3. Poland is located in the very centre of Europe. With the total
area of 312,679 km². It’s the seventh biggest country on the
continent.
Map of Polond
4. Most of the country is located on lowlands. On the south
there are upland areas with two major mountain chains –
the Carpathians (Karpaty) and the Sudetes (Sudety). The
Baltic sea coastline on the north measures 770 km. The
longest river, Vistula (Wisła) is 1,047 km (678 miles) long.
Geography
The Carpatians
The Baltic Sea
6. Polish Flag
• Polish flag is white and red.
• It was officially recognised in 1919
• Polish Eagle with crown on its head is their emblem
• In the years of comminism, the eagle was deprived of its crown
• In 1990 the crown came back
7. History
Great (north) Poland was founded in 966 by Mieszko I, who
belonged to the Piast dynasty. The tribes of southern Poland
then formed Little Poland. In 1047, both Great Poland and
Little Poland united under the rule of Casimir I the Restorer.
Poland merged with Lithuania by royal marriage in 1386. The
Polish-Lithuanian state reached the peak of its power
between the 14th and 16th centuries, scoring military
successes against the (Germanic) Knights of the Teutonic
Order, the Russians, and the Ottoman Turks.
Lack of a strong monarchy enabled Russia, Prussia, and
Austria to carry out a first partition of the country in 1772, a
second in 1792, and a third in 1795. For more than a century
thereafter, there was no Polish state, just Austrian, Prussian, and
Russian sectors, but the Poles never ceased their efforts to
regain their independence.
8. History
The Polish people revolted against foreign dominance
throughout the 19th century. Poland was formally reconstituted in
Nov. 1918, with Marshal Josef Pilsudski as chief of state. In 1919,
Ignace Paderewski, the famous pianist and patriot, became the
first prime minister. In 1926, Pilsudski seized complete power in a
coup and ruled dictatorially until his death on May 12, 1935.
Despite a ten-year nonaggression pact signed in 1934, Hitler
attacked Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. Soviet troops invaded from the
east on Sept. 17, and on Sept. 28, a German-Soviet agreement
divided Poland between the USSR and Germany. All of Poland
was occupied by Germany after the Nazi attack on the USSR in
June 1941. Nazi Germany's occupation policy in Poland was
designed to eradicate Polish culture through mass executions
and to exterminate the country's large Jewish minority.
9. History
The Polish government-in-exile was replaced with the Communist-
dominated Polish Committee of National Liberation by the Soviet
Union in 1944. A new constitution in 1952 made Poland a “people's
democracy” of the Soviet type. In 1955, Poland became a
member of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, with its foreign policy
identical to that of the USSR.
Led by Solidarity, an independent union founded by an
electrician, Lech Walesa, workers launched a drive for liberty and
improved conditions. A national strike for a five-day workweek in
Jan. 1981 led to the dismissal of Prime Minister Pinkowski and the
naming of the fourth prime minister in less than a year, Gen.
10. History
In 1999, Poland became part
of NATO, along with the
Czech Republic and Hungary.
On May 1, 2004,
Poland joined the
EU. Prime Minister
Leszek Miller
resigned on May
2, 2004.
11. Polish Language
Polish is the official language of Poland. It is also used as a
second language in some parts of Russia, Lithuania,
Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The Polish language
belongs to the West-Slavic group of the Indo-European
languages.
Polish, like other Indo-European languages, shares some
Latin grammar and vocabulary. There are 3 tenses (past,
present, future), 2 numbers (singular and plural), and 3
genders (masculine, feminine, neuter).
There are no articles but Polish, like Latin, and is an
inflectional language that distinguishes 7 cases, defining
the noun usage in a sentence. This feature makes their
mother tongue difficult to master and presents a lot of
trouble to foreigners
12. Polish Language
Dzien dobry : good day
Dobry wieczor : good
evening
Dobranoc : good night
Czesc : hi / hello
Do widzenia : good bye
Prosze : please
Dziekuje : thank you
Dzieki : thanks (less formal)
Przepraszam : I'm sorry /
excuse me
Tak : yes
Nie : no
16. Capital of Poland
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is
located on the Vistula River, roughly 260 kilometres from
the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian
Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.711 million
residents within a greater metropolitan area of 2.666
million residents, making Warsaw the 9th most populous
city proper in the European Union.
18. Capital of Poland
It is the tallest
building in Poland
Today it is exhibition
center and office
copmlex
There are cinemas,
theatres, museums,
offices, bookshops,
and a large
conference hall for
3000 peopleThe Palace of Culture and Science
19. Climate
The climate is
moderate. The
average summer
temperature ranges
from 20 °C to 30 °C.
Winters are cold the
average ranges
from 3 °C in the
northwest to –8 °C in
the northeast.
21. Polish folk dances tend to be
lively, energetic, and joyful.
Hops, twirls, and athletic
movements are common.
Many dances involve a circle.
Clothing is usually colorful. In
addition, women often wear
coral necklaces, particularly red
ones. They also decorate their
hair with flowers or ribbons.
The Polish national dances are
the Krakowiak, Kujawiak, Mazur
ek, Oberek, and Polonaise.
Polish Folk Dance
22. Polish cuisine shares many similarities with other Central European
cuisines, especially German, Austrian and Hungarian cuisines, as well
as Jewish. Poles boast that their two basic products are bread and
sausages.
The most typical ingredients used in Polish cuisine are sauerkraut,
beetroot, cucumbers (gherkins), sour cream, kohlrabi, mushrooms,
sausages and smoked sausage
Polish Cuisine
23. Since last 15 years Polish GDP grows
rapidly, with an average rate of 5% per
year. The inflation rate is low and the
wages have grown in a yearly rate of 15%
for the past two years. The unemployment,
very high until 2004, is rapidly decreasing.
Right now its level is 11 %, but it's expected
to fall beneath 8% in two years time. These
economical factors, along with the
modest living costs, make Poland an
attractive location for both studying and
working
Economy
24. Poland, especially after 1989 and joining of the European Union in 2004,
became a place frequently visited by tourists. Most tourist attractions in Poland
are connected with natural environment, historic sites and cultural events.
They draw millions of tourists every year from all around the world. The most
popular cities are;
Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Warsaw, Poznań, Lublin, Toruń and the historic site
of Auschwitz - German nazi concentration camp in Oświęcim.
Tourism
Royal palace at Wawel
Tatra Mountains
27. Nicolaus Copernicus
was famous Polish
astronomer
He wrote the theory
that the sun was in the
middle of the the solar
system
Famous Poles
28. Frederic Chopin was
the most famous
Polish composer and
pianist
Famous Poles
29. Marie Sklodowska-
Curie was physicist and
chemist from Poland
but lived in France
She was the first
woman to win a Nobel
Prize. She was an
expert in the field of
radioctivity and the
only person to get the
Nobel Prize in two
different sciences.
Famous Poles
30. Lech Walesa was a
Polish shipyard worker
Later he became the
leader of Solidarity
and the President of
Poland, he won the
Nobel Peace Prize in
1983.
Famous Poles
