The beautiful country of Poland is located in the central part of Europe at ht emerging point of the eastern and western sections of the European continent and is the seventh largest country within the European continent in terms of its area. It is also ranked eighth within Europe with respect to its population. Poland is considered to be a part of the territory of eastern Europe by the united nations and the country is surrounded by Lithuania, a Russian enclave known as Kaliningrad Oblast and Baltic sea in the northern part, Slovakia and the Czech republic in the southern part, Germany on the west and Belarus and Ukraine on the eastern margins. The first coming into being of a polish principality can be attributed to around 966 when the baptism of Poland occurred. It was in 1025 that Poland became a kingdom and it also concluded a significant pact with Lithuania in 1569. Much later in the first few decades of the 20 th century, when the First World War was in progress, Poland achieved independence only to lose it during the Second World War and during this time it was subjugated by Soviet Union and Germany under the rule of the Nazis. Till 1989, Poland was under communist rule and in the same year communism was overthrown in favor of democracy and Poland came to be known as the ‘ Third Polish Republic .' It was in 2004 that Poland became a member of the European Union. Poland is also a member of the NATO or North Atlantic Treaty Organization.



The country of Poland is extremely picturesque in terms of scenic beauty and consists of a conglomeration of mighty rivers, lakes, high mountains and valleys and deserts with a huge variety of flora and fauna growing in its territory. The white stork is the national bird and beautiful green forests occupy about 28% of the land area in Poland . Temperate climatic conditions prevail in general throughout the country. However, the climatic conditions tilt towards the continental type in the south and west while the northern and eastern parts are dominated by oceanic climatic conditions. Significant portions of the polish population, accounting for about 97%, are Catholics. The largest city in Poland is Warsaw which is also its capital and the financial nerve centre of the country. Economically too Poland is considered to have one of the strongest economy among the various nations of central and eastern Europe .