1.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
2.
Lublin Voivodeship
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Lublin Voivodeship, or Lublin Province, is a voivodeship, or province, located in southeastern Poland. It was created on January 1,1999, out of the former Lublin, Chełm, Zamość, Biała Podlaska and Tarnobrzeg and Siedlce Voivodeships, the provinces population as of 2006 was 2,175,251. It covers an area of 25,155 square kilometres, the Polish historical region that encompasses Lublin, and approximates Lublin Voivodeship as it was before the Partitions of Poland, is known as Lubelszczyzna. Provinces centred on Lublin have existed throughout much of Polands history, the region was, before World War II, one of the worlds leading centres of Judaism. Since these new towns competed with the towns for business, there followed a low-intensity, long-lasting feeling of resentment. By the middle of the 18th century, Jews were a significant part of the population in Kraśnik, Lubartów, by the 20th century, Jews represented greater than 70% of the population in eleven towns and close to 100% of the population of Laszczów and Izbica. Israels brother, the Nobel prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer, was not born in Biłgoraj, the Old Town of the city of Lublin contained a famous yeshiva, Jewish hospital, synagogue, cemetery, and kahal, as well as the Grodzka Gate. This was once one of the biggest forced labour centres in occupied Europe, as well, the Sobibór extermination camp was located in the Lublin Voivodeship. The voivodeship contains 42 cities and towns and these are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2006, Lublin Voivodeship is divided into 24 counties,4 city counties and 20 land counties. These are further divided into 213 gminas, the counties are listed in the following table. Protected areas in Lublin Voivodeship include two National Parks and 17 Landscape Parks and it was part of the prowincja of Lesser Poland. Lublin Voivodeship was one of the voivodeships of Congress Poland and it was formed in 1816 from Lublin Department, and in 1837 was transformed into Lublin Governorate. Lublin Voivodeship was one of the regions of the interwar Second Polish Republic. In early 1939 its area was 26,555 square kilometres, according to the 1931 census,85. 1% of its population was Polish,10. 5% Jewish, and 3% Ukrainian. Lublin Voivodeship was a region of Poland between 1945 and 1975. In 1975 it was transformed into Chełm, Zamość, Biała Podlaska, Tarnobrzeg and Siedlce Voivodeships, Lublin Voivodeship existed as one of Polands 49 voivodeships from 1975 until 1998, when it was incorporated into the current Lublin Voivodeship. Lublin Voivodeship official website Adam Mickiewicz Institute page on Jewish history in the Lublin Region
3.
Vehicle registration plates of Poland
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Polish vehicle registration plates indicate the region of registration of the vehicle encoded in the number plate. According to Polish law, the plate is tied to the vehicle. There is no possibility for the owner to keep the number for use on a different car. The licence plates are issued by the powiat of the vehicle owners registered address of residence, if it is owned by a legal person, the place of registration is determined by the address of its seat. Vehicles leased under operating leases and many de facto finance leases will be registered at the seat of the lessor, when a vehicle changes hands, the new owner must apply for new vehicle registration document bearing his or her name and registered address. The new owner may obtain a new licence plate although it is not necessary when new owners residence address lies in the area as the previous owners. In such a situation the licence plates are carried over to the new owner. If the car has a pre- May 1,2006 plate, the plaque cannot be replaced if destroyed. The change of the set is required. The change in system shown below in 2001 is related to the reduction in the year of the number of voivodeships in Poland from 49 to 16. The pre-2001 licence plates can be used indefinitely, but since they are obsolete they have to be replaced in case of change of vehicles ownership. In the pre-2001 model, there were not sufficient letters in the Polish alphabet for each of the old voivodeships to have a single letter, only the standard latin alphabet were used, the specific Polish characters with diacritics were excluded in order to make the plates fully internationally readable. Therefore, two letters had to be used to indicate the vehicles origin, since the change, the first letter denotes the new voivodeship. One additional letter is used in cities with rights of powiat, two additional letters are used in any other powiat. It is not necessary for EU citizens to re-register the vehicles they have brought them, which are duly registered and taxed elsewhere in the EU. This emerges from European law, although local regulations have to not been changed to reflect the law. If in doubt, refer to your Embassy, if the vehicle uses only one licence plate the excessive sticker must be attached to the registration papers. Each powiat uses a two or three letter code, with the first letter denoting the powiats voivodeship
4.
Vistula
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The Vistula is the longest and largest river in Poland, at 1,047 kilometres in length. The drainage basin area of the Vistula is 194,424 km2, the remainder is in Belarus, Ukraine and Slovakia. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in the south of Poland,1,220 meters above sea level in the Silesian Beskids, where it begins with the White Little Vistula and the Black Little Vistula. It empties into the Vistula Lagoon or directly into the Gdańsk Bay of the Baltic Sea with a delta, the name was first recorded by Pomponius Mela in AD40 and by Pliny in AD77 in his Natural History. Mela names the river Vistula, Pliny uses Vistla, the root of the name Vistula is Indo-European *u̯eis- to ooze, flow slowly and is found in many European rivernames. The diminutive endings -ila, -ula, were used in many Indo-European languages, in writing about the Vistula River and its peoples, Ptolemy uses the Greek spelling Ouistoula. Other ancient sources spell it Istula, ammianus Marcellinus refers to the Bisula, note the absence of the -t-. Jordanes uses Viscla, while the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith refers to it as the Wistla, the Vistula river basin covers 194,424 square kilometres, its average altitude rising to 270 metres above sea level. In addition, the majority of its basin is located at heights of 100 to 200 m above sea level. The highest point of the basin lies at 2,655 metres. The asymmetry of the basin is 73–27%. The most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch, which ended around 10,000 BC, is called the Vistulian glaciation or Weichselian glaciation in regard to north-central Europe. The river forms a delta called the Żuławy Wiślane around the town of Biała Góra near Sztum, about 50 km from the mouth. In the city of Gdańsk the Head of the Leniwka branch separates again into the Szkarpawa branch, the so-called Dead Wisła divides again into the Przegalinie branch flowing into Gdańsk Bay. Until the 14th century the Vistula was divided into an eastern branch, the Elbląg Vistula, and the smaller western branch. Since 1371 the Vistula of Gdańsk is the main artery. After the flood in 1840 an additional branch formed called the Śmiała Wisła, in 1890 through 1895, additional waterworks were carried out up the Świbna. The history of the River Vistula and her valley spans over 2 million years, the river is connected to the geological period called the Quaternary, in which distinct cooling of the climate took place
5.
Partitions of Poland
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The First Partition of Poland was decided on August 5,1772. Two decades later, Russian and Prussian troops entered the Commonwealth again, Austria did not participate in the Second Partition. The Third Partition of Poland took place on October 24,1795, with this partition, the Commonwealth ceased to exist. In Polish, there are two words for the two meanings. In Polish historiography, the term Fourth Partition of Poland has also been used, the term Fourth Partition in a temporal sense can also mean the diaspora communities that played important political role in re-establishing the Polish sovereign state after 1918. A single member of parliaments belief that a measure was injurious to his own constituency, even after the act had been approved and it became increasingly difficult to undertake action. The liberum veto also provided openings for foreign diplomats to get their ways and this applies particularly to the last Commonwealth King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who for some time had been a lover of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. Their alliance later became known in Poland as the Alliance of the Three Black Eagles, the Commonwealth could never be liquidated unless its long-time ally, Austria, allowed it, so Catherine had to use diplomacy to win Austria to her side. Frederick II retaliated by ordering enough Polish currency counterfeited to severely affect the Polish economy and this new constitution undid the reforms made in 1764 under Stanisław II. The liberum veto and all the old abuses of the last one, the irregular and poorly commanded Polish forces had little chance in the face of the regular Russian army and suffered a major defeat. In 1769 Austria annexed a small territory of Spisz and in 1770 – Nowy Sącz and these territories had been a bone of contention between Poland and Hungary, which was a part of the Austrian crown lands. In February 1772, the agreement of partition was signed in Vienna, early in August, Russian, Prussian and Austrian troops simultaneously invaded the Commonwealth and occupied the provinces agreed upon among themselves. The partition treaty was ratified by its signatories on September 22,1772, to Austria fell Zator and Auschwitz, part of Lesser Poland embracing parts of the counties of Kraków and Sandomir and the whole of Galicia, less the city of Kraków. Catherine of Russia was also very satisfied, by this diplomatic document Russia came into possession of that section of Livonia that had remained in Commonwealth control, and of Belarus embracing the counties of Vitebsk, Polotsk and Mstislavl. By this partition, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lost about 30% of its territory and half of its population, by seizing northwestern Poland, Prussia instantly gained control over 80% of the Commonwealths total foreign trade. Through levying enormous customs duties, Prussia accelerated the collapse of the Commonwealth, after having occupied their respective territories, the three partitioning powers demanded that King Stanisław and the Sejm approve their action. By 1790 the First Polish Republic had been weakened to such a degree that it was forced into an unnatural and terminal alliance with its enemy, the Polish–Prussian Pact of 1790 was signed. The conditions of the Pact contributed to the succeeding and final two partitions of Poland–Lithuania, the May Constitution of 1791 enfranchised the bourgeoisie, established the separation of the three branches of government, and eliminated the abuses of the Repnin Sejm
6.
Pahonia
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The Pahonia was the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918 and of the Republic of Belarus from 1991 to 1995. On May 14,2007 Pahonia was declared heritage of Belarus. The charging knight first emerged as an emblem in the region in 1329 on the seal of duke Alexander Michailovich of Pskov. He was deputy of Gediminas of Lithuania to Pskov which was a part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania at that time, at the same time duke Hlieb of Polacak used Pahonia on his seal as well. These facts illustrate that it is the most probable that Pahonia was already in use as a symbol of Lithuania at least in 1329. The symbol of the knight on horseback passed down through the generations, from Algirdas to his son, Grand Duke Jogaila, then to Grand Duke Vytautas. By the 14th century, the knight on horseback with a sword had begun to feature in an heraldic shield, first in Jogailass seal in 1386 or 1387. As early as the 15th century, the charging knight on horseback became the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 16th century documents refer to it using the Polish term Pogoń, at first, the charging knight might appear riding either left or right, and sometimes he held a lance. But as of the first half of the 15th century, all show him riding towards the left, with a sword in his raised hand. In the 15th century, the colors of the seal became uniform, the livery colors became fixed, a white charging knight on a red field of the heraldic shield. The charging knight at this time bore a shield. The coat of arms featured the Grand Dukes headgear on the crest, such an understanding became especially popular in the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century. The explanation has a historical foundation. The Pahonia then became incorporated into the state emblem. The motive for this was that this territory belonged to Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Pahonia appeared on the seal of the Belarusian Democratic Republic for a short period between 1918 and 1919. It was also used by West Belarusian separatist organizations, during Soviet times the emblem was forbidden and used only by Belarusian emigrant communities in the USA, Canada, and elsewhere
7.
Ford (crossing)
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A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading, or inside a vehicle getting its wheels wet. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, a ford is a much cheaper form of river crossing than a bridge, but it may become impassable after heavy rain or during flood conditions. A ford is therefore only suitable for very minor roads. Most modern fords are usually enough to be crossed by cars. In New Zealand, however, fords are a part of major roads, including, until 2010. As most inter-city domestic passengers travel by air and as much cargo goes by sea, long distance road traffic is low, in dry weather, drivers become aware of a ford by crunching across outwash detritus on the roadway. A Bailey bridge may be built off the line of the road to carry emergency traffic during high water. At places where the water is enough, but the material on the riverbed will not support heavy vehicles. In such cases a curb is often placed on the side to prevent vehicles slipping off. Fords may be equipped with a post indicating the water depth. Some have an adjacent footbridge so that pedestrians may cross without getting their feet wet, a road running below the water level of a stream or river is often known as a watersplash. It is a name for a ford or stretch of wet road in some areas. They have become a feature in rallying courses. There are enthusiasts who seek out and drive through these water features, there are many old fords known as watersplashes in the United Kingdom. Examples are at Brockenhurst in Hampshire, Wookey in Somerset, some of these are being replaced by bridges as these are a more reliable form of crossing in adverse weather conditions. The Dean Ford in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, is mentioned in the deeds of this property, the ford has had to be maintained as a property boundary feature, despite several cars a year being washed away. Not just a British phenomenon, some very spectacular versions of the feature can be found in diverse locations. Australia has the Gulf Savannah, and others may be found in Canada, Italy, South Africa and they are also found on some Tennessee backroads, where they are referred to as underwater bridges
8.
Kazimierz Dolny
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Kazimierz Dolny is a small town in central eastern Poland, on the right bank of the Vistula river in Puławy County, Lublin Voivodeship. Historically it belongs to Lesser Poland, and in the past it used to be one of the most important cities of the province and it is a considerable tourist attraction as one of the most beautifully situated little towns in Poland. It enjoyed its greatest prosperity in the 16th and the first half of the 17th century and it became an economic backwater after that trade declined, and this freeze in economic development enabled the town to preserve its Renaissance urban plan and appearance. Since the 19th century it has become a holiday destination, attracting artists. Kazimierz Dolny is an art center in Poland, many painters retreat to this small town to paint and sell their work. Galleries can be found in almost every street, offering for sale sculptures, stained-glass, folk art, the town is one of Polands official national Historic Monuments, as designated September 16,1994 and tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland. Kazimierz Dolny is located on the bank of the Vistula. It owes its location to the Lesser Polish Gorge of the Vistula. The town is part of the so-called tourist triangle Puławy – Kazimierz Dolny – Nałęczów and it does not have a rail connection, the nearest station is located in Puławy. The history of Kazimierz Dolny dates back to the 11th century, in 1181, Prince Casimir II the Just handed the settlement to Norbertine nuns from Kraków’s district of Zwierzyniec. The nuns changed its name to Kazimierz, in honor of the prince, for the first time, the name Kazimierz appears in chronicles in 1249. Later on, the adjective Dolny was added, to distinguish the town from the Jewish town Kazimierz - now a district of Kraków, in the early 14th century, the village became a royal possession, and King Władysław I the Elbow-high founded there a parish church in 1325. The foundation of the town is attributed to Władysławs son, King Casimir III the Great, later, King Władysław II Jagiełło modernized Kazimierz Dolny, creating a modern town, with a market square and streets. At that time, the decision was not to build any houses on the northern side of the market square, so as not to obstruct the view of the church. In 1501, Kazimierz Dolny became the home of a starosta, the Firlejs twice rebuilt the town and the castle, after the fires of 1561 and 1585. They cared about privileged status of Kazimierz Dolny, as a merchant town, in 1628, Franciscan monks settled in Kazimierz, building a monastery and expanding the church. The towns golden age ended in February 1656, when Swedish troops under King Charles X Gustav burned and ransacked it. The number of inhabitants declined, and King John III Sobieski tried to improve the situation, by allowing in 1677 Armenian, Greek, meanwhile, the profitable Vistula river trade came to an end, as there was no demand for Polish grains in Western Europe
9.
House of Lubomirski
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The House of Lubomirski is a Polish princely family. The Lubomirski familys coat of arms is the Drużyna coat of arms, the Lubomirski family have been actors in the history of Poland since the 10th century. There are two theories regarding the familys origin, one, by Adam Boniecki, a Polish heraldist, assumes that there were two branches of the family. One settled at the Szreniawa River in Proszowice County while the other established itself in Szczyrzyc County, the time of this division of the family is not known, but most likely it was before the adoption of Christianity by Poland. The Szreniawici family used a coat of arms, which means that the two families had the same ancestry. At the time of Mieszko I, the members of the Lubomirski family demonstrated bravery in battle against pagans and this coat of arms has been used by the representatives of the family to the present time. The author of the theory of the familys origins is the medievalist Władysław Semkowicz. In his article The fellowship and Śreniawa, Semkowicz says that the original territory of the Drużynnici family was located there. The history of the Szreniawici, or Drużynnici, family is linked with the rulers of the Piast dynasty. The oldest document mentioning the Lubomirski family comes from the 11th century and it is in the property section of the Crown Register of 1682 in Kraków. There is only a mention in the register under a given year, successive members of the family took up positions of bishops, for example, Piotr, Archbishop of Gniezno mediated between the princes of the Piast dynasty during the congress in Łęczyca in 1180. The family performed important functions at the court of the Piast dynasty and extended their estates through investing in land, jakub Lubomirski served as a borough writer in the 14th century. Piotr, the heir of Lubomierz, the designation that is the basis of the family name, is regarded as the progenitor of the Lubomirski family. The economic foundation of the family rested on the exploitation of mines in Kraków province. The Lubomirski family also established private mines in Małopolska province, Sebastian, who in 1581 became a mine administrator of Kraków, was the creator of this economic power. This was the first administrative position in the city occupied by a member of the family. While taking up his duties, Sebastian had the support of Stefan Batory, in 1595, Sebastian received the title of Count of Wiśnicz from the Emperor Rudolf II, in 1591, he entered the Senate as governor of Małogoszcz. He opened a salt mine shaft Kunegunda in Siercza, which was exploited for about 100 years
10.
Dowry
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A dowry is a transfer of parental property at the marriage of a daughter. Dowry contrasts with the concepts of bride price and dower. Similarly, dower is the property settled on the bride herself, by the groom at the time of marriage, Dowry is an ancient custom, and its existence may well predate records of it. Dowries continue to be expected, and demanded as a condition to accept a proposal, in some parts of the world, mainly in parts of Asia, Northern Africa. In some parts of the world, disputes related to dowry sometimes result in acts of violence against women, including killings, the custom of dowry is most common in cultures that are strongly patrilineal and that expect women to reside with or near their husbands family. Dowries have a history in Europe, South Asia, Africa. A dowry is the transfer of property to a daughter at her marriage rather than at the owners death. A dowry establishes a type of fund, the nature of which may vary widely. This fund may provide an element of security in widowhood or against a negligent husband. Dowries may also go toward establishing a marital household, and therefore might include such as linens. This practice differs from the majority of Sub-Saharan African societies that practice homogenous inheritance in which property is transmitted only to children of the same sex as the property holder. These latter African societies are characterized by the transmission of the bride price, drawing on the work of Ester Boserup, Goody notes that the sexual division of labour varies in intensive plough agriculture and extensive shifting horticulture. In sparsely populated regions where shifting cultivation takes place, most of the work is done by women and these are the societies that give brideprice. Boserup further associates shifting horticulture with the practice of polygamy, in plough agriculture farming is largely mens work, this is where dowry is given. In contrast, plough agriculture is associated with property and marriage tends to be monogamous. Close family are the preferred marriage partners so as to property within the group. There is a debate on Goodys theory. She notes that Goodys is a model in which these historical variables may not be the decisive factors today
Poland
Boyarka, Ukraine
Castelo Branco, Portugal
Douai, France
Nieśwież, Belarus
Stendal, Germany
