| General Info & Maps |
Facts about PolandPoland, officially the Republic of Poland - the country located in Central Europe by the Baltic Sea. It borders with Germany (467km) in the west, the Czech Republic (790km) and Slovakia (538km) in the south , Ukraine (529km) Belarus (416km) and Lithuania (103km) in the east, Russia (Kaliningrad region, to the north 210km), and Baltic coastline (788km).
In terms of the surface Poland takes 69. place in the world and ninth in Europe. In terms of population it takes 33. place in the world.
ClimateThe climate in Poland is a mixture maritime and continental. There are very cold and snowy winters and warm summers with plenty of rainfalls in July. During the spring and autumn the weather can be very surprising, because of the air masses which come either from the south west (warm air) or from the north east (cold air) of the continent. Average temperature in summer varies between 16.5 ° C and 20 ° C, in winter - between -6 ° C and 0 ° C. Average annual air temperature in Poland is 7-9 ° C (except for mountain areas). Warmest cities in Poland in view of the average annual air temperature are Tarnów, Wroclaw and Slubice.
The average rainfall is 600 mm per year. The rainfall during the year is uneven, 2 / 3 of annual rainfall is in the summer.
Time ZonePoland is in the Central time zone (GMT + 01:00). Most European countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Czech, Slovakia, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Hungary, belong to the same time zone. From March to October Poland is in so called summer time. LanguagePolish language belongs to a group of west slavic languages, and is a part of the family of Indoeuropean languages. It is estimated that the Polish language is the mother tongue of about 44 million people worldwide, the Poles and Polish citizens residing abroad. Currency
The polish currency is zloty(PLN). It consists of 100 groszy.
In Poland there is also a great number of cash dispensers(over 14000 for the time being). The majority of polish hotels and businesses accept credit cards(Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Diners).
Embassies and consulatesMajority of the countries have their embassies or consulates in Warsaw and other major cities(Gdansk, Poznan, Cracow, Szczecin, Lodz). Please be informed that most of the offices are opened only weekdays, so check the opening hours before.
VisasIn the European union visas are not needed. Citizens of the following countries that can travel to Poland without Visas: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong (special administrative region), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao (special administrative region), Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Uruguay, the Vatican, and Venezuela.
Visas are required for the citizens of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. In the end of 2007 Poland joined The Shengen territory. Within territory of this agreement there is no passport control. All the members of European Union belong to Shengen except for two: United Kingdom and Ireland Public HolidaysDuring public holidays all institutions, banks, offices even most of shops are closed for business.
ShopsThe opening hours are very diversed. Generally shops all around Poland are opened for business during the whole week(especially malls and shopping centers) except for the public holidays. Smaller shops may be opened even on public holidays but it is in a gesture of its private owner. Emergency phone numbers
While using mobile phone dial the general emergency number 112. The operator will kindly ask you for the appropriate emergency unit. FoodUnlike many other national cuisine, it is difficult to find in the Polish tradition truly "original" polish dishes. The development of the Polish cuisine has been influenced by the historical transformations. During centuries it was changing. The best known influences are German, French, Oriental, Russian, Italian and Jewish. Polish cuisine is characterized by a very strong regionalism, resulting from the period of country partition. Different regions have specific meals - for example, associated with Silesia: pork soup(rosół), "Warsaw" tripe soup(flaki) and pork coutlet with cabbage and potatoes, or in Lublin dumplings(pierogi) with white cheese and buckwheat. In the whole country and even some places abroad the best known and associated with Poland dish, is sauerkraut stew-meal made from sausages and mushrooms(bigos). Curiosities about PolandThe oldest, continuously operating cinema in the world is located in Szczecin! Its name is Pioneer and was founded in 1909. Cinema has its place in the Guinness Book of Records. Here you can watch a movie sitting at a table, as in the cafeteria. In Chelm under the Old Town, at a depth of 20-30 m there are underground corridors forged by the local people in the chalk rock. Their length is about 15 km. Citizens excavated chalk in cellars of their homes and then sold it. Wang Temple in Karpacz is a wooden church built in the town of Vang in Norway at the turn of the XII and XIII century. It was moved to Karpacz in the nineteenth century. The interior of the church is covered with statues and secret Vikings inscriptions. Zielona Gora since the thirteenth century was famous of wine-making. In 1793 there were 2,410 vineyards. It is in Zielona Gora where in 1826 has begun the first production of champagne in Germany. Map - Poland in Europe
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