Portal:Poland

Welcome to the Poland Portal — Witaj w Portalu o Polsce

Cityscape of Kraków, Poland's former capital

Poland is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic to the southwest, Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, Lithuania to the northeast, and the Baltic Sea and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast to the north. It is an ancient nation whose history as a state began near the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century when it united with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to form the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation. In a series of agreements in the late 18th century, Russia, Prussia and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. It regained independence as the Second Polish Republic in the aftermath of World War I only to lose it again when it was occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. The nation lost over six million citizens in the war, following which it emerged as the communist Polish People's Republic under strong Soviet influence within the Eastern Bloc. A westward border shift followed by forced population transfers after the war turned a once multiethnic country into a mostly homogeneous nation state. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union called Solidarity (Solidarność) that over time became a political force which by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A shock therapy program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country completed, Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, but has experienced a constitutional crisis and democratic backsliding since 2015.

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From Polish history – show another

Solidarity flag

The history of Solidarity, a Polish non-governmental trade union, began in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk where it was started by Lech Wałęsa and his co-workers. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad anti-communist nonviolent social movement that, at its height, united some 10 million members and vastly contributed to the fall of communism. Poland's communist government attempted to destroy it by imposing martial law in 1981, followed by several years of political repression, but it was ultimately forced to begin negotiating with the union. Round Table Talks between the weakened government and the Solidarity-led opposition resulted in a semi-free parliamentary election in 1989. By the end of August 1989, a Solidarity-led coalition government had been formed and, in December 1990, Wałęsa was elected president. This was soon followed by the dismantling of the communist governmental system and by Poland's transformation into a modern democratic state. Solidarity's example led to the spread of anti-communist ideas and movements throughout the countries of the Eastern Bloc, weakening their communist governments; a process known as the Revolutions of 1989, or the Autumn of Nations. (Full article...)

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Hugo Steinhaus

Hugo Steinhaus (1887–1972) was a professor of mathematics at the University of Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine), where he helped establish what became known as the Lwów School of Mathematics. He is credited with "discovering" Stefan Banach, a prodigy autodidact. Together they contributed to functional analysis by developing the uniform boundedness principle, also known as the Banach-Steinhaus theorem. After World War II, Steinhaus played an important role in establishing a mathematics department at the Wrocław University. Author of around 170 scientific articles and books, Steinhaus left a legacy in several branches of mathematics, including functional analysis, mathematical logic, geometry, and trigonometry. He is also considered a pioneer in game theory and probability theory. (Full article...)

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Swoboda Lock on the Augustów Canal

The Augustów Canal is a summit-level canal which links the Biebrza River in northeastern Poland with the Neman River in Belarus. At over 100 km long, it comprises 18 locks (example pictured) and 22 sluice gates. Ever since the canal was built in 1823−1839 to provide a navigable waterway from the "Congress" Kingdom of Poland to the Baltic Sea bypassing Prussia, it has been described by experts as a technological marvel. It uses a post-glacial channel depression, forming the chain of Augustów Lakes, and the river valleys of the Biebrza, Netta, Czarna Hańcza, and Neman, which made it possible to perfectly integrate the canal with the surrounding elements of the natural environment. Although the project was never finalized, the completed part of the Augustów Canal remained an inland waterway of local significance used for commercial shipping to and from the Vistula and Neman Rivers until rendered obsolete by the regional railway network. (Full article...)

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Did you know – show different entries

... that during the Battle of Yevenes, Polish lancers of the Legion of the Vistula (pictured) lost all their banners, which caused the dissolution of the regiment?
... that thanks to its well-preserved medieval fortifications, the town of Paczków is called the Polish Carcassonne?
... that light-cavalrymen of the Polish 1st Light Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard saved Napoleon's life at least three times?
... that the Broadway play Irena's Vow tells the story of Irena Gut, a Polish nurse who during World War II saved twelve Jews from the Holocaust at the risk of her own life?
... that Independent Students Union was the student arm of Polish opposition movement Solidarity?

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Poland now

Recent events

On 22 September, Andrzej Bargiel (pictured) became the first person to complete a continuous ski descent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen.

On 9 September, Poland announced it would close its border with Belarus and deploy 40,000 troops to it, amid security concerns over the upcoming Russian–Belarusian military excercises, the ongoing migration crisis and the Russo-Ukrainian War. On the following night, Polish airspace was violated by at least 19 Russian military drones.
On 21 August, Stanisław Sojka, a prominent Polish jazz singer, pianist and composer, died at the age of 66.
On 20 August, Józef Kowalczyk, a Roman Catholic bishop who long served as the apostolic nuncio to Poland and later as the Primate of Poland, died at the age of 86.

Ongoing

Constitutional crisis • Belarus–EU border crisis • Ukrainian refugee crisis • XIX International Chopin Piano Competition

Holidays and observances in October 2025
(statutory public holidays in bold)

Teachers' Day, 14 October
Pope John Paul II Day (bust pictured), 16 October

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Warta Mouth National Park

Credit: Alexander Savin

The Warta Mouth National Park (Park Narodowy Ujście Warty) is the youngest of Poland's 23 national parks. It was created in 2001 along the lowest stretch of the Warta river, up to its confluence with the Oder, which marks the Polish–German border. The ground here is swampy and muddy, which makes it a haven for birds.