Portal:Poland

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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.

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

From Polish history – show another

The "Cake of Kings", a 1773 engraving by Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune

The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. Growth in the Russian Empire's power, threatening the Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg Austrian Empire, was the primary motive behind this first partition. The weakened Commonwealth's land, including that already controlled by Russia, was apportioned among its more powerful neighbors—Austria, Russia and Prussia—so as to restore the regional balance of power in Eastern Europe among those three countries. With Poland unable to effectively defend itself and with foreign troops already inside the country, the Polish parliament ratified the partition in 1773 during the Partition Sejm convened by the three powers. (Full article...)

More selected articles

edit

Selected biography – show another

Jan Dekert

Jan Dekert (1738–1790) was one of the most prominent merchants in Warsaw and a political activist advocating more rights for the burghers in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, while opposing Jewish competitors. As the representative of Warsaw, he was elected member of the Sejms of 1784 and 1786, and the Great Sejm of 1788–1892. He was a mayor of Warsaw from 1789 to 1790, in which capacity he organized the Black Procession, a demonstration of burghers who delivered a petition to the king on 2 December 1789. This was a major step towards the adoption of the Free Royal Cities Act enfranchising burghers, one of the reforms of the Great Sejm, which was eventually incorporated into the Constitution of May 3, 1791. (Full article...)

More selected biographies

edit

Selected location – show another

Palace of Culture and Science

Warsaw (Warszawa) is the capital and, with a population of over 1.7 million, the largest city of Poland. Founded in 1300 on the Vistula River, Warsaw became the seat of the dukes of Masovia in 1413. Masovia was annexed by Poland in 1526, and 70 years later, in 1596, King Sigismund III moved his seat from Kraków to Warsaw. The rise in political status was accompanied by strong economic and cultural development. Occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II, Warsaw was the site of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 and the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, followed by a complete destruction of the city. Painstakingly rebuilt in the Communist era, Warsaw is now an increasingly important political and economic hub of Central Europe. (Full article...)

More selected locations

edit

Did you know – show different entries

... that the trilingual 14th-century Sankt Florian Psalter (page pictured) contains one of the oldest texts in Polish?
... that the Counter-Reformation in Poland concluded successfully with the Repnin Sejm of 1768, which abolished legal discrimination against religious dissidents?
... that the Polish resistance heisted over a million US dollars in młynarki, the currency of the General Government, so popularly named after the head of its central bank, Feliks Młynarski?
... that many kindergartens in Poland were named after the children's television series Jacek i Agatka?

More did you know...

edit

Poland now

Recent events

On 6 December, Stanisław Tym (pictured), a prominent comedian and satirist, died at the age of 87.
On 27 October, the discovery of a previously unknown waltz in A minor attributed to Frédéric Chopin, found at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, was announced.
On 14 September, southwestern Poland was hit by severe floods caused by heavy rains brought by Storm Boris.

Ongoing

Constitutional crisis • Belarus–EU border crisis • Ukrainian refugee crisis • Polish presidency of the Council of the EU

Upcoming

Presidential election on 18 May 2025

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

Valentine's Day, 14 February
Fat Thursday (Polish doughnuts pictured), 27 February

Archive and more...

edit

Selected image – show another

Gdańsk

Credit: Aleksandra Wolska

A nocturnal view of the Main Town of Gdańsk from across the Motława river. The most prominent feature is a medieval port crane; its wooden parts burnt down during World War II and were reconstructed afterwards.