Poland

Poland (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska), is a country in Central Europe[2] bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine and Belarus to the east; and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. It also shares a maritime border with Denmark and Sweden. The total area of Poland is 312,683 sq km(120,728 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world. Poland's population is over 38.5 million people, concentrated mainly in large cities such as the historical capital Kraków and the present capital Warsaw.

The first Polish state was created in 966, within territory very similar to the present boundaries of Poland. Poland became a kingdom in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a long association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by uniting to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth collapsed in 1795. Poland regained its independence in 1918 after World War I but lost it again in World War II, occupied by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, emerging several years later as a communist country within the Eastern Bloc under control of the former Soviet Union. In 1989, communist rule was overthrown and Poland became what is informally known as the "Third Polish Republic". Today, as the 6th most populated member state of the European Union, Poland is a liberal democracy made up of sixteen voivodeships (Polish: województwo). Poland is also a member of European Union, NATO, the United Nations, OECD and the World Trade Organization.
  
 
Culture

Polish culture has a rich thousand-year history influenced by both West and East. Today, these influences are evident in Polish architecture, folklore, and art. Poland is the birthplace of many world famous people, including Pope John Paul II (Polish: Papiez Jan Pawel II), Marie Sklodowska Curie (Polish: Maria Sklodowska-Curie), Kazimierz Pulaski (Polish: Kazimierz Pulaski), Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Nicolaus Copernicus (Polish: Mikolaj Kopernik), and others.

The unique character of Polish art always reflected world trends. Famous Polish painter, Jan Matejko, included many significant historical events in his paintings. Polish literature dates back to 1100s[5] and includes many famous poets and writers such as Jan Kochanowski, Adam Mickiewicz, Henryk Sienkiewicz (1905 Nobel Prize winner), Boleslaw Prus, Wladyslaw Reymont (1924 Nobel Prize winner), Juliusz Slowacki, Witold Gombrowicz, Czeslaw Milosz (1980 Nobel Prize winner), Wislawa Szymborska (1996 Nobel Prize winner), Stanislaw Lem, Ryszard Kapuscinski. Many world renowned Polish movie directors include Academy Awards winners Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda, Zbigniew Rybczynski, Janusz Kaminski, Krzysztof Kieslowski. The traditional Polish music composers include world famous pianist Frederic Chopin (Polish: Fryderyk Chopin)[6] as well as Krzysztof Penderecki, Karol Szymanowski, and others. Many popular styles of modern music in Poland include pop music, rock music, pop-rock music, punk, hardcore, Extreme Metal, disco music, house music, R&B, hip-hop, rap, jazz, to name a few. Famous modern singers, musicians and bands from Poland include Behemoth, Vader, Decapitated, Edyta Górniak, Anita Lipnicka and Ich Troje.

Known meals from Polish cuisine include Polish sausage (Polish: kielbasa), red beet soup (Polish: barszcz), duck blood soup (Polish: czernina), Polish dumplings (Polish: pierogi), cabbage rolls (Polish: golabki), Polish pork chops (Polish: kotlety schabowe), Polish traditional stew (Polish: bigos), various potato dishes, a fast food sandwich zapiekanka, and many more. Traditional Polish desserts include Polish doughnuts (Polish: paczki), Polish gingerbread (Polish: pierniki) and others.

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging, usually on a short-term basis. Hotels often provide a number of additional guest services such as a restaurant, a swimming pool or childcare. Some hotels have conference services and meeting rooms and encourage groups to hold conventions and meetings at their location.


 
 
 
 
© Copyright 2008 drewal.com, Inc. All rights reserved.