Poland, general information
| Note that some of the information (gas prices!) can be outdated since we made this page after visiting the country for the last time! | |
| Official name | Rzeczpospolita Polska (= Polish republic) |
| Area | 312,685 square km. (7.65 x the Netherlands) |
| Number of inhabitants | 38.6 million (July 2002) |
| Population density | 123 people per square kilometer |
| Capital | Warszawa (Warsaw) |
| Monetary unit | Zloty (Zlt), divided into 100 groszy. 1 Zlt is about € 0.23 (Jan. 2009); 1 € = Zlt 4.2. (1 € = $ 1.24; 1 Dollar = € 0.7; Rate in Jan. 2009) |
| Fuel prices | Gas: € 0.80 to € 0.95; Diesel: € 0.70; LPG: € 0.30 |
| License plate of cars | PL |
| Telephone country prefix | 48 |
| Internet country code | .pl |
| Time difference | GMT+1; the same as in Holland |
| Road network | There is one highway, not finished yet, but most are twolane roads which are reasonbly well passable. Maximum speed limit is 90 km. on these roads. There are a lot of traffic controls! |
| Prices in general | The prices of food and most non-food are substantially lower than in Holland. For a cup of coffee and a large pint of beer we paid 6 Zloty, that is € 1.50 (September 2002). |
| The best in Rzeczpospolita Polska (= Polish republic) | We love mountains, so we liked the Tatra in the south of Poland very much. Cities like Krakow and Wroclaw are also really worth a visit. |
Poland is situated east of Germany and borders to 6 other countries. In the north it has a coastline of almost 500 km., along the Baltic Sea. The biggest part of Poland is flat, only in the south there are hilly and mountainous areas (Tatra and the Giant Mountains).
More information at insidecountryinfo.com and www.ciesin.edu.
More information at insidecountryinfo.com and www.ciesin.edu.
Before the second world war, 65% of the the population of Poland was Polish, now it is 98%. Look at 1upinfo.com to find out more about this.
The Polish language belongs to the western Slavian branch of Baltic-Slavian languages. This family belongs to the Indogerman languages, to which also Czech, Russian and Bulgarian belong. Have a look at 1upinfo.com to get to know more about the language.
Because of it's situation between powerfull nations like Russia, the former German empire Pruisen and Austria, many wars have been fought over and on Polish territory. The borders of Poland have been shifting quite a few times.
We have decided not to write a detailed history anymore, since we would have to cite other sources that are often on the internet as well. Instead a few links with more information about Polish history:
We have decided not to write a detailed history anymore, since we would have to cite other sources that are often on the internet as well. Instead a few links with more information about Polish history:
The climate of Poland is influenced by two weather systems: the moderate seaclimate coming from the Atlantic Ocean and the drier landclimate coming from Asia.
More information can be found at 1upinfo.com.
More information can be found at 1upinfo.com.
The forest of Bialowieska in eastern Poland is the last remainder of the original forests that once covered whole Europe. Since July 2003 extensive logging has started after the Polish government gave permission to cut trees that are over a hundred years old.
More information about Polish flora and fauna at poland.gov.pl.
Warsaw
Krakow
Wroclaw
Gdansk
More information about Polish flora and fauna at poland.gov.pl.
© Teije and Elisabeth 2000 - 2012
Travel through Europe and Africa
with Elisabeth and Teije