Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine and Belarus to the east; and the Baltic Sea, Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) and Lithuania to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 71st largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the sixth most populous member of the European Union, and the most populous post-communist member of the European Union. Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions.
The establishment of a Polish state can be traced back
to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of
present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was
founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a longstanding political association
with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union
formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous
countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe. The Commonwealth ceased to exist in
the years 1772–1795, when its territory was partitioned among Prussia, the
Russian Empire, and Austria. Poland regained its independence (as the Second
Polish Republic) at the end of World War I, in 1918.
In September 1939, World War II started with the
invasions of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union (as part of the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact). More than six million Polish citizens died in the
war. In 1944, a Soviet-backed Polish provisional government was formed which,
after a falsified referendum in 1947 took control of the country and Poland
became a satellite state of the Soviet Union, as People's Republic of Poland.
During the Revolutions of 1989, Poland's Communist government was overthrown
and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy.
Despite the vast casualties and destruction the
country experienced during World War II, Poland managed to preserve much of its
cultural wealth. There are 14 heritage sites inscribed on the UNESCO World
Heritage and 54 Historical Monuments and many objects of cultural heritage in
Poland. Since the end of the communist period, Poland has achieved a "very
high" ranking in terms of human development, as well as gradually
improving economic freedom. Poland is the sixth largest economy in the European
Union and among the fastest rising economic states in the world. The country is
the sole member nation of the European Union to have escaped a decline in GDP
and in recent years was able to create probably the most varied GDP growth in
its history. Furthermore, according to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland
is one of the safest countries in the world to live in.
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