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

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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A presumed image of Jogaila, painted c. 1475–80

Vladislaus II (Władysław II Jagiełło, Jogaila; ca.1348–1434) was a grand duke of Lithuania and king of Poland. He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, initially with his uncle, Kęstutis. In 1386, he converted to Christianity, was baptized as Vladislaus, married the eleven-year-old Queen Hedwig (Jadwiga) and was crowned Polish king as Vladislaus II. His reign in Poland lasted a further forty-eight years and laid the foundation for the centuries long Polish-Lithuanian union. He gave his name to the Jagiellon branch of the Gediminid dynasty which ruled both states until 1572, and became one of the most influential dynasties in medieval Europe. Jogaila was the last pagan ruler of medieval Lithuania. The allied victory over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, followed by the First Peace of Thorn, secured the Polish and Lithuanian borders and marked the emergence of the Polish-Lithuanian alliance as a major European force. His reign is often considered the beginning of Poland's Golden Age. (Full article...)

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A wisent in the Białowieża Forest

The Białowieża Forest, an ancient woodland straddling the Polish-Belarusian border, is one of the last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest which once spread across the European Plain. It is home to the wisent (pictured), elk, wild boars, konik horses, and other animals. Its name, Puszcza Białowieska in Polish and Belavezhskaya Pushcha in Belarusian, comes from the village of Białowieża located in the forest. Historically it belonged to Polish kings and, later, Russian emperors who used it as royal hunting grounds or food reserve for the army. It has been protected since 1538 when King Sigismund I instituted death penalty for poaching the wisent. Today parts of the forest on both sides of the border are protected as national parks, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve. (Full article...)

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Did you know – show different entries

... that only two and a half pages survive of the Bible of Queen Sophia (pictured), a priceless artifact of the Old Polish language?
... that from 1930 through 1933, Jews constituted the majority of the Young Communist League of Poland membership?
... that Kamienie na szaniec ("Stones for the Rampant"), a novel describing the lives of three Polish underground youth paramilitary members, was published shortly after their deaths in German-occupied Poland?
... that both German soldiers and former Polish prisoners of German concentration camps were treated at a war-time hospital close to the Lärbro Church in Sweden?

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Poland now

Recent events

On 21 August, Stanisław Sojka (pictured), 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.
On 6 August, Karol Nawrocki was sworn in as President of the Republic of Poland.
On 12 July, Polish tennis player Iga Świątek won the Wimbledon Championships women's singles.
On 25 June, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a crew member of Axiom Mission 4, became the second Polish astronaut to reach outer space, following Mirosław Hermaszewski's spaceflight in 1978.

Ongoing

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

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

Assumption Day and Polish Armed Forces Day (military aircraft pictured), 15 April
Solidarity and Freedom Day, 31 August

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Glass roof of the Warsaw Polytechnic

Credit: Marcin Białek

The glass roof of the main auditorium of the Warsaw University of Technology (Politechnika Warszawska). The university's Neo-Renaissance Main Building was erected in 1901.