Welcome to Polish Christian Ministries Online

The name Polska (Poland), applied in the early 11th century, comes from an ancient Slavic tribe known as the Polanie (field or plains dwellers), who settled in the lowlands between the Odra (Oder) and Wisla (Vistula) rivers sometime after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Poland, then united with Lithuania, was one of the major European powers under the Jagiellonian dynasty. When the dynasty came to an end in 1572, Poland entered a long period of decline, culminating in the partition of the country between Russia, Austria, and Prussia in 1772, 1793, and 1795.

Poland was again established as a sovereign state after World War I (1914-1918). It was partitioned a fourth time in 1939 by Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). After World War II (1939-1945), Polish territory suffered a substantial net loss, as the land ceded to the USSR in the east was nearly double that acquired from Germany in the west.

SIZE AND LOCATION

Poland has a total land area of 312,684 sq km (120,728 sq mi). It is bordered on the north by the Baltic Sea and Russia; on the east by Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine; on the south by the Czech Republic and Slovakia; and on the west by Germany.

The maximum distance from east to west is about 680 km (about 420 mi) and the maximum distance from north to south is about 790 km (about 490 mi). Poland’s borders are marked by the Sudety mountains (Sudetes) in the southwest, the Carpathian Mountains (Karpaty) in the southeast,

Odra and Neisse (Nysa) rivers in the west, and the Bug River in the east. On the northeast, the country is bounded by a section of the Baltic Sea.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Poland’s varied mineral deposits are concentrated mainly in the southern upland regions and adjacent areas. The most important mineral resource is hard coal, most of which is located in Upper Silesia.

Poland also has significant deposits of lignite (another variety of coal), located mainly in the basins surrounding the cities of Turoszów, Konin, and Belchatów. Sulfur and copper are the most important of the country’s nonfuel mineral resources. Some of the world’s largest sulfur deposits are found near the city of Tarnobrzeg in the southeast, and large reserves of copper are located in Lower Silesia. Important reserves of zinc and lead are found in Upper Silesia. Other minerals of economic importance are rock salt, potash, iron ore, and gypsum. The country has only small reserves of petroleum and natural gas.

CLIMATE

Live weather from Warsaw, Poland:

Poland’s climate has features of both the moderate climate of western Europe and the more severe climate of eastern Europe. The climate of the western part may be classified as marine west coast, and the eastern part as humid continental with cool summers. Weather conditions are highly variable, particularly in the winter.

In January, average temperatures range from about -1°C (about 30°F) in the west to about -5°C (about 23°F) in the southern mountains. In summer, average temperatures decrease in a northwestern direction, from about 20°C (about 68°F) in the southeast to about 17°C (about 63°F) near the Baltic.

During the year, the warmest temperatures may enter the upper 30°sC (lower 100°sF), and the lowest may drop into the lower -40°sC (lower -40°sF).

Annual precipitation in Poland as a whole averages about 610 mm (about 24 in), ranging from about 1,200 to 1,500 mm (about 47 to 59 in) in the mountains to between 450 and 600 mm (18 to 24 in) in the lowlands. Summer precipitation is often twice the level of winter precipitation.

LANGUAGE, RELIGION AND POLITICS

Polish is the official language of Poland and is used by nearly all of the population. The language contains a number of dialects, some of which are intermediate between Polish and German or Ukrainian.

The Polish language is written using the Latin alphabet and includes some letters that are additional to those used in the English language. Some members of ethnic groups speak their own native languages in addition to Polish.

About 95 percent of Poles are Roman Catholic. The Roman Catholic Church exerts an important influence on many aspects of Polish life, and church attendance levels are high, especially in rural areas. Poland also has nearly 50 non-Catholic churches and other religious groupings. Of these, eight churches are members of the Polish Ecumenical Council, which was founded in 1946 to promote cooperation between churches. The largest churches represented in the council are the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Evangelical Augsburg Church.