About Poland
Government: Republic of Poland
Location: Central Europe east of Germany
Area: 312,677 sq km
Capital city: Warsaw
Language: Polish
Time: GMT plus one hour
Currency: Zloty (PLN)
Electricity: 220/240 volts 50 cycles
Weights & measures: Metric
Population: 38,635,144 (July 2005 est.)
Religion: 95% Roman Catholic
Driving: On the right
Internet country code: .pl
Climate: temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers
Elevation extremes: lowest point: near Raczki Elblaskie -2 m,
highest point: Rysy 2,499 m
President: Lech Kaczynski (2005-2009)
Prime minister: Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
LOCATION
Poland is situated Central Europe and covers the area of 312,683 km2. The total length of the boarders measures of 3,582 km, including 528 km of coastline. The neighboring countries are: Germany - to the west, Russia to the north, Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south and to the east: Lithuania, Belarus and the Ukraine. Poland is rather a flat country with an average height above sea level of nearly 200m and the highest peak in Tatra Mountains, Rysy 2499 m.
LANGUAGE
Official language: Polish. The Polish language belongs to the group of West Slavic languages (with the Czech and Slovak languages). Polish uses a Latin alphabet, a result of increasing influence from Western European culture after Poland's christianization in the 10th century. The oldest documents written in Polish survive from the 14th century.
SHOPPING
Shops are open from 10:00-18:00 on weekdays and from 10:00-14:00 on Saturdays. Large shopping centers usually located outside city centers are open from
9:00-21:00 on weekdays and from 9:00-20:00 on weekends.
MONEY
The Polish currency is Polish Zloty (PLN), divided into 100 groszy. There are following bank notes of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 zloty and coins of 1, 2, 5 zl and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 groszy. Foreign currency can be exchanged in exchange offices ("kantor"), banks and in hotels. Traveler's checks can be exchanged in banks that are open from 9:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 14:00 on Saturdays. In the cities one can easily find numerous automatic cash dispensers. Credit cards like Visa, MasterCard/EuroCard, Maestro, American Express, Diners Club are widely accepted in shops, restaurants and hotels.
