Poland

American  

[poh-luhnd] / ˈpoʊ lənd /

noun

1. a republic in eastern central Europe, on the Baltic Sea. About 121,000 sq. mi. (313,400 sq. km). Warsaw.

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Poland British  

/ ˈpəʊlənd /

noun

1. Polish name: Polska.  a republic in central Europe, on the Baltic: first united in the 10th century; dissolved after the third partition effected by Austria, Russia, and Prussia in 1795; re-established independence in 1918; invaded by Germany in 1939; ruled by a Communist government from 1947 to 1989, when a multiparty system was introduced; joined the EU in 2004. It consists chiefly of a low undulating plain in the north, rising to a low plateau in the south, with the Sudeten and Carpathian Mountains along the S border. Official language: Polish. Religion: Roman Catholic majority. Currency: złoty. Capital: Warsaw. Pop: 38 383 809 (2013 est). Area: 311 730 sq km (120 359 sq miles)

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Poland Cultural  

1. Republic in central Europe, bordered by the Baltic Sea and Russia to the north, Lithuania to the northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, The Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, and Germany to the west. Its capital and largest city is Warsaw.

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Discover More

In 1952, Poland became a people's republic on the Soviet model.

During World War II, about six million Poles, including three million Jews (see also Jews), died from German massacres, starvation, and execution in concentration camps such as Auschwitz.

Poland joined NATO in 1999.

Poland was a great power from the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries, but in the eighteenth century it was partitioned three times among Austria, Prussia, and Russia. It was again recognized as an independent state in 1919.

In 1989, Solidarity-backed candidates swept to victory in free elections, but Solidarity subsequently declined sharply as a political force.

The Solidarity movement, which demanded greater worker control in Poland, emerged in the early 1980s as one of the first signs of popular discontent with single-party rule and the communist economic system.

The invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 precipitated World War II.

Example Sentences

The pavilion houses a giant boxcar that was unearthed outside the Majdanek concentration and death camp in Poland, and is believed to have transported Jews to the camp during the Holocaust.

From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026

When Butyagin arrived in Poland late last year as part of a European lecture tour about ancient Pompeii, Polish authorities detained him at Ukraine’s request.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

After facing Crystal Palace in Krakow, Poland, in the first leg of their Uefa Conference League semi-final on Thursday, the Ukrainian Premier League leaders will begin an arduous journey.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026

One branch of the pipeline runs through Belarus and Poland to Germany, while another branch runs through Ukraine to Hungary.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

They also agreed to divide Poland and the Baltic nations between them.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti