Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap52N 20E / 52N 20E / 52; 20
Poland ), officially the Republic of Poland ), is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces, covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres , and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. Poland’s capital and largest metropolis is Warsaw.
Poland’s topographically diverse territory extends from the beaches along the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in its south. The country is bordered by Lithuania and Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast to the northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west.
Throughout the late antiquity period it became extensively diverse, with various cultures and tribes settling on the vast Central European Plain. The establishment of Polish statehood can be traced to 966, when the pagan ruler of a realm coextensive with the territory of present-day Poland embraced Christianity and converted to Catholicism. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented its longstanding political association with Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin.This union formed the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous nations of 16th and 17th century Europe, with a uniquely liberal political system which adopted Europe’s first modern constitution, the Constitution of 3 May 1791.
With the passing of prominence and prosperity, the country was partitioned by neighbouring states at the end of the 18th century, and regained independence in 1918 with the Treaty of Versailles.
In the wake of the 1989 events, notably through the emergence and contributions of the Solidarity movement, the communist government was dissolved and Poland re-established itself as a semi-presidential democratic republic.
