Portal:Poland

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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

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...)

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Juliusz Słowacki as portrayed by James Hopwood

Juliusz Słowacki (1809–1849) was a Polish Romantic poet traditionally counted among the "Three Bards" of Polish literature, a major figure of Romanticism in Poland and the father of modern Polish drama. His works often feature elements of Slavic mythology, Polish history, mysticism and Orientalism, and rely on neologisms and irony for style. Among Słowacki's most popular works are the dramas Kordian and Balladyna, and the poem Beniowski. Słowacki spent his youth in what are now Ukraine and Lithuania, but emigrated to Western Europe after the failed November Uprising of 1830. He then traveled to Switzerland, Italy, Greece and the Middle East to finally settle back in Paris for the last decade of his life, but briefly returned to Poland during the Greater Poland Uprising of 1848. (Full article...)

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St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Białystok

Białystok is the largest city in north-eastern Poland, located close to the Belarusian border. Originally part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it was annexed by Prussia in the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 only to pass into Russian hands with the Treaty of Tilsit of 1807. Under Russian rule, it enjoyed an economic boom fueled by development of textile industry. The city was predominantly Jewish, but most of Białystok's Jewish population was exterminated by the Nazis during the city's German occupation in 1941–1944, despite its resistance in the Białystok Ghetto Uprising. In addition to textiles, Białystok is a large producer of alcoholic beverages and home of the Żubrówka vodka. (Full article...)

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Did you know – show different entries

... that Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz (pictured), the City President of Kraków, obtained Emperor Franz Joseph's approval for saving the royal Wawel Castle from further decay by proposing to make it an imperial residence in Poland's former capital?
... that Polish Jewish resistance fighter Vladka Meed was a primary source for the 2001 television movie Uprising?
... that the Christmas Midnight Mass is known in Polish as pasterka, or "shepherds' mass"?

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Poland now

Recent events

On 14 September, southwestern Poland was hit by severe floods (flooded Kłodzko pictured) caused by heavy rains brought by Storm Boris.
Poland won 23 medals, including eight gold, at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, ranking 16th in the medal table.
On 18 August, Polish cyclist Katarzyna Niewiadoma won the 2024 Tour de France Femmes.
Poland won 10 medals, including one gold, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, ranking 42nd in the medal table.

Ongoing
Constitutional crisis • Belarus–EU border crisis • Ukrainian refugee crisis

Holidays and observances in November 2024
(statutory public holidays in bold)

All Saints' Day (grave lanterns pictured), 1 November
Independence Day, 11 November

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Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci

Credit: Leonardo da Vinci

Lady with an Ermine is an oil-on-wood painting by Leonardo da Vinci from ca. 1490. One of only four female portraits by Leonardo, its subject is identified as Cecilia Gallerani, a 16-year-old mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. The painting was acquired in 1798 by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, a Polish aristocrat, and now belongs to the National Museum in Kraków.