Poland lies in the central part of the European continent, the geometrical centre of which is near Warsaw. This is where the lines from Nordkyn in Norway to Matapan in Greece, and from Cabo da Roca in Portugal to the central Urals intersect.

 

Over the centuries, Poland's territory has changed many times, but it has always comprised the basins of the Warta and Vistula Rivers, and the lands between the Carpathians and the Baltic Sea. In the 16th-18th centuries the country's area was as much as 1 million sq km. Before the Partitions (late 18th century) it was about 733,000 sq km. Partitioned and annexed by Russia, Prussia and Austria, in 1795 Poland disappeared from the map of Europe for the next 123 years. On the restoration of independence in 1918 it covered 388,000 sq km.

 

Today's territory of Poland was determined after the Second World War by the victorious powers, Great Britain, the USA, and the Soviet Union, as a result of the peace conferences at Yalta and Potsdam. Poland lost some 20 percent of its prewar territory.

 

Polish monetary unit is called złoty (zł, PLN). 1 złoty is divided into 100 groszy (gr.) The banknotes come at 200, 100, 50 and 10 zloty, and coins in 5, 2 and 1 zloty, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 groszy. Currency can be exchanged in banks or exchange points ("kantor"). Credit cards are widely accepted in Poland, but small shops and newsagents in smaller localities accept cash only.

 

Poland lies in the heart of Europe - the geometric centre of the continent is right here. Warsaw is not far from other European cities: Paris and London are 2 hours away by plane, Vienna and Berlin not much more than an hour. You can get here quickly by international roads and railway connections. Half a million places to stay, thousands of restaurants, hundreds of forms of leisure and entertainment - they're all waiting for visitors. Poland is a country that is safe and friendly for visitors from abroad, a statement confirmed by official international statistics. In figures concerning access to cash machines, for instance, Poland is 8th in Europe. Mobile phone networks cover 94% of the country.

You can find more or less everything in Poland: alpine mountains, wide beaches, clean lakes, deep forests, world-class historic monuments, and friendly people.