Poland:
Pol. Polska, officially Republic of Poland, republic (1995 est. pop. 38,792,000), 120,725 sq mi (312,677 sq km), central Europe. It borders on Germany in the west, on the Baltic Sea and the Kaliningrad region of Russia in the north, on Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine in the east, and on the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the south. Warsaw is the capital and largest city.

The country is largely low-lying, except in the south, which includes the Carpathians, the Sudeten Mts., and the Malopolska Hills. The highest point is Rysy Mt. (c.8,200 ft/2,500 m), located in the High Tatra Mts. near the Slovakian border. Poland's main rivers (including the Vistula, the Oder, the Warta, and the Western Bug) are connected to the Baltic Sea and are important traffic lanes. The country has three important Baltic ports (Gdansk, Gdynia, and Szczecin) and a dense rail network. There are many lakes, especially in the north. About 50% of Poland's land area is arable (with the best soil in the south), and about 30% is forested.

Poland is divided into 49 provinces. In addition to the capital and major ports, the country's major cities include Bialystok, Bydgoszcz, Bytom, Czestochowa, Gdansk, Gliwice, Katowice, Kraków, Lódz, Lublin, Poznan, Radom, Tarnowskie Góry, and Wroclaw.

As a result of World War II, of the 1945 boundary treaty with the USSR, and of the emigration of most of the German-speaking population, the country has considerable ethnic homogeneity. Nearly the entire population is Polish-speaking and the vast majority of those affiliated with any creed are Roman Catholic. There are universities at Gdansk, Katowice, Kraków, Lódz, Lublin, Poznan, Torun, Warsaw, and Wroclaw.