Area: 322 575 sq km (9’th largest in Europe, 68’th largest in the world)
Location: Central Europe. Poland borders with (from West to East): Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast. Its northern border – more than 500 km long – runs along the Baltic Sea coast
Population: 38,5 million (6’th in the European Union, 8’th largest in Europe, 34’th largest in the world)
Official language: Polish
Capital city: Warszawa
Other major cities: Łódź, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, Szczecin, Katowice, Lublin
Membership: NATO (since 1999), European Union (since 2004), Schengen Area (since 2007)
Entrance: Poland is planning to enter Eurozone within the next few years
Currency: The currency is Polish Zloty
Climate: Temperate, the average temperature in July is 20°C (67°F), but there are many summer days when temperatures rise to and above 30°C (86°F). The best time of the year for summer sports is June, July, August, and for winter sports: January, February, March.
Time-zone: GMT + 1 hour (in summertime switching for GMT +2), 24h time format 

Air
International airports in Poland operate in the following cities: Warszawa, Kraków, Gdańsk, Katowice, Łodź, Lublin, Poznań, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Wrocław, and Bydgoszcz. LOT Polish Airlines is Poland’s national carrier. In order to find necessary information, all travellers planning to come to Poland and move around the country by air should visit the LOT website: www.lot.com.

In additions, several other carriers, including budget airlines such as:
Easy Jet – www.easyjet.com
Germanwings – www.germanwings.com
Sky Europe – www.skyeurope.com
WizzAir – www.wizzair.com
Ryanair – www.ryanair.com

Train
Poland has a well-developed rail network. Major Polish cities are interconnected by Intercity express trains running between European cities. The national railway network is administered and serviced by the Polish State Railways (PKP). All necessary information can be found on the Polish State Railways (PKP) website: www.pkp.pl.

Bus
Any place in Poland can be easily reached by an extensive network of national and local roads. Coach services are operated by the state and private bus companies throughout the country.

Taxi
Taxi stands are marked with the TAXI sign. Taxis can best be booked by phone. Higher rates are charged for travel out of city limits, on Sundays, and holidays. A special night fare is applied between 10 pm and 6 am.

Traffic regulations
They are compatible with the rules in the EU countries. The relevant speed limits on Polish roads are: 50 km/h during daytime and 60 km/h from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. for all vehicles in built-up areas; 90 km/h on lane roads; 110 km/h on expressways; 130 km/h on motorways. Between October and February headlights must be switched on at all times while driving.

Useful telephone numbers
Nationwide toll-free 24-hour emergency phone numbers:
Ambulance: 999
Fire brigade: 998
Police: 997
Mobile phone holders assistance: 112
Emergency number for tourists (in operation during the whole summer season): 0-800 200 300, +(48 608) 599 999.