Poland
Poland: population and cities
Population
Population
According to Countryaah website, Poland has about 38.5 million residents.

Ethnic composition
98.7% of the citizens are of Polish descent. 0.6% are Ukrainians and 0.7% belong
to other nationalities (Germans, Russians, Belarusians).
Religion
95% of the population are Roman Catholics, 1.3% are Polish Orthodox, 0.3% are
Protestants, 0.1% are Old Catholics. There is also a minority of around 50,000
Jews and Muslims.
National languages
Polish; Minority languages: including German, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Capital, other cities
The capital of Poland is Warsaw, with a population of 1.7 million. According to Abbreviation Finder, POL stands for Poland in English. Click to see other meanings of this 3-letter acronym.
Other cities are:
- Szczecin/Stettin with around 420,000 residents
- Kraków/Krakow with approx. 750,000 residents
- Gdansk/Danzig with around 550,000 residents
- Poznan/Posen with around 580,000 residents
- Wroclaw/Breslau with around 471,000 residents
Poland: geography, map
Poland covers a total area of 312,685 km². Check
topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Poland. Thereof:

- Forest
Around 29% of the country is forested.
- Meadow and pasture land
Around 13% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.
- Arable land and fields
Around 47% of the country is used as arable land or fields, especially for
growing cereals, corn, potatoes, sugar beet and rapeseed.
- Mountains
The Giant Mountains and the High Tatras.
Poland has a common border with a total of six countries that are 3,582 km
long:
- Russian Federation with a length of around 210 km
- Republic of Lithuania with a length of around 103 km
- Republic of Belarus with a length of around 416 km
- Ukraine with a length of around 529 km
- Slovak Republic with a length of around 539 km
- Czech Republic with a length of around 790 km
- Federal Republic of Germany with a length of around 467 km
The coast to the Baltic Sea has a length of around 530 km.
Tidal range
The Baltic Sea is almost free of tides. The tidal range in the Baltic Sea is
in the centimeter range. In Gdansk, the mean tidal range is only around 0.2 to
0.4 m.
For detailed explanations of ebb and flow, see Tides, Ebb and Flow.
Compare
The world's highest tidal range is found in the Bay of Fundy in
Canada. There it is up to 16 m, with spring tide even over 20 m. The Bay of
Fundy is located on the Atlantic between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia, which is called Nova Scotia in German and whose capital is
Halifax. On the German North Sea coast it varies between 1 m and 3 m. In the
western Baltic Sea, on the other hand, the tidal range is only 0.3 m, while it
is barely noticeable in the eastern Baltic Sea.
Longitude and latitude
Poland extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and
geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):
Δφ = from 49 ° 00 'to 54 ° 50' north latitude
Δλ = from 14 ° 07 'to 24 ° 08' east longitude |
You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and
Latitude.
Legal time
For Poland, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET). A
minus sign means that it is earlier there, a plus sign that it is later than
CET:
Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones,
time.
Highest level of the sun in Warsaw
Warsaw lies at a north latitude of around φ = 52 °.
If the sun is at the tropic, i.e. at δ = 23.5 °, summer will start in Warsaw on
June 21. Then, for the highest position of the sun at noon, according to Eq. 1
(see position of the sun):
52 ° = (90 ° - h) + 23.5 °
so:
At 61.5 °, the sun in Warsaw has the highest level of the entire year above
the horizon (exactly: Kimm)
Mountains
Meeraugspitze (Rysy)
The highest mountain in the country is the Meeraugspitze (Rysy) in the
High Tatras with a height of 2,499 m.
Schneekoppe (Sniezka)
Another high mountain is the Schneekoppe (Sniezka) in the Giant
Mountains with a height of 1,602 m. The border between Poland and the Czech
Republic runs at its summit. The source of the Elbe is on the Czech side of the
Schneekoppe.
Or and Vistula
Or
The Oder is the second longest river in Poland with a length of around
866 km, 742 km of which is in Poland. It rises in the Czech Republic at Fidlův
Kopec (Lieselberg) in the Oder Mountains. Behind the village of Ostrava (Ostrau)
in the Czech Republic, it crosses the border from the Czech Republic to
Poland. The cities of Opole (Oppeln), Wrocław (Breslau), Frankfurt/Oder
(German) - Słubice (Polish), Szczecin (Stettin) lie on the Oder up to the
confluence with the Stettiner Haff. The Warta is its longest tributary. Other
tributaries are the Lausitzer Neisse and the Glatzer Neisse.
Downstream of the mouth of the Lusatian Neisse near Neißemünde in the district
of Ratzdorf - approx. 13 km north of Guben in Brandenburg - the Oder to north of
Schwedt/Oder forms the border between Poland and Germany over a length of
around km. It flows into the Szczecin Lagoon near Stettin, which is connected to
the Baltic Sea by three inlets. One of the three arms is the Świnoujście, at
whose exit to the Baltic Sea lies the Polish port city Świnoujście
(Świnoujście). The Swine lies between Usedom and Wolin (Wollin). The other two
arms are the approx. 20 km long Peenestrom between Germany and the island of
Usedom and the approx. 35 km long Dziwna (Dievenow), which lies between the
Polish mainland and Wolin.
Vistula
The longest river in the country is the Vistula with a length of 1,047 km. The
Vistula rises in the Silesian Beskids at the 1,214 m high Barania (1,214 m) from
two streams, the Czarna Wisełka and the Biała Wisełka, both of which flow into
the Zbiornik Czerniański reservoir after a few kilometers. From the Goczałkowice
reservoir, the river is navigable up to the mouth. The Vistula flows through the
cities of Bydgoszcz, Krakow, Toruń and Warsaw and flows into the Baltic Sea at
Danzig over the Danzig Bay.
More rivers
Warthe At
808 in length, the Warta (Warta) is the longest tributary of the Oder and almost
as long as it. It rises in the Kraków-Czestochowa Jura, near the city of
Zawiercie (Warthenau), about km north of Kraków in Poland. The famous Polish
pilgrimage site of Częstochowa (Czestochowa) and (Poznan) are located on the
river. The Warta flows into the Oder at "Kostrzyn nad Odrą" (Küstrin) in Poland.
Lausitzer Neisse
The Lausitzer Neisse - also known as the Görlitzer Neisse - is a 255 km
long tributary of the Oder. It rises in the Czech Republic in the southern
Jizera Mountains on the northern edge of the 869 m high Černá Studnice in the
Czech Republic. The river length in Poland is around 200 km. It flows into the
Oder near Neißemünde in the Ratzdorf district. The most famous town on the river
is certainly Görlitz.
Glatzer Neisse
The 195 km long Glatzer Neisse is one of the tributaries of the Oder,
into which it flows near the village of Rybna (Riebnig) southeast of Brzeg -
between Opole and Breslau. The river has its source on the border between Poland
and the Czech Republic near Thanndorf (Jodłów) in the Kłodzko Snow Mountains,
which belong to the Sudetes.
Lakes
Spirdingsee
The largest lake is the Spirdingsee with an area of about 113 km².
Mauersee
The second largest lake is the Mauersee with an area of over 100 km².
Masuria
There are also around 10,000 lakes in Poland with an area of more than one
hectare. The Masurian lakes in the east of the country are an outstanding scenic
region .
Islands
Poland has two large islands in the Baltic Sea, in addition to a number of
smaller, partly uninhabited ones, for example in the Szczecin Lagoon.
Usedom
Usedom belongs to Poland and Germany. The total area of the island is
445 km², of which 72 km² belong to Poland.
Wolin
Wolin (German: Wollin) is located in front of the Stettiner Haff and
has an area of around 265 km²
Fresh lagoon, fresh spit
Fresh Lagoon
The Fresh Lagoon is part of Poland and the Russian Kalinigrad
Oblast. The border between Poland and the Kaliningrad Oblast runs not quite in
the middle of the Fresh Lagoon. The Fresh Lagoon is part of the Baltic Sea and
is bordered by the Fresh Spit - a relatively narrow tongue of land about 70 km
long and a few hundred meters wide (maximum 1.8 km) - by the Gdańsk Bay and thus
by the open Baltic Sea Cut. The transition to the Gdańsk Bay is near Baltiysk -
the former Pillau in the Russian Oblast of Kaliningrad.
Fresh Spit
The Fresh Spit is an approx. 70 km long headland that separates the
Fresh Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. The maximum width of the Fresh Spit is around
1.8 km. The transition from the Fresh Lagoon to the Gdańsk Bay lies near
Baltiysk - the former Pillau in the Kaliningrad Oblast, which is part of
Russia. The border with Kaliningrad Oblast is at a northern latitude of around
54 ° 25`. Fresh lagoon and fresh spit begin a little less than 35 km east of
Gdansk
Gdańsk Bay, Szczecin Lagoon
Gdańsk Bay
The Gdańsk Bay is a bay in the Baltic Sea that merges into the "actual" Baltic
Sea in the northeast. Significant or well-known cities on the bay are Danzig
(Gdańsk), Gotenhafen (Gdynia). and the seaside resort of Sopot. It is bounded in
the east by the steep coast of the Samland and in the south by the Fresh
Spit. In the northwest is the approx. 35 km long Hela peninsula, through which
part of the Gdańsk Bay is separated from the Baltic Sea. The maximum water depth
of the bay is around 100 m.
The bay is unfortunately not only known for the beautiful Gdansk - the city of
Günther Grass - but also has a bitter past. The Second World War began here when
the German liner Schleswig-Holstein, which was visiting the bay here, opened
fire on the Westerplatte near Danzig in the early morning hours of September 1,
1939.
Wilhelm Gustloff
And one of the most momentous ship accidents began here in Gotenhafen. On
January 30, 1945 around 1:10 p.m., the "Wilhelm Gustloff" left the port of
Gotenhafen with around 10,300 refugees - including many women and children as
well as around 1,500 members of the Navy - who were to be brought from here to
Kiel.
On board were Friedrich Petersen three other captains on board. Petersen
prevailed against the advice of the military commander, Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm
Zahn, with his proposal to take the deep water route, which was faster but also
more endangered by submarines. But what nobody knew: In front of the bay was a
Soviet submarine waiting for ships to leave. At 21:16, four topedos were fired
from the submarine, three of which hit the Gustloff. After about 1 hour she sank
in the freezing cold Baltic Sea. Of the refugees on the Gustloff, only about
1,250 were rescued by the naval ships hurrying to help
Goya
The Goya suffered a similar fate. She was part of a convoy that brought wounded
soldiers, refugees and a copanie soldiers from the Eastern Front to Swinoujscie
and according to an order that was later changed to Copenhagen. The convoy left
the port of the Hela peninsula at around 7:00 p.m. on 1945. And at 11:52 p.m.
the ship was hit by two torpedoes from a Soviet submarine. The ship she sank
within a few minutes in the Baltic Sea, which was only three degrees cold. Of
the approx. 7000 people on board, only 183 could be rescued.
Stettiner Haff
The Stettiner Haff, also known as the Oder and Pommersches
Haff, is located at the confluence of the Oder and Peene rivers. The
Polish-German state border has been running through the lagoon since 1945, with
the Polish part being called the Großes Haff. A few cliffs, but a lot of free
and flat reed areas determine this part of the Szczecin Lagoon.
The Baltic Sea
Poland has a coastline of around 530 km to the Baltic Sea. Important and
well-known cities such as Gdansk and Stettin are located on the Baltic Sea. The
Oder - via the Stettiner Haff - and the Vistula flow into the Baltic Sea.
|