Poland

Charlotte Guillain

Description

Poland offers complete coverage of this fascinating country, including sections on history, geography, wildlife, infrastructure and government, and culture. It also includes a detailed fact file, maps and charts, and a traceable flag.

Sujets

• Poland

Informations

• Publié par: Capstone Global Library
• Date de parution: 06 juillet 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781406233643
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Countries Around the World Poland

Charlotte Guillain

Raintree is an imprint of Capstone Global Library Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales having its registered office at 7 Pilgrim Street, London, EC4V 6LB – Registered company number: 6695582

Text © Capstone Global Library Limited 2012 First published in hardback in 2012 The moral rights of the proprietor have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner, except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS (www.cla.co.uk). Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission should be addressed to the publisher.

Edited by Kate de Villiers and Vaarunika Dharmapala Designed by Joanna Hinton-Malivoire Original illustrations © Capstone Global Library Ltd 2011 Illustrated by Oxford Designers & Illustrators Picture research by Ruth Blair Originated by Capstone Global Library Ltd Printed and bound in China by CTPS

ISBN 978 1 406 22797 0 (hardback) 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Guillain, Charlotte. Poland. -- (Countries around the world) 943.8'057-dc22 A full catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following for permission to reproduce photographs: Alamy p.7(© Pegaz), p.15(© Arco Images GmbH), p.26(© Jenny Matthews); Bridgeman Art Library p.29(© Royal Castle, Warsaw, Poland/Maciej Bronarski); Corbis p.9(Bettmann), p.11(© Bettmann), p.12(© CEERWAN AZIZ/Reuters ), p.13 (© Peter Turnley), Getty Images p.10(Hugo Jaeger/Timepix/Time Life Pictures), p.30(Nick Laham); Shutterstock p.5(© puchan), p.17(© WitR), p.20(© Adam Gryko), p.21(© Tomasz Sowinski), p.23(© Iliuta Goean), p.25(© ajt), p.27(© Zurijeta), p.31 (© IgorXIII), p.33(© Taratorki), p.35(© Gasper Furman), p.39 (© puchan), p.46(© Fotogroove).

Cover photograph of Polish folk dancers reproduced with permission of Getty Images (© Ashok Sinha).

We would like to thank Daniel Block for his invaluable help in the preparation of this book.

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders of material reproduced in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in subsequent printings if notice is given to the publisher.

Disclaimer All the internet addresses (URLs) given in this book were valid at the time of going to press. However, due to the dynamic nature of the internet, some addresses may have changed, or sites may have changed or ceased to exist since publication. While the author and publisher regret any inconvenience this may cause readers, no responsibility for any such changes can be accepted by either the author or the publisher.

Contents

Introducing Poland.................................................................................... 4 History: division and resistance ............................................................ 6 Regions and resources: dunes, plains, and mountains...............14 Wildlife: bats, bison, and beavers .......................................................20 Infrastructure: head of state, homes, and hospitals.....................24 Culture: mazurka, animation, and mushrooms .............................28 Polandtoday..............................................................................................34 Factfile.........................................................................................................36 Timeline .......................................................................................................40 Glossary .......................................................................................................42 Findoutmore............................................................................................44 Topic tools...................................................................................................46 Index .............................................................................................................48

Some words in the book are in bold,like this. You can înd out what they mean by looking in the glossary.

4

Introducing Poland

What do you know about Poland? Do you have a friend whose family came from Poland? Do you know where Poland is or how big it is? Would you like to know more about this country’s people, history, and geography?

A land of contrasts Poland is in central Europe. The country covers 312,685 square kilometres (120,728 square miles), making it nearly two and half times as big as the United Kingdom. Its turbulent history stretches back over centuries. Neighbouring countries have often invaded Polish lands.

Poland has many different regions, each with its own special character and traditions. Polish cities are a mix of old and new buildings, and the damage caused long ago by wars and foreign invasions can still be seen today. Visitors to Poland enjoy its beautiful landscapes, traditionalculture, friendly people, and hearty food.

People on the move Throughout history, Polish people have travelled around the world. Some have left hoping to find a better life in other countries. However, today many Poles are returning to Poland to share in its success in the 21st century. Read on to find out what makes Poland and its people so special.

Marie Curie (1867– 1934) Marie Curie is one of the world's most famous Poles. She left Poland to study in Paris when she was 24. In 1903, she won theNobel Prize for physics with her husband Pierre Curie. They had discovered the radioactiveelements polonium and radium. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She won it again in 1911 for her work in chemistry.