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

A 20th-century mural commemorating the baptism of Mieszko I

The term "baptism of Poland" traditionally refers to the personal baptism of Duke Mieszko I of Poland. The ceremony took place on the Holy Saturday of 14 April 966; the exact location is disputed by historians, with the cities of Poznań and Gniezno being the most likely sites. It was followed by Mieszko's marriage to the Bohemian princess Doubravka. The event began the process of Poland's Christianization in the Latin rite, which took centuries to complete, but helped establish Poland as a state recognized by the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire within decades. Before Mieszko's baptism, the tribes living in what is now Poland professed Slavic paganism. Their first contact with Christian faith came in the 9th century from Great Moravia in the south, where Byzantine-Slavic rite Christianity had been spread by Cyril and Methodius, but Mieszko's choice about a century later put Poland firmly within the realm of Western Christianity. In 1966, the Catholic Church in Poland and the country's Communist authorities held rival millennial celebrations to commemorate the one thousand years of, respectively, Polish Christianity and Polish nationhood. (Full article...)

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Jan Matejko's self-portrait

Jan Matejko (1838–1893) was a Polish painter and academic. He is best known for large canvases devoted to major figures and events in Polish history, such as Stańczyk, Skarga's Sermon, Rejtan, Union of Lublin, Battle of Grunwald, Prussian Homage and Constitution of 3 May. His other works include imaginary portraits of Polish monarchs and mural paintings in Kraków's St. Mary's Basilica. With his style described as "colourful, detailed and imaginative", he reminded Poles of their nation's former glory at a time when it lacked political independence. His vision of national history has been propagated in Polish textbooks to this day. In 1872, Matejko became a rector of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, which now bears his name. Among his students were such artists as Maurycy Gottlieb, Jacek Malczewski, Józef Mehoffer and Stanisław Wyspiański. (Full article...)

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Bydgoszcz granaries

Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland, straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its left-bank tributary, the Brda. It is the eighth-largest city in Poland and the co-capital, with Toruń, of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Bydgoszcz is an architecturally rich city, with gothic, neo-gothic, neo-baroque, neoclassicist, modernist and Art Nouveau styles present, for which it has earned the nickname "Little Berlin". The notable granaries on Mill Island and along the riverside belong to one of the most recognized timber-framed landmarks in Poland. (Full article...)

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Did you know – show different entries

... that Kolejka ("Queue"), a popular Polish educational board game about communist shortage economy, has itself been in short supply?
... that the Bloody Sunday massacre of Jews took place in German-occupied Stanisławów two months before the Stanislau Ghetto was formally set up in December 1941?
... that the temporary removal of The Partisans, a Boston sculpture depicting Polish cursed soldiers, triggered protests by the Polish-American community?
... that the 21st-century economic migration of Poles to Western Europe is comparable in size to the migration of Poles to the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries?

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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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Selected image – show another

Krzyżtopór

Credit: Kroton

Walls of the elliptical inner courtyard of the imposing fortified palace of Krzyżtopór in Ujazd, south-eastern Poland. Constructed by Krzysztof Ossoliński in 1644, the Baroque palace boasted such modern amenities as dumbwaiters, running water, heating and ventilation systems, and possibly even a ceiling aquarium with exotic fish, but suffered extensive damage during the Swedish occupation in 1655 and was ultimately reduced to ruin by the Russians in 1770.