GEOGRAPHY:

Poland’s territory extends across several geographical regions. In the northwest is the Baltic seacoast. This coast is marked by several spits, coastal lakes, and dunes. The largely straight coastline is indented by the Szczecin Lagoon, the Bay of Puck, and the Lagoon. The center and parts of the north lie within the North European Plain.

Rising gently above these lowlands is a geographical region comprising the four hilly districts of moraines and moraine-dammed lakes formed during and after the Pleistocene ice age. These lake districts are the Pomeranian Lake District, the Greater Polish Lake District, the Kashubian Lake District, and the Masurian Lake District. The Masurian Lake District is the largest of the four and covers much of northeastern . The lake districts form part of the Baltic Ridge, a series of moraine belts along the southern shore of the .

DEMOGRAPHICS:

Poland, with 38,116,000 inhabitants, has the eighth-largest population in Europe and the sixth-largest in the . It has a population density of 122 inhabitants per square kilometer.

Poland historically contained many languages, cultures and religions on its soil. The country had a particularly large Jewish population. The , part of the West Slavic branch of the Slavic languages, functions as the official language of Poland.

Long Market Main Market Square

METROPOLITAN AREAS:

The largest metropolitan areas that lie in Poland are the Silesian metropolitan area centered on and other cities of Upper Silesian Coal Basin . The capital, ; Kraków, Łódź; the Tricity of Gdańsk–Sopot–Gdynia, Poznań and Wrocław . The largest is Katowice urban area . For an overview of Polish cities, see List of cities and towns in Poland.

Castle Square Umschlagplatz

RELIGION:

Religious minorities include Polish Orthodox -about 506.800-, various Protestants -about 150,000-, Jehovah's Witnesses -126,827-, Eastern Catholics, Mariavites, Polish Catholics, Jews, and Muslims .Members of Protestant churches include about 77,500 in the largest Evangelical- Augsburg Church, and a similar number in smaller Pentecostal and Evangelical churches.

Basilica of Our Lady of Lichen. Holy Spirit Orthodox Church

CUISINE:

Polish cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries. For centuries the Polish kitchen has been the arena for competing influences from France and Italy, while it also borrowed extensively from more exotic tables: Tartar, Armenian, Lithuanian, Cossack, Hungarian and Jewish. It is rich in meat, especially chicken and pork, and winter vegetables, and spices, as well as different kinds of noodles the most notable of which are the pierogi. It is related to other Slavic cuisines in usage of kasza and other cereals. Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is hearty. The preparation of traditional cuisine generally is time intensive and Poles allow themselves a generous amount of time to prepare and enjoy their festive meals, with some meals, like Christmas Eve or Easter breakfast, taking a number of days to prepare in their entirety.

Pierogi Polish Pastries

By: Arancha García y Vinita Diez.