Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Poland, [d] officially the Republic of Poland, [e] is a country in Central Europe.It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia [f] to the northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west.
The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, communism, and the restoration of democracy.
Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Poland currently has a population of over 38 million people, [3] which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world [18] and one of the most populous members of the European Union.
Around 60 countries gained independence from the United Kingdom throughout its history, the most in the world, followed by around 40 countries that gained independence from France throughout its history. [2] Over 50% of the world's borders today were drawn as a result of British and French imperialism. [3] [4] [5]
This is a timeline of Polish history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Poland and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Poland. See also the list of Polish monarchs and list of prime ministers of Poland
The tribe's name likely comes from the Proto-Polish word lęda, or "scorched land". [3] Their name was borrowed to refer to Poland mainly by peoples who lived east or south of Poland: лях (lyakh) is used in East Slavic languages. It also appears in Polish literature as Lachy, a synonym for "Poles" and "Poland" used by East Slavic characters.
A shock therapy program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country completed, Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, but has experienced a constitutional crisis and democratic backsliding ...
In 1915 a client state of the German Empire and Austria-Hungary was proposed and accepted by the Central Powers of World War I: the Regency Kingdom of Poland. After the end of World War I, the Central Powers' surrender to the Western Allies, the chaos of the Russian Revolution and the Treaty of Versailles finally allowed and helped the ...