Poland is close at hand because it is situated in geographical heart of Europe. With 312,700 sq. km (120,725 square miles) it is the biggest country in Central Europe. Though it is mostly a lowland area , nature has lavished Poland with a variety of landscapes: mountain ranges in the South, upland areas in the centre as well as thousands of post-glacial moraines with deep lakes, especially in the North-East.

Poland lies in the moderate zone, intermediate between a marine and continental climate. A special feature of Poland's climate is the appearance of 6 seasons: a snowy winter, pre-spring with changeable weather, warm spring, warm and sunny summer, sunny and dry Polish Golden Autumn, cold and moist pre-winter. The average temperature ranges from 17 grades C to 19 grades C (63 F to 66 F) in July and in January from 0 grades C to -4 grades C (32 F to 25 F).

The population of Poland is 38.5 milion (1994). Over 1.8 milion live in Warsaw - the capital. Other main cities are Lodz, Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk, Szczecin, Katowice, Bydgoszcz and Lublin.