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(last updated: 2004-09-16 11:52:49)
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![Map of Poland [228.12 kB]](http://www.polandguangzhou.com/en/img/451.jpeg) | | Map of Poland | ![Area of Poland and other European countries [3.18 kB]](http://www.polandguangzhou.com/en/img/452.gif) | | Area of Poland and other European countries |
Poland lies in the central part of the European continent, whose geometrical centre is near Warsaw. This is where the lines from Norway's Nordkyn to Greece's Matapan and from Portugal's Cabo da Roca to the central Urals intersect. The boundary between the East and West European continental blocs also runs across the country.
Poland's total area is 322,500 sq km, which makes it the ninth largest country in Europe and the 63rd in the world. This territory accounts for 1.4 percent of Europe's total area and for 0.23 percent of the world's lands. Poland is 120 times as big as Liechtenstein and 520 times as big as Singapore. The Wielkopolska province is exactly of Belgium's size.
Poland's contemporary borders were defined after the Second World War by the victorious powers. As a result of those decisions, Poland lost about 20 percent of its pre-war territory.
Facts:
You can fly from Warsaw to Berlin in just 1.2 hour (580 km), to Rome in 2.2 hours (1840 km), to Paris in 2.5 hours (1610 km), and to Barcelona in 3.1 hours (2460 km). |
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| • Borders (2106)
| | The country has a roughly circular shape with the characteristic projection of the Hel Peninsula (34 km long with the average width of 500 m). To the west, Poland has a border with Germany (467 km); to the south with the Czech Republic (790 km) and Slovakia (541 km); to the east and north-east with Ukraine (529 km), Belarus (416 km), Lithuania (103 km) and Russia (210 km). The total length of Poland's land and sea borders is 3496 km. | | • Territorial division (2529)
| | In 1999 a new administrative division was introduced, with the country divided into urban and rural districts (gminy), counties (powiaty) and provinces (wojewodztwa). There are 2489 districts, 308 counties and 16 provinces, whose governors are appointed by the prime minister. Major cities are Warsaw, Lodz, Cracow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk, Szczecin, Bydgoszcz, Katowice and Lublin. Main geographical regions are Pomerania (Pomorze), Masuria (Mazury), Wielkopolska, Mazovia (Mazowsze), Podlasie, Silesia (Slask), Malopolska and Podkarpacie. | | • Topographic features (1944)
| | 91.3 percent of Poland's territory lies below 300 m above sea level. The highest point is Mt Rysy in the Tatras (2499 m), while the lowest point is located west of the village of Raczki Elblaskie (1.8 m below sea level). There are three main mountain ranges in Poland: the Carpathians, the Sudetes and the Gory Swietokrzyskie (Holy Cross Mountains). The longest river is the Vistula (1047 km). Poland has some 9300 lakes with the area of over 1 ha; they make up 1 percent of the country's territory. |
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