Country

Capital city: Warsaw

Total area: 312,679 km²

Population: 38,593,161 (2017)

Currency: Polish złoty (PLN)

Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 2007

Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a parlamentary republic in Central Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the sixth most populous member state of the European Union. There have been periods of independence as well as periods of domination by other countries. Several million people, half of them Jews, died in World War II. A new era began when Poland became an EU member in May 2004, five years after joining Nato and 15 years after the end of communist rule.

Poland's capital and largest city is Warsaw with 1,702,139 people, completely destroyed by the Nazis during World War II, Warsaw managed to recover from its ashes. Today, almost every building dates back to the postwar period, but has been faithfully rebuilt as the original, furthermore Warsaw is one of Europe’s most dynamic metropolitan cities.

The culture of Poland is closely connected with its intricate 1,000- history Its unique character developed as a result of its geography at the confluence of European cultures.

Since the fall of the communist government, Poland has pursued a policy of liberalising the economy. The country's most successful exports include machinery, furniture, food products, clothing, shoes and cosmetics.

The climate is mostly temperate throughout the country. The climate is oceanic in the north and west and becomes gradually warmer and continental e south and east.