Poland+Geography

Physical Systems



 * **Water:** Poland is a country that has one of the highest number of lakes in the world, having over ten thousand closed bodies of water. Water in Poland totals to roughly 8,220 sq km. Among the largest and most popular bodies of water are the Baltic Sea, the Vistula River (pictured above), the Bug River, and the Oder River.
 * **Climate:** Poland has a climate that varies greatly, due to their closeness to the sea. On many occasions, their winters can be very severe, and summer seasons can have mild temperatures with many showers and thunderstorms. Poland's close proximity to the sea also causes them to have high precipitation ( Poland CIA Factbook, 2011). Their climate can fairly resemble that of the state of Washington in the U.S., having high precipitation, rainy Summers and extremely cold winters (Washington Climate, 2011).
 * **Land:** Poland is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of New Mexico. Having 304,255 sq km of land, and 3,047 km of border land, Poland shares it's borders with many countries including: Belarus, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Russia. Poland is inclusive of mostly flat plains, and also has mountains around the border. The capitol of Poland is Warsaw, with a population of nearly 1.8 Million people. Poland's land has many uses; 40.25% of which is arable, 1% that is used for permanent crops, and 58.75% that is used for other purposes. Poland is also full of natural resources, including coal, sulfur, natural gas, copper, silver, lead, salt, amber, and arable land. One natural hazard that Poland is prone to is flooding ( Poland CIA Factbook, 2011).

Biological Systems

 * **Plants:** Poland's diversified climate results in an array of plant species that exist in this country. According to Polska, an official promotion website for the Republic of Poland, "There are over 2300 species of vascular plants, about 600 mosses, 250 liverworts, and 1600 lichens. Since there are no natural barriers in the east and west that might hinder plant and animal migrations, most vascular plants in Poland are transitory species. They account for about 60 percent of the entire flora and include trees such as the common oak, black alder, common elm, European whitae elm, white willow and small-leaved lime" (2011).




 * **Animals:** Poland is home to nearly 33,000 species of animals. When looking at the vertebrates in particular, there are said to be 85 species of mammals, 220 species of nesting birds, 8 species of reptiles, 17 species of amphibians, and 55 fish species. Some of the most prominent of the mammals are bison and beavers. There are also several different species of animals in the mountains. Many animals live in habitats that are man-altered, so they are not located near people's homes. Fish are often not found in Poland's lakes because they are too polluted (Polska, 2011).

Human Systems

 * **Population:** As of July 2011, Poland's population reached 38,441,558. Of this population, over 95% of the people are Polish, the remainder of the population consists of Germans, Belarusians, Ukrainians, and others who are unspecified. The median age for the population is 38.5 years, and the most common language spoken is polish. Of the population, those who are 0-14 years old account for 14.7% of the population, those that are 15-64 years of age account for 71.6% of the population, and those 65 years and over only account for 13.7% of the population ( Poland CIA Factbook, 2011).


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References

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Food in Poland - Polish Food, Polish Cuisine - traditional, popular, dishes, recipe, diet, history, meals, staple, rice, famous, main, people, types, make, customs, fruits, country, bread, vegetables. (n.d.). //Food in Every Country//. Retrieved December 8, 2011, from http://www.foodbycountry.com/Kazakhstan-to-South-Africa/Poland.html

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Polska- the Official Promotional Website of the Republic of Poland. (n.d.). //Polska//. Retrieved December 3, 2011, from en.poland.gov.pl/

Washington - Climate. (n.d.). //Stats about all US cities - real estate, relocation info, house prices, home value estimator, recent sales, cost of living, crime, race, income, photos, education, maps, weather, houses, schools, neighborhoods, and more//. Retrieved December 8, 2011, from http://www.city-data.com/states/Washington-Climate.html

Created By: Marchanelle Flowers ©  maflowe@ilstu.edu   Date Created: November 28, 2011   Date Last Modified: December 12, 2011