 lakes (<1 ha) which amount to 2.6% of the land. Most of the lakes are found in the Pomeranian and Masurian lake districts and most of them are shallow (<20 m deep).
The climate is transitional between the maritime and continental. The winters are usually snowy and summers warm and rainy. Mean annual temperatures range from (8° C) in the south-western lowlands to (7° C) in the north-east. The average annual precipitation is about 600 mm in the mountains and highlands and ca. 500 mm in the lowlands.
Poland lies in the zone of mixed forests. The flora contains nearly 2,300 species of vascular plants, over 600 species of mosses, 250 species of liverworts, 1,200 lichens and 1,500 fungi. About 100 endemic species of vascular species occur mainly in the Carpathian mountain, e.g.: the Polish larch and the Ojcow birch.
There is nearly 400 species of vertebrates of which 200 are native birds.
 |
Population |
Poland is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, especially the central and southern voivodships of Warszawa, Lódz, Katowice and Kraków. Urbanization is 61%.
The capital Warszawa is the largest city it comprises of medieval Old Town and 18th century suburbs, New Town and Krakowskie Przedmiescie. In contrast, Lódz dates from the 19th century and was an important center of textile industry. Kraków is the ancient capital of Poland, since 1978 it is on the UNESCO World List of Cultural Heritage. Poznan, Wroclaw and Gdansk have all medieval and early modern cores surrounded by 19th and 20th century suburbs. The other major urban area is in Upper Silesia, which is a conurbation of mining and industrial settlements.
Population growth rate (1992) is 0.4% and ethnic division (1990): Polish 98%, Germans 1.3%, Ukrainians 0.6%, Belorusian 0.5%.
Administratively the country is divided into 49 voivodships, which in turn are divided into communes.
 |
Economy |
Poland is undergoing the transition from Soviet-style economy to market economy. On January 1 1990, the government executed ‘shock therapy’ by reducing subsidies, decontrolling prices, tightening the money supply, stabilizing the foreign exchange rate, lowering import barriers, and restraining state sector wages. As a result, consumer goods shortages disappeared, and average annual inflation declined from 640% in 1989 to 32% in 1993.
The private sector grow steadily. At present about two-thirds of the GDP is produced by the private sector. Nearly two-thirds of all workers are employed in this sector and more than 60% of the exports are generated.
After some difficult years, economic conditions improves since 1992. In 1995 GDP grew by 7%. In 1993 average monthly wage was USD 219. The labor force amounts ca. 19 million, in 1996 unemployment was 14%.
Major industries are machine building, iron and steel, extractive industries, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages and textiles.
Major export commodities are (1993): machinery 23%, metals 17%, chemicals 13%, fuels 11% and food stuffs 10%.
Total exports (1991): USD 13,187 million and total imports (1993) USD 16,250 million.
Main trade partners are Germany, Italy and Austria.
|
Environment |
Some natural areas are well preserved, e.g. the primeval forest: Puszcza Bialowieska, or the largest marshland in Europe the Bagna Biebrzanskie.
On the other hand there are areas that are among the most degraded in Europe, e.g. Upper Silesia, the Legnicko-Glogowski District, the Karkonosze and Izery Mountains.
Worst is the situation in Katowice voivodship where as much as 20-25% of all SO2, NOx and dust emitted in Poland comes from. This part of the country is considered to be one of the most polluted regions in Europe. Also several areas in central Poland suffer from heavy air pollution. This causes a dramatic health situation for the people.
The major rivers and many lakes are badly polluted by industrial, residential and agricultural effluents, and almost all cities are major sources of pollution.
Between 1987 and 1989 emission of SO2 from Poland was about 4 million tones annually (about 10% of total SO2 emissions in Europe). This situation is now improving
The average yearly dose caused by artificial radio nuclides (1991) was 0.03 mSv. Most of this is caused by the Chernobyl accident.
______________________
Ewa Kazmierczak
The Polish Baltic coast (click on the picture for a larger version)
All photos by:
Miroslaw Nakonieczny