The climate is mostly temperate throughout the country. The climate is oceanic in the north and west and becomes gradually warmer and continental as one moves south and east. Summers are generally warm, with average temperatures between 20 °C (68 °F) and 27 °C (81 °F). Winters are cold, with average temperatures around 3 °C (37 °F) in the northwest and −8 °C (17.6 °F) in the northeast. Precipitation falls throughout the year, although, especially in the east; winter is drier than summer. The warmest region in Poland is Lesser Poland located in Southern Poland where temperatures in the summer average between 23 °C (73 °F) and 30 °C (86 °F) but can go as high as 32 °C (90 °F) to 38 °C (100 °F) on some days in the warmest month of the year July. The warmest city in Poland is Tarnów. The city is located in Lesser Poland. It is the hottest place in Poland all year round. The average temperatures being 30 °C (86 °F) in the summer and 4 °C (39 °F) in the winter. Tarnów also has the longest summer in Poland spreading from mid May to mid-September. It also has the shortest winter in Poland which often lasts from January to March, less than the regular three-month winter. The coldest region of Poland is in the Northeast in the Podlaskie Voivodeship near the border of Belarus. The climate is efficient due to cold fronts which come from Scandinavia and Siberia. The average temperature in the winter in Podlachian ranges from −15 °C (5.0 °F) to −4 °C (24.8 °F).
The złoty (/ˈzwɔtɨ/ listen , plural for numbers ending in 2, 3 and 4 (except 12, 13 and 14): złote /ˈzwɔtɛ/, plural for all other numbers: złotych /ˈzwɔtɨx/), literally meaning "golden", is the currency of Poland. The ISO 4217 currency code is PLN. The modern złoty is subdivided into 100 groszy (singular: grosz, alternate plural form: grosze).
As a result of hyperinflation in the early 1990s, the currency underwent redenomination. Thus, on January 1, 1995, 10 000 old złotych (PLZ) became one new złoty (PLN).
Poland’s territory extends across several geographical regions. In the northwest is the Baltic seacoast, which extends from the Bay of Pomerania to the Gulf of Gdansk. This coast is marked by several spits, coastal lakes (former bays that have been cut off from the sea), and dunes. The largely straight coastline is indented by the Szczecin Lagoon, the Bay of Puck, and the Vistula Lagoon. The center and parts of the north lie within the North European Plain. Rising gently above these lowlands is a geographical region comprising the four hilly districts of moraines and moraine-dammed lakes formed during and after the Pleistocene ice age. These lake districts are the Pomeranian Lake District, the Greater Polish Lake District, the Kashubian Lake District, and the Masurian Lake District. The Masurian Lake District is the largest of the four and covers much of northeastern Poland. The lake districts form part of the Baltic Ridge, a series of moraine belts along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. South of the Northern European Lowlands lie the regions of Silesia and Masovia, which are marked by broad ice-age river valleys. Farther south lies the Polish mountain region, including the Sudetes, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, and the Carpathian Mountains, including the Beskids. The highest part of the Carpathians is the Tatra Mountains, along Poland’s southern border.
Highly developed agricultural people have lived in the area that is now Poland for the last 7500 years, the Slavic people have settled in this territory for over 1500 years, and the History of Poland as a state spans well over a millennium. The territory ruled by Poland has shifted and varied greatly. At one time, in the 16th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the largest state in Europe, before the rise of the Russian Empire. At other times there was no separate Polish state at all. Poland regained its independence in 1918, after more than a century of rule by its neighbours, but its borders shifted again after the Second World War.
Following its emergence in the 10th century, the Polish nation was led by a series of rulers who converted the Poles to Christianity, created a strong kingdom and integrated Poland into the European culture. Internal fragmentation eroded this initial structure in the 13th century, but consolidation in the 1300s laid the base for the new dominant Kingdom of Poland that was to follow.
Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiełło), the Jagiellon dynasty (1385–1569) formed the Polish-Lithuanian union. The partnership proved beneficial for the Poles and Lithuanians, who coexisted and cooperated in one of the most powerful states in Europe for the next three centuries. The nihil novi act adopted by the Polish Sejm (parliament) in 1505, transferred most of the legislative power from the monarch to the Sejm. This event marked the beginning of the period known as "Golden Liberty", when the State was ruled by the "free and equal" Polish nobility. The Lublin Union of 1569 established the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as an influential player in Europe and a vital cultural entity, spreading the Western culture eastwards.
By the 18th century the nobles' democracy had gradually declined into anarchy, making the once powerful Commonwealth vulnerable to foreign intervention. Over the course of three successive partitions by the countries bordering it (the Russian Empire, Habsburg Austria and the Kingdom of Prussia), the Commonwealth was significantly reduced in size the first two times and ultimately ceased to exist in 1795. The idea of Polish independence however was kept alive throughout the 19th century and led to several Polish uprisings against the partitioning powers.
Poland regained its independence in 1918, but the Second Polish Republic was destroyed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union by their Invasion of Poland at the beginning of the Second World War. Nevertheless the Polish government in exile kept functioning and through the many Polish military formations contributed significantly to the Allied victory. Nazi Germany's forces were compelled to retreat from Poland as the Soviet Red Army advanced, which led to the creation of the People's Republic of Poland. The country's geographic location was shifted to the west and Poland existed as a Soviet satellite state. By the late 1980s Solidarity, a Polish reform movement, became crucial in causing a peaceful transition from a communist state to democracy, which resulted in the creation of the modern Polish state.
1 Jan New Year's Day.
13 Apr Easter Monday.
1 May Labour Day.
3 May National Day.
21 May Ascension.
11 Jun Corpus Christi.
15 Aug Assumption.
1 Nov All Saints' Day.
11 Nov Independence Day.
25-26 Dec Christmas
Poland is by far the largest of the four countries covered in this program, with the biggest land mass and a population that hovers just over the thirty-eight million mark. The vast majority of Poland's people—nearly ninety-nine percent—are of Polish origin. The remainder are of either German, Ukrainian, Jewish, or Belorussian descent. Urbanization is a prevalent trend. Close to two-thirds of Poland's people choose the city over country living, mainly in the larger cities such as Warsaw, Poznan, Gdansk, Lodz, and Krakow.
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