Geography |
The Republic of Poland, located in Central Europe, is bordered on the north by the Baltic Sea and Russia; on the east by Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine; on the south by the Czech Republic and Slovakia; and on the west by Germany. The land area totals 312 684 km2.
Coastal lowlands with sandy beaches extend in a narrow strip about 40 to 100 km wide along the Baltic coast of north-western Poland. Inland lies the hilly Baltic Lakes region with thousands of small lakes. Forests and peat bogs cover parts of the area. The low-lying Central Plains, a major agricultural zone, stretch across the entire width of Poland south of the Baltic Lakes region.
South of the plains, the Polish Uplands consist of hills, low mountains, and plateaus. Fertile soil covers much of the area, especially in the east. The Carpathian foothills lie within the branches of the Vistula and San rivers in south-eastern Poland.
Poland's southern border is mountainous, with the Sudeten Mountains in the south-west and the western Carpathian Mountains in the south. The Sudetens are low, mostly less 1,500 m above sea level. The Carpathians, though, are much steeper and higher, rising to 2 499 m at Rysy peak in the Tatry range, the highest point in Poland.
The country's longest river, the Vistula, flows 1,086 km from the western Carpathian Mountains to the Baltic Sea. Other important rivers include the Bug, the Oder and the Warta.
Poland's climate has features of both the moderate, ocean-influenced climate of western Europe and the more severe continental climate of eastern Europe. In general, the coast has milder weather than the inland regions, and the mountains are cooler than the lowlands. In January, average temperatures range from about -1° C in the west to about -5° C in the southern mountains. In summer, temperatures average about 20° C in the south-east to about 17° C near the Baltic. Temperature extremes are from the upper 30°s C to the lower -40°s C.
Annual precipitation averages about 610 mm but varies from about 1 200 to 1 500 mm in the mountains to between 450 and 600 mm in the lowlands. Summer precipitation is often twice that of winter.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.