Geography

Poland extends 649 kilometres from north to south and 689 kilometres from east to west. Its total area is 312,683 square kilometres, including inland waters. The neighbouring countries are Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and Lithuania and the Russian province of Kaliningrad to the northeast.

Generally speaking, Poland is an unbroken plain reaching from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Carpathian Mountains in the south. Within that plain, terrain variations generally run in bands from east to west.

The Baltic coast lacks natural harbours except for the Gdansk-Gdynia region and Szczecin in the far northwest. The northeastern region, called the Lake District, is sparsely populated and lacks agricultural and industrial resources. To the south and west of the Lake District, a vast region of plains extends to the Sudetes on the Czech and Slovak borders to the southwest and to the Carpathians on the Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian borders to the southeast.

Topography

The average elevation of Poland is 173 metres, and only 3% of Polish territory, along the southern border, is higher than 500 metres. The highest elevation is Mount Rysy, which rises 2,499 metres in the Tatra Range of the Carpathians, 95 kilometres south of Krakow. About 60 square kilometres along the Gulf of Gdansk are below sea level.

Poland is traditionally divided into five topographic zones from north to south.

Central Lowlands

The largest, the central lowlands, is narrow in the west, then expands to the north and south as it extends eastward. Along the eastern border, this zone reaches from the far northeast to within 200 kilometres of the southern border. The terrain in the central lowlands is quite flat, and earlier glacial lakes have been filled by sediment. The region is cut by several major rivers, including the Oder (Odra), which defines the Silesian Lowlands in the southwest, and the Vistula (Wisla), which defines the lowland areas of east-central Poland.

Lesser Poland Uplands

To the south of the lowlands are the lesser Poland uplands, a belt varying in width from 90 to 200 kilometres, formed by the gently sloping foothills of the Sudeten and Carpathian mountain ranges and the uplands that connect the ranges in southcentral Poland. The topography of this region is divided transversely into higher and lower elevations, reflecting its underlying geological structure. In the western section, the Silesia-Krakow Upthrust contains rich coal deposits.

Sudeten and Carpathian Ranges

The third topographic area is located on either side of Poland's southern border and is formed by the Sudeten and Carpathian ranges. Within Poland, neither of these ranges is forbidding enough to prevent substantial habitation; the Carpathians are especially densely populated. The rugged form of the Sudeten range derives from the geological shifts that formed the later Carpathian uplift. The highest elevation in the Sudeten is 1,602 metres, in the Karkonosze Mountains. The Carpathians in Poland, formed as a discrete topographical unit in the relatively recent Tertiary Era, are the highest and most picturesque mountains in the country. They are the northernmost edge of a much larger range that extends into the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary and Romania. Within Poland the range includes two major basins, the Oswiecim (Auschwitz) and Sandomierz, which are rich in several minerals and natural gas.

Lake Region

To the north of the central lowlands, the lake region includes the only primeval forests remaining in Europe and much of Poland's shrinking unspoiled natural habitat. Glacial action in this region formed lakes and low hills in the otherwise flat terrain adjacent to Lithuania and the Baltic Sea. Small lakes dot the entire northern half of Poland, and the glacial formations that characterise the lake region extend as much as 200 kilometres inland in western Poland. Wide river valleys divide the lake region into three parts. In the northwest, Pomerania is located south of the Baltic coastal region and north of the Warta and Notec rivers. Masuria occupies the remainder of northern Poland and features a string of larger lakes. Most of Poland's 9,300 lakes that are more than 10,000 square metres in area are located in the northern part of the lake region, where they occupy about 10 % of the surface area.

The Coast

The Baltic coastal plains are a low-lying region formed of sediments deposited by the sea. The coastline was shaped by the action of the rising sea after the Scandinavian ice sheet retreated. The two major inlets in the smooth coast are the Pomeranian Bay on the German border in the far northwest and the Gulf of Gdansk in the east. The Oder River empties into the former, and the Vistula forms a large delta at the head of the latter. Sandbars with large dunes form lagoons and coastal lakes along much of the coast.

Drainage

Nearly all of Poland is drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula, the Oder and the tributaries of these two major rivers. About half the country is drained by the Vistula, which originates in the Tatra Mountains in far south-central Poland. The Vistula Basin includes most of the eastern half of the country and is drained by a system of rivers that mainly join the Vistula from the east. One of the tributaries, the Bug, defines 280 kilometres of Poland's eastern border with Ukraine and Belarus. The Oder and its major tributary, the Warta, form a basin that drains the western third of Poland into the bays north of Szczecin. The drainage effect on a large part of Polish terrain is weak, however, especially in the lake region and the inland areas to its south. The predominance of swampland, level terrain, and small, shallow lakes hinders large-scale movement of water. The rivers have two high-water periods per year. The first is caused by melting snow and ice dams in spring adding to the volume of lowland rivers; the second is caused by heavy rains in July.

Rivers

The longest rivers are:

• the Vistula, 1,047 km (678 miles) long
• the Oder-which forms part of Poland's western border-854 km (531 miles) long
• its tributary, the Warta, 808 km (502 miles) long
• the Bug -a tributary of the Vistula-772 km (480 miles) long

The Vistula and the Oder flow into the Baltic Sea, as do numerous smaller rivers in Pomerania. The Lyna and the Angrapa flow by way of the Pregolya to the Baltic, and the Czarna Hancza flows into the Baltic through the Neman. While the great majority of Poland's rivers drain into the Baltic Sea, Poland's Beskids are the source of some of the upper tributaries of the Orava, which flows via the Váh and the Danube to the Black Sea. The eastern Beskids are also the source of some streams that drain through the Dniester to the Black Sea.

Poland's rivers have been used since early times for navigation. The Vikings, for example, travelled up the Vistula and the Oder in their longships. In the Middle Ages and in early modern times, when Poland-Lithuania was the breadbasket of Europe, the shipment of grain and other agricultural products down the Vistula toward Gdansk and onward to western Europe took on great importance.

Lakes

With almost 10,000 closed bodies of water covering more than one hectare (2.5 acres) each, Poland has one of the highest numbers of lakes in the world. In Europe, only Finland has a greater density of lakes. The largest lakes, covering more than 100 square kilometres (386 square miles), are Lake Sniardwy and Lake Mamry in Masuria, as well as Lake Lebsko and Lake Drawsko in Pomerania. In addition to the lake districts in the north (in Masuria, Pomerania, Kashubia, and Greater Poland), there is also a large number of mountain lakes in the Tatras, of which the Morskie Oko is the largest in area. The lake with the greatest depth-of more than 100 metres (330 feet)-is Lake Hancza in the Wigry Lake District, east of Masuria in Podlaskie Voivodship.

Among the first lakes whose shores were settled are those in the Greater Polish Lake District. The stilt house settlement of Biskupin, occupied by more than 1,000 residents, was founded before the 7th century BC by people of the Lusatian culture. The ancestors of today's Poles, the Polanie, built their first fortresses on islands in these lakes. The legendary Prince Popiel is supposed to have ruled from Kruszwica on Lake Goplo. The first historically documented ruler of Poland, Duke Mieszko I, had his palace on an island in the Warta River in Poznan.

Mountains

Poland has 21 mountains of more than 2,000 metres (6,561 feet) in elevation, all in the High Tatras. The Polish Tatras, which consist of the High Tatras and the Western Tatras, is the highest mountain group of Poland and of the entire Carpathian range. In the High Tatras is Poland's highest point, the northwestern peak of Rysy, 2,499 metres (8, 199 feet) in elevation. At its foot lies the mountain lake, the Morskie Oko. The second-highest mountain group in Poland is the Beskids, whose highest peak is Babia Gora, at 1,725 metres (5,659 feet). The next highest mountain group is the Karkonosze, whose highest point is Sniezka, at 1,602 metres (5,256 feet). Among the most beautiful mountains of Poland are the Bieszczady Mountains in the far southeast of Poland, whose highest point in Poland is Tarnica, with an elevation of 1,346 metres (4,416 feet). Tourists also frequent the Gorce Mountains in Gorce National Park, with elevations around 1,300 metres (4,300 feet), and the Pieniny in Pieniny National Park, with elevations around 1,000 metres (3,300 feet). The lowest point in Poland-at 2 metres (7 feet) below sea level-is at Raczki Elblaskie, near Elblag in the Vistula Delta.

Baltic Coast

The Polish Baltic coast is 528 kilometres (328 miles) long and extends from Swinoujscie on the islands of Usedom and Wolin in the west to Krynica Morska on the Vistula Spit in the east. For the most part, Poland has a smooth coastline, which has been shaped by the continual movement of sand by currents and winds from west to east. This continual erosion and deposition has formed cliffs, dunes and spits, many of which have migrated landwards to close off former lagoons, such as Lebsko Lake in Slowinski National Park. The largest spits are Hel Peninsula and the Vistula Spit. The largest Polish Baltic island is Wolin. The largest port cities are Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin, and Swinoujscie. The main coastal resorts are Sopot, Miedzyzdroje, Kolobrzeg, Leba, Wladyslawowo, and the Hel Peninsula.