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Poland

Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 million people, and the seventh largest EU country, covering a combined area of 312,696 km2 (120,733 sq mi). It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordering seven countries. The territory is characterised by a varied landscape, diverse ecosystems, and temperate transitional climate. The capital and largest city is Warsaw; other major cities include Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź, Poznań, and Gdańsk. Humans have been present on Polish soil since the Lower Paleolithic, with continuous settlement since the end of the Last Glacial Period over 12,000 years ago. Culturally diverse throughout late antiquity, in the early medieval period the region became inhabited by the tribal Polans who gave Poland its name. The process of establishing statehood coincided with the conversion of a pagan ruler of the Polans to Christianity, under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church in 966. Subsequent territorial expansion led to the creation of the Kingdom of Poland in 1025. By the mid-14th century, Poland became a major European power and began gradually integrating with Lithuania, resulting in the formation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. For the next two centuries, the Commonwealth was one of the great powers of Europe, governed by a uniquely liberal political system that adopted Europe's first modern constitution in 1791. With the passing of the Renaissance and the prosperous Polish Golden Age in the late 16th century, Poland–Lithuania was weakened by social and political turmoil that led to its partition by neighbouring states at the end of the 18th century. Poland regained its independence at the end of World War I with the founding of the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union marked the beginning of World War II, which resulted in the Holocaust and millions of Polish casualties. Forced into the Eastern Bloc during the global Cold War, the Polish People's Republic was a founding signatory of the Warsaw Pact. Through the emergence and contributions of the Solidarity movement, the communist government was dissolved and Poland re-established itself as a democratic state in 1989. Poland is a unitary parliamentary republic, with its bicameral legislature comprising the Sejm and the Senate. The country is considered a middle power, with a developed market and high-income economy that is the sixth largest in the EU by nominal GDP and the fifth largest by GDP (PPP). Poland enjoys a very high standard of living, safety, and economic freedom, as well as free university education and universal health care. The country has 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 15 of which are cultural. Poland is a founding member state of the United Nations and a member of the World Trade Organization, OECD, NATO, and the European Union (including the Schengen Area).