波兰(Poland)
正式名称波兰共和国（Republic of Poland）
欧洲中部国家。面积312,683平方公里。人口约38,647,000（2001）。首都︰华沙。居民大部分是波兰人，其他的少数民族是乌克兰、德国和白俄罗斯人。语言：波兰语（官方语）。宗教：天主教和东正教。货币：兹罗提（zl）。波兰在北部和中部地区几乎全是低地。苏台德山脉和喀尔巴阡山脉形成南部大部分的疆界。主要河系维斯杜拉河和奥得河均注入波罗的海。工业包括采矿、制造业和公用事业。政府形式为共和国，两院制。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。
西元922年在梅什科一世治下建立王国，1386年在亚盖沃王朝（1386～1572）下，波兰与立陶宛联合，成为欧洲中东部的主要强权国家，享有一段繁荣昌盛的黄金时期。1466年从条顿骑士团手中夺取了普鲁士西部和东部，其领土最後扩展到了黑海。17世纪後期与瑞典（参阅Northern War, First和Northern War, Second）和俄罗斯的战争使它丧失了相当多的领土。1697年萨克森的选侯们当上波兰的国王，真正结束了波兰的独立地位。18世纪末，波兰被普鲁士、俄罗斯和奥地利瓜分（参阅Poland, Partitions of），国家已不存在。1815年以後，前波兰的土地归俄罗斯统治，1863年起，波兰成为俄罗斯一省，遭到强烈的俄罗斯化。第一次世界大战後，同盟国建立一个独立的波兰。1939年波兰遭苏联的和德国的入侵，加速了第二次世界大战的爆发。大战期间，纳粹对波兰的文化以及大量的犹太人进行了整肃。1945年苏联再度占领波兰，1947年起受一个由苏联控制的政府统治。1980年代，由华勒沙领导的团结工会劳工运动达成了重大的政治改革，1989年举行自由选举。1990年实施经济紧缩计画，加速向市场经济的过渡。1999年波兰加入北大西洋公约组织。
English version：
Poland
Nation, central Europe. Area: 120,728 sq mi (312,685 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 38,802,000. Capital: Warsaw. Most of the people are Polish; there are minorities of Ukrainians, Germans, and Belarusans. Language: Polish (official). Religions: Roman Catholicism, Orthodoxy. Currency: zloty. Poland consists almost entirely of lowlands in the northern and central regions. The southern border is largely formed by the Sudeten and Carpathian Mtns. The Vistula and Oder, the principal river systems, both drain into the Baltic Sea. Industries include mining, manufacturing, and public utilities. Poland is a republic with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the president, and its head of government is the prime minister. Established as a kingdom in 922 under Mieszko I, Poland was united with Lithuania in 1386 under the Jagiellon dynasty (1386-1572) to become the dominant power in eastern central Europe, and enjoyed a prosperous golden age. In 1466 it wrested western and eastern Prussia from the Teutonic Order, and its lands eventually stretched to the Black Sea. Wars with Sweden (see First and Second Northern War) and Russia in the later 17th century led to the loss of considerable territory. In 1697 the electors of Saxony became kings of Poland, virtually ending Polish independence. In the late 18th century Poland was divided between Prussia, Russia, and Austria (see Partition of Poland) and ceased to exist. After 1815 the former Polish lands came under Russian domination, and from 1863 Poland was a Russian province, subjected to intensive Russification. After World War I an independent Poland was established by the Allies. The invasion of Poland in 1939 by the U.S.S.R. and Germany precipitated World War II, during which the Nazis sought to purge its culture and its large Jewish population. Reoccupied by Soviet forces in 1945, it was controlled by a Soviet-dominated government from 1947. In the 1980s the Solidarity labor movement, led by Lech Walesa, achieved major political reforms, and free elections were held in 1989. An economic austerity program instituted in 1990 sped the transition to a market economy. Poland became a member of NATO in 1999.