Writing facts about Poland is really fun. We have travelled a lot in Poland and discovered this and that that surprised us. For this article, we have found even more exciting facts about Poland. For example, did you know that there are 16 UNESCO World Heritage Sites to discover? Come with us to Poland!
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Facts about Poland
Poland is the country of nine neighbours ... Slovakia in the south, the Czech Republic in the southwest, Germany in the west, Ukraine in the southeast, Belarus in the east, Lithuania in the northeast and Russia's Kaliningrad in the north. There is also a water border in the Baltic Sea with Denmark and Sweden.
The whole of northern Poland is covered in sandy beaches and in the south meets the Tatra Mountains. In between, there is plenty of beautiful scenery to discover. Poland also serves really good quality home cooking and a good beer. But now it's time for 30 facts about Poland that you (might) not have known.
1. Ninth largest country in Europe
With just over 38 million inhabitants, Poland is the ninth largest country by population, and also the ninth largest country by area (312 685 km2) in Europe.
2. Pope TV channel in Poland
Of course there is a live TV channel (Centro Televisivo Vaticano (CTV) since 1983, which broadcasts from the Pope in the world's smallest country, Vatican City. 87% consider themselves Catholic in Poland and they follow the Pope at all times of the day.
3. Pola Negri from Poland
Pola Negri is the stage name of Apolonia Chalupec who managed to become the first world star (glamour queen) in Hollywood in the 1920s from Poland with amazing corkscrews in her head.
4. Nobel Laureate Marie Curie
First female Nobel laureate 1903 Marie Sklodowska-Curie (1867-1934) in physics, was outstanding. Not only that, but she was also awarded another Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. Well done Marie! Museum at 16 Freta Street in Warsaw.
5. Malbork Castle
In Poland, southeast of Gdansk, is Malbork. The castle is called Marienburg after the patron saint of the Virgin Mary, and the Poles say Malbork. This is Europe's largest brick building and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The foundations were laid in 1274 and it was completed in 1406.
6. Bagel comes from Poland
Bagel (Yidish Bajgiel) has its origins from the Jewish population, and the first from the Jewish quarters of Krakow since 1610. It is both cooked and baked for a soft inside and crispy outside.
7. European bison in Poland
Bialowieza National Park is located in north-eastern Poland which has the last untouched continental forest in Europe, as Europe was before man. The protected forest (UNESCO World Heritage Site) is only accessible with a guide. I Bialowieza there are also about 500 wild bison between Poland and Belarus.
8. Poles marry early
As Catholics, Poles marry early. They have the lowest average age of marriage in Europe at 27.
9. Jewish Cemetery in Łódź
In Łódź, southwest of Warsaw, lies Europe's largest Jewish cemetery, which is both terrifying and romantic at the same time. This is a genuine and historic place.
10. Poland's old capital
From 1038 to 1596 Krakow was the capital of Poland. It was Swedish Sigismund (1566-1632 Zygmunt III Wasa) who moved the capital to Warsaw in 1596. Gniezno (west of Krakow) was the first capital (before 1038) of Poland.
11. Polish dance Mazurka
Mazurkan (Mazurek) comes from Poland and is a Polish folk dance, as well as the dance Polonesse. These are folk dances that we recognise from old Sweden with similar rhythms to the eight-part polka.
12. Director Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski, born in 1936, is known for films such as Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, Frantic, The Pianist and many more. The 2002 film The Pianist also won an Oscar.
13. Kosher restaurant
In Poland you can take the opportunity to try Jewish food at a kosher restaurant. Look up the Jewish quarter in various major cities you visit and try it.
14. Polska Izabella Scorupco
Izabella Scorupco was born on 4 June 1970 in Bialystok. She came to Sweden in 1978 and is perhaps best known from the film James Bond - Goldeneye (with Pierce Brosman) in 1995 and Oriflame's big poster name.
15. Prince Polo from Poland
Prince Polo is hugely famous in Iceland and is the best-selling chocolate bar for decades in many European countries. Started in 1955 in Cieszyn, Poland. Sweden's answer to Prince Polo is biscuit chocolate.
16. Amber from Poland
Poland has a lot of finished amber jewellery just about everywherebut it must not be called amber unless it is at least 20 million years old. The world's largest exporter of amber is Russia (represented by Kaliningrad Amber Factory), which holds about 70 percent of global amber resources.
17. NATO protects Poland
Poland pays its 2 percent of GDP to NATO to be fully supported and always protected. Having been ruled by Russia from 1947 to 1991 and having lost a large part of its population during the Second World War, Poland knows what it means to go through difficult times.
18. Poland's first treetop tower
Finally the cool Observation Tower is up 2019 in Krynica-Zdrój and its large national park. 49.5 metres high with 18 towers and 87 pillars. This must be experienced!
19. Frederic Chopin from Poland
Frederic Chopin was a pianist and composer and lived between 1 March 1810 and 17 October 1849, and was 39 years old. Frederic was born in Zelazova Wola outside Warsaw and was already a child prodigy on the piano before the age of 10.
At the age of 19, he performed concerts in Vienna, Germany and on to Paris. He died of tuberculosis and is buried in the Père Laise Cemetery in Paris, but his heart is in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw.
20. Poland's oldest restaurant
Piwnica Swidnicka Restaurant opened in 1273 and is the oldest restaurant in Poland. Located at Ratusz 1 in Wroclaw.
21. Poland's currency is the Zloty
Poland has its own currency and it also makes it cheaper. When a country switches to the euro, prices often go up. Hurray for Poland and cheap prices!
22. Oil in Poland
Poland is the third largest beer-consuming country in Europe. So if you want to drink beer on holiday, why not travel to Poland!
23. The desert in Poland = true?
West of Krakow lies the breathtaking Bledow Desert. It is 32 square kilometres in size, has an average depth of 40 metres and a maximum sand depth of 70 metres.
24. Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski, born in 1988 in Warsaw, is perhaps Poland's best ever footballer. Plays for club team FC Bayern München.
25. Jagiellonian University
University of Krakow is the second oldest in Central Europe, founded in 1364 by King Casimir the Great of Poland.
26. Leonardo da Vinci in Poland!
Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani "Lady with an Ermine" by Leonardo da Vinci (1489-1490) is on display at the Muzeum Czartoryskich in Krakow. This is the most valuable painting in Poland, and many experts consider it to be better than the world-famous Mona Lisa.
27 Auschwitz-Birkenau
Auschwitz, or Oświęcim as it is called in Polish, was Nazi Germany's largest concentration and extermination camp. Auschwitz-Birkenau is located about six miles west of Krakow and is an important, if heavy, reminder of a terrible period in history that is protected by UNESCO World Heritage status.
28. The Wielizcka salt mine
From Krakow you can visit the salt mine in Wielizcka, either by your own car or by bus, for example. The mine is impressive with amazing church chambers carved in salt at a depth of 135 m. Is on UNESCOS World Heritage List
After 380 steps straight down you end up on the first floor at a depth of 64 metres. Then you continue to level 3 at 135 metres. You only get to see one percent of the mine and yet we walked around for almost 2.5 hours. Wielizcka Salt Mine is therefore absolutely enormous!
29. Sand dunes in northern Poland
Welcome to the Slowinski dunes! This is now a national park near Łeba in northern Poland with 40-metre-high sand dunes or the country's coolest sandbox. Just book on!
30. Hel in northern Poland
Hel is a 3.4 mile long narrow strip of beach with a sandy beach on both sides, which is 100-500 meters wide, and here you can sunbathe and swim or try windsurfing or kite-surfing. There are also plenty of campsites close to the beach.
More interesting facts about Poland
- The highest mountain in Poland is called Rysy and is 2499 metres above sea level.
- The longest and largest river is the Visla, which is 1047 km long.
- Poland's second largest city after Warsaw is Krakow
- The largest lake is called Sniardwy and is 113.8 square kilometres.
- The tallest building is the Palace of Culture. The Palace has 42 floors and is 231 metres high and is located in Warsaw.
- 13 Nobel Prize winners come from Poland
- Main sports in Poland are football, speedway and volleyball
- Poland's The national anthem is Mazurek Dabrowskiego (Jeszcze Polska nie Zginela - Poland is not yet lost)
- Religion is Christianity (Catholicism) Catholic Church of which 3 million are of Jewish origin.
- The language is Polish (some also speak German or English). German is more on the western side towards Germany, and they are generally bad at English.
- Poland's most exclusive seaside resort is Sopot in northern Poland
- Gdansk and Krakow are the most famous cities where most tourists go.
- Famous astonomer Nicolaus Copernicus comes from Torun and here is perhaps the first gingerbread recipe from the 14th century
- St. Dominic's fair in Gdansk is the second largest market in the world after the beer festival in Germany. The fair began in 1260 and runs for the first three weeks of August.
Surprising facts about Poland?
Did we surprise you or were there some exciting facts about Poland that you didn't know? Maybe you have some things we don't know that you can offer?
Poland Facts
- Capital city: Warsaw
- Population: 38 million inhabitants
- Official language: Polska
- Currency: Zloty
- Members of the EU: (European Union) 1 May 2004
- Time difference: None
- Country code: 48
- National Day: 3 May
- National dish: Bigos (dish with sauerkraut, smoked sausage, pork, and mushrooms)
- Nationalhelgon: Stanislaus of Krakow is celebrated on 11 April
- Nobel laureates: 18 pieces
- National bird: Sea eagle
- Emergency number? 112
- El? Like Sweden
- Water? Drinkable
- Price point? Cheaper than in Sweden
- Watch out for? You may want to exercise some caution on the roads during your trip to Poland, including careless overtaking by some drivers.
- Boat to Poland? Nynäshamn to Gdansk with the new ferry (2018) M/F Nova Star takes 19 hours (Polferries) - Ystad to Swinemunde (Swinoujscie) takes about 6 hours (Polferries) - Karlskrona to Gdynia which takes 10 h 15 min (Stena Line)
Information about Poland for destination seekers
We have a website about destinations and what to do in Poland: Travel to Poland - guide to Poland's top destinations
More about fun facts!
Historical facts about Poland
From the first leader of Poland, Prince Mieszko I In 962 Poland was doing quite well.
Great leaders and the nobility between the 15th and 16th centuries wanted power and wealth, and did not care about the people. Rebellion came naturally because they had run the country into the ground.
At the end of the 18th century Russia, Austria-Hungary and Prussia divided the country into three and Poland was no longer a country.
No Polack liked this and throughout the 19th century there were revolts against these three states to get Poland back.
After the Great Polish-Soviet War of 1920 Poland won and gained its independence after several hundred years of warfare.
1938 the Czech Republic entered southern Poland after a fight. On 1 September 1939, World War II began and Germany entered Poland from the West.
17 September, the Soviets entered Poland from the East and Poland were caught in the middle and lost 6 million people.
In 1945 the Second World War ended but not for Poland. The Soviets refused to surrender to Poland and fought another 2 years until 1947.
In 1947 the Soviets took over Poland with rigged elections and ruled Poland with the Communist Party until 1990.
Lech Walesa becomes president and that was the turning point for Poland. With high unemployment, low wages, black market business infrastructure that is 30 years behind other countries, Poland has done well.
Since 2015, the Law and Justice Party (PIS) has ruled Poland, and they look today October 2019 like they may continue.
Law and Justice Party sometimes go too far and want to take over courts and have fired journalists. The EU has repeatedly warned Poland and it has threatened to withdraw EU funding. Poland and Hungary have the largest EU 2020 grants to build their country.
Today, in 2020, Poles are coming back to build the country for the future.
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Ama de casa says:
Many interesting facts. Never been to Poland, feel like I missed a lot 🙂
By the way, did you know that the Visents from Poland (at least in Sweden in the past) have names that start with "Po"? We had a mink bull called Popek. Those that were bred in Sweden started from the town they came from. For example, Avi came from Avesta and Storild from Stockholm. It was hard as hell to name the calves. How many names are there that start with "Sto"?
Yeah. That was some useless knowledge on my part 😀
Have fun!
31 May 2020 - 10:40
Minette says:
Interesting stuff that I knew some of and some was new. I would like to recommend the Chopin. museum in Warsaw, where there are some interactive details. And I think you should visit a so-called milk bar, a restaurant that serves cheap and good food http://mskfredrik.blogspot.com/2010/06/besok-en-mjolkbar-i-polen.html
31 May 2020 - 10:49
Lena - good for the soul says:
But what?! The desert in Poland. I've never heard of that. And that salt mine looks really cool! Interesting facts. I've never been to Poland, but it's definitely something on my wish list.
Hug Lena
03 June 2020 - 5:53
Anonymous says:
25. JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY
The University of Krakow is the second oldest in Central Europe, founded in 1634 by King Casimir the Great of Poland.
The university was founded in 1364, not 1634.
03 June 2020 - 12:42
Peter says:
Absolutely right and 3 and 6 were wrong but corrected now and thanks for the help!
03 June 2020 - 21:19
Marzena says:
The salt mine is in Wieliczka.
04 June 2020 - 16:23
sandra says:
good torch
18 May 2021 - 11:28
sandra says:
yes you can imagine
21 May 2021 - 9:17
Sabina says:
It is absolutely not true that you cannot criticise the government in Poland. Prison??? Bullshit! In Poland you can and are allowed to criticise whatever you want, and you don't have to stick to any "correct" policy or opinion.
28 February 2022 - 20:25
Peter says:
Hi Sabina! I made a mistake... Journalists can't write what they want without consequences. The EU has even threatened Poland with withdrawal if they don't get their act together. I have no opinion on this except some facts. I love Poland and its people and my wife and I have been all over Poland at least 15 times. I have many Polish friends and we work together with several Polish regions. We also lecture about Poland to Swedes who want to travel there. Take care!
28 February 2022 - 21:01