Poland

Where the name comes from

Poland means “land of the Polans”, whose Slavic name comes from pole, “field”; their rulers united the surrounding lands in the 900s.

First people

Slavic Polans lived here, and their rulers united the surrounding lands in the 900s, with the Christian baptism of Mieszko I in 966.¹

Known for

On 3 May 1791, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth adopted Europe’s first modern written national constitution, still celebrated as a national holiday.²

Outside contact

Russia, Prussia and Austria divided Poland in 1772, 1793 and 1795, ending its statehood.³

The modern country

Poland regained independence in 1918; Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded in 1939.³