Poland

A country of central Europe bordering on the Baltic Sea. Unified as a kingdom in the 10th century, it enjoyed a golden age under the Jagiello dynasty (1386-1572) and was a major power in the 15th and 16th centuries. National independence was lost in 1697 and it was carved up among other states in three partitions (1772, 1793, and 1795). Poland then disappeared as a geographic entity until its reconstitution as a republic in 1918. Its present boundaries date from the end of World War II. Warsaw is the capital and the largest city. Population: 38,500,000.