What is solo travel?(31) Poland

(26) Poland

 It is a country belonging to Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, and the Baltic Sea to the north, the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lithuania, and is a country in the middle of Europe.

The total land area of the country is 312,679㎢, ranking sixth in the European Union, and the population is about 37.85 million as of 2020, ranking fifth in the European Union, and the population is twice that of Romania and the Netherlands, which are the second largest in Europe after Poland, and is close to 20 million.

Poland ranges from 49 to 55 degrees north latitude. The north and west have an oceanic climate, and the east and south have a continental climate, but the country is flat, so the climate gap between regions is not very large, and most of Poland belongs to a cold and humid climate.

The temperature in summer is comfortable at 18°C~30°C depending on the region, and the temperature in winter is a little cold at 3°C~-6°C, with an average annual temperature of about 7°C~10°C. The annual rainfall is about 500mm~600mm, which is almost the same in most areas of Poland.

There is a little more rainfall in summer, but cloudy days can be said to be more in winter. In addition, there are many forests and marsh lakes scattered throughout the country, and in the area facing the Baltic Sea in the north, lagoons and long and slender spits (capes) are developed.

In the area facing Belarus to the east, there is the Białowie ża forest, the last primeval forest in Europe, and the High Tatra Mountains with mountains over 2,000 meters high through the fertile granary fields in the south and on the border with Slovakia.

Surprisingly, there is also a desert called Włěndowska, which is very small at 10 km long and 4 km wide, but it is unique in that it exists in Europe. The administrative district consists of a total of 16 provinces, with cities and counties under the state, and communes under the county.

The capital of the state is usually divided into one poviat, but there are places where the state government and the state legislature are in the poviat, such as Lubskie and Kuyavsköpomorskie, play a leading role. The capital is Warsaw (Warsaw),

It is a city with low prices and a variety of cultural events, and although it belongs to the European Union, it does not use euros and uses a Polish currency called Złoty, which means gold. And a representative travel destination is Krakow.

You can visit the old town, which retains the charming atmosphere of the Middle Ages, as well as Mary’s Cathedral and Babel Castle. You can also visit World War II-related sites such as Schindler’s factory and Auschwitz concentration camp.   

 Compared to other Eastern European countries after the Cold War, it can be said that it is a country that has developed economically to a certain extent, and Poland, along with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, established a regional cooperation organization called the Visegrád Group.

These four countries are considered to have embraced the market economy and achieved growth most successfully among the countries that experienced a system transition from the former communist bloc. Among the relatively successful examples, the three Baltic countries have a small population.

While Russia and Kazakhstan have economies based on natural resources, the Visegrad Group has a large population and a manufacturing-oriented economic structure, which can be said to have sustainable development and competitiveness.

Although the income level is low, it is geographically adjacent to neighboring countries and is bound by the European Union, making it easy for people to migrate to work, and working in Europe with high income levels, it can be said that it is a country that serves as a border between developed and developing countries along with Hungary.

The ethnic composition is very unified, and more than 97% of the population is classified as Polish, which is a single nation-state.  

Religiously, 90% of the population believes in Catholicism and speaks Polish, which belongs to the West Slavic language family, which is different from Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian, which belong to the East Slavic language family, and is famous for its complex upheaval.

Above all, it is famous for its difficult pronunciation and pronunciation, so it is almost impossible for foreigners to pronounce it just by looking at the spelling, and the main foreign languages are English, Russian, and German in that order, but in the case of Russian, many middle-aged and elderly  people know it, but unlike Belarus, it can be said that they tend to refrain from using it because they tend to dislike using Russian.

Criminal gangs in the 1990s, a large Polish mafia ran rampant in the Pickup and Boomin areas, but the two organizations were disbanded due to large-scale cleanup operations, and now there are small gangs, and the security is relatively stable among Eastern European countries.

It is said that there are not many misdemeanors such as pickpocketing and snatching. Since it is not a well-known tourist destination, Eastern European pickpockets are able to go on expeditions to Western and Southern Europe, where there are many more tourists.

However, the most important thing to watch out for in Poland is strip clubs, because Polish strip clubs lure tourists and then feed them drugged alcohol to rob and kidnap them. The main target is male tourists who come to drink and gamble or enjoy nightlife without thinking.

Of course, if you get caught wrong, you can be subject to violent crimes such as kidnapping or assault, so you have to be careful, but if you go to a strip club out of curiosity, prepare enough cash to think it’s enough to take it away, use only the cash in front of you, and never use a card .

In addition, if you look at Polish people, there are quite a lot of people with the same name, which is due to the unique naming custom of Poland, and in Poland, when naming a baby, it is often named after a Catholic saint whose birthday is the feast day.

If there is no saint whose feast day is the feast, it is enough to name the saint closest to the date of the feast day, that is, if the birthday is the same, the name is the same, especially since most saints are ‘Mary’, so in school, ‘Mary!’ It is said that about one-third of the girls look back.

The origin of vodka is Poland. If you go locally, it is very cheap and can be drunk as commonly as wine in Western Europe, and strangely Polish cosmetics are also popular. The quality is also quality, but it is said that it is because the cost performance is so great when purchased locally.

Poland has been a major salt producer in Europe since ancient times, and there are several salt mines in Minorca and other places that are still mining, and as of 2012, Poland produced 4.25 million tons of salt, accounting for 1.5% of global salt production.

In this regard, the Wieliczka salt mine is so famous that it has been registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978, and after mining salt for more than 700 years, it was closed in 1996 due to declining profitability and is now developed as a major tourist destination in Poland.