Polish Tourist Attractions Aims of the course

Polish Tourist Attractions

Aims of the course • Get the knowledge about geography of Poland • Get the information about the methods valuation of geographical attractions of Poland • Get the knowledge about classification of attractions of Poland

Why is the course important? • You study in Poland tourism it would be good to know the country. • You may look the job in tourist industry in Poland during studies or after graduation • You may come back to your country and apply the knowledge in your country tourism. Since Ukraine and Poland have many similarieties.

Literature: • „Poland Nature and Man” Krystyna Harasimiuk, Jolanta Rodzoś Lublin 2007 • „Geografia turystyczna Polski” T. Lijewski, B. Mikułowski, J. Wyrzykowski, Warszawa 2002 • „Destination Poland” T. Ławecki, K. Kunicki, L. Olchowik —Lesko, 2011,

Geography of Poland By taking a closer look at the situation of Poland on the European continent, it is easy to define its central position. If a line is drawn connecting Lisbon with the Central Ural Mountains, and another one between Cap Nord in Norway and the Peloponese in Greece- they will intersect at a point between Łódź and Warsaw. The location of Poland entails serious natural, economic and political consequences, which will be discussed later.

Poland in Europe

Territory • Poland is located to the North of the central European area on the Baltic Sea. It is one of the larger countires in Europe according to its territory. Poland is in the central European time zone (GMT -1). It is 312, 679 km 2 in size; placing it in eighth place in Europe (disregarding the European territory of Russia).

• Poland extends 5 st. 50’ (649 km) in the south – north direction, and 10 st. 01’ (approx. 690 km) in the east-west direction. This fairly large east-west distance results in significant differences in the time the sun rises and falls, with the sun rising and setting in the east 40 minutes earlier than in the west. The extent in the north-south direction, in turn, results in noticeable variations height of the sun above the southern horizon. Throughout the year the sun appears lower in the northern extremities than in the southern part of the country.

The area of Poland compared to other European states (without Russia) Position European Country Area (km 2) Position (worldwide) 1 The Ukraine 603, 700 43 2 France 543, 958 47 3 Spain 505, 992 50 4 Sweden 446, 964 54 5 Germany 357, 022 61 6 Finland 338, 145 63 7 Norway 323, 877 66 8 Poland 312, 679 67 9 Italy 301, 268 69 Great Britain 244, 100 76 10

Poland

• The following geographic extremities demarcate the geographic situation of Poland. • North- Rozewie Cape • South- Opołonek in the Bieszczady Mountains- • West- Odra river bend near Cedynia • East- a bend of Bug river near Strzyżów

Poland’s western border is with Germany; the south-western border is with the Czech Republic and to the south it’s Slovakia, to the North is the Baltic Sea and the Russian border (the Kaliningrad enclave); to the north-east is the short Lithuanian border and east lie the borders of Belarus and the Ukraine. The country’s total length of borders is 3, 504 kilometres. The Russian Kaliningrad enclave border is 210 km, the border with Belarus 418 km and the Ukrainian border is 535 km, all of which form the EU’s external border which jointly totals 1, 163 kilometers. Poland’s border with Lithuania is 210 km, Germany’s is 467 km, Slovakia’s is 541 km and with the Czech Rep. it’s 790 km – all these form internal EU borders and total 1, 902 kilometers. To the north Poland has a coastline of 520 km on the Baltic Sea, the southern border is formed by the Karpaty and Sudety mountains. The eastern border is formed by the river Bug and that of the west, by the Odra and Nysa Łużycka rivers. The distance between the northern and southern borders is 649 km and between the western and eastern borders it’s 689 km. The country’s land surface area is 312, 685 km 2, whilst the territorial waters cover 8. 7 thou. km 2 and the area of the Szczecin and Vistula estuaries cover 1. 2 thou. km 2. The Polish climate is moderate continental, with a cold winter and very hot summer. The colliding air from the sea-polar and continental-polar weather fronts, causes frequent climate changes and significant fluctuation in the duration of the seasons.

The Length of the Polish borders • • Country Germany Czech Republic Slovakia Ukraine Belarus Lithuania Russia Length (km) 467 790 541 535 418 104 210

Relief Forms of Poland

General Characteristics of Relief • Poland is a flat country. The mean height for Poland is 173 m above sea level. Height a. s. l. (m) Area (%) Below 0 0, 2 0 -200 74, 9 200 -500 21, 8 500 -100 2, 9 Above 1000 0, 2

Geographical Regions of Poland

Regional division of Poland

National Parks and Reserves

Poland in figures Area 312 679 km 2 Population 38 533 299 (Central Statistical Office as of 31. 12. 2012) Capital Warsaw, population: 1. 716 mn Administrative division 16 Voivodships, 314 Poviats, 2479 Municipalities Legislative Branch Parliament: Sejm (460 representatives), Senat (100 representatives) Executive Branch President (5 years term), Council of Ministers (4 years term) Judicial Branch Supreme Court, common courts, administrative courts, military courts Time zone GMT +1 Currency Złoty (PLN) = 100 groszy (gr. ) Life expectancy females 81. 0, males 72. 7

Organisation of the Polish State • The Polish Republic is the full name of the state, with the word originating „republic” originating from Latin, where res publica means the ‚public wealth’ on the „common good”. The name has been in use since the mid fifteenth century, but in the course of history the adjectives modifiying the key term has varied.

The political system Poland is a country with a well founded system of democratic government. The republic is a multiparty democracy with a two chamber parliament. • The Head of State is the President, elected by a majority of the voters for a five year term. • The upper parliamentary chamber is the Senate, with 100 senators; whereas in the lower chamber the Sejm, there are 460 members. Parliament is chosen by a majority of the electorate for a 4 year term. • The state’s internal and foreign policy is decided by the government, i. e. the Council of Ministers, whose activities are directed by the president of the Council of Ministers, i. e. the premier. The premier is chosen by the President, as are the ministers upon his recommendation. • The executive officer for government administration and the government’s representative in the voivodships is the voivoda. Since 1 st January 1999, passed the law of 24 th July 1998, a three level division of the country’s territory has been in place. The entities of the three level division of the state’s territory are seperated into: gminas, powiats (both local authorities) and voivodships (regional authorities). Since 1 st January 1999 the country has been divided into 16 voivodships.

Membership of Poland to the most important international organisations: • • • European Union (EU) United Nations Organisation (UN) Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBS) Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) International Monetary Fund (IMF) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) World Health Organisation (WHO) World Trade Organisation (WTO) Central European Initiative (CEI) Organisation for Cooperation and Development (OECD) North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

Poland Parlimentary Republic Legislative Sejm (460 deputies, Senate (100 senatores, marshal) the marshal) President Executive Prime Minister with the Council of Ministers (The Gorernment) Voivodes (heads of provinces) Judiciary Supreme Court Common Courts Supreme Administrative Court

Voivodship structure of Poland

Administration of Poland • • In Poland a there’s a three tier division in public administration, divided as follows: voivodships – regions (16), powiats – districts (379) and gminas – local authorities (2, 478). The national administration is divided into government administration and self governing bodies. The government administration is the gathering of the administrative organs directed by the council of ministers. The self governing administration is that bureaucracy organised either locally or regionally. Gminas (local authorities) The gmina is the basic legal entity and administrative body in Poland, which carries out public tasks for itself and is responsible itself. To the gmina’s sphere of responsibilities belong all the public matters of a local significance. A gmina’s executive organs are the gmina council and the “wójt” (the mayor or town president). There are 2, 478 gminas present in Poland. A mayor fulfils the executive role in a town’s gmina, in which the seat of power is to be found in a town located within the gmina. The mayor stands at the head of a gmina council. A “wójt” fulfils the executive role in a rural gmina, standing at the head of the gmina council. Powiats (districts) The powiat is a district self governing authority located within its own territory, which has a legal standing and is the basic entity for territorial divisions. According to the law, powiats are allocated to towns with populations in excess of 100, 000 residents, together with the towns that have ceased being capitals in the reformed voivodships. A powiat embraces the whole area bordering with a gmina (a land powiat), or an urban area (town with powiat laws). A powiat’s executive organs are the council and powiat management board. Currently in Poland there are 379 powiats, including 314 rural powiats and 65 towns with powiat rights. A “starosta” fulfils the most important role in the powiat and is elected to the office by the powiat’s council. He’s the leader of the powiat management board, he directs its tasks and represents the powiat externally. The “starosta” fulfils the role of the administrative first contact and who takes decisions in individual matters in the field of local public administration. The town’s president fulfils the executive role in towns of above 100, 000 residents and also is at the head of the powiat management board.

• • • Voivodships (regions) The voivodship is a body of government administration. It’s the largest territorial division of administration in the country. On the basis of an act of July 1998, a basic three tier division of administration was established and 16 new voivodships were set up. The voivodship’s have a legal status. At the head of a voivodship there is a voivoda. The voivoda is a representative of the Council of Ministers in a voivodship, in charge of joint government administration and also fulfils the role of the overseeing officer for the territorial self governing bodies. The voivodship Marshall fulfils the role of the most important figure representing the voivodship. This person is elected by a majority vote of the voivodship’s “parliament”. As the board president he organisers the tasks and directs the ongoing matters of the voivodship, representing it externally. The director of the Marshall’s office is superior to the office’s staff and the director of the self governing bodies in the voivodship. The Marshall’s Office is a self governing organisation in the voivodship and is a body assisting the execution of tasks designated by the Marshall, the board and the voivodship’s elected members.

Administrative division of Poland 16 voivodships (provinces) Voivode Provincial assembly Marshal and Board of the Voivodship 65 Town distritcs Town District Council President and Board of the Town 316 Urban Communities (Towns) Town Council Twon President or Mayor and Town Council 34 Rural Districts Rural District Council Governor and Board of the District 564 Urban-rural Communities Town and Community Council Mayor of the town and community Council 1606 rural Communites Community Council Community Head (wójt) and Community Council