The landscape of Poland can be divided broadly into three relief groups: the lowlands, the highlands, and the mountains. There are sharply contrast between the northern two-thirds of the country and the southern one-third. The northern zone`s principal topographical characteristic is the North European Plain.

The southern one-third of Poland consists of various upland areas and adjacent or intervening lowlands. Along the southern border are the Carpathian and Sudeten mountains. The highest elevation is Rysy (2,499 m) in the High Tatra range of the Carpathians.

The eastern extremes of Poland display characteristics common to eastern Europe, but the rest of the country is linked to western Europe by structure, climate, and the character of its vegetation.

The Coastal Plain

The Baltic Coastal Plain stretches across northern Poland from Germany to Russia (Kaliningrad region). It is largely occupied by the ancient province of Pomerania. The Pomeranian (Pomorska) Bay in the west and the Gulf of Gdansk in the east are the two major inlets. In the southern portion of the former, two islands block off the Szczecin (Szczecinski) Lagoon, into which the Oder discharges its waters. In the Gulf of Gdansk, the Vistula (Wisla) River forms a large delta. Sandbars, on which the winds have created large dunes, line much of the coast, separating the coastal lakes and lagoons from the sea. The main urban centres are the ports of Szczecin on the lower Oder and Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot in the east.

The lake region

The belt immediately to the south of the coastal plain presents, with its many lakes, a varied, hilly landscape. Wide river valleys divide the region into three parts: the Pomeranian (Pomorskie) Lakeland; the Masurian (Mazurskie) Lakeland, east of the lower Vistula; and the Great Poland (Wielkopolskie) Lakeland. There are some 9,300 Polish lakes with areas of more than 1 hectare (2 1/2 acres), and their total area is 1 percent of the national territory. The larger settlements and the main communications routes of this zone lie in and along the river valleys; the remainder of the area is mostly wooded and thinly populated.

The central lowlands

The character of the central lowlands is generally flat and monotonous. The basins of the main rivers divide the area into the Silesian Lowland, which lies in the upper Oder; the southern Great Poland Lowland, which lies in the middle Warta basin; and the Mazovian and Podlasian lowlands, which lie in the middle Vistula basin. Lower Silesia (main city: Wroclaw) and Great Poland (Poznan) are important agricultural areas, but large industrial centres are found in many parts of the central lowlands. Warsaw, the capital, situated on the middle Vistula, is most prominent.

The Little Poland Uplands

The uplands of Little Poland (main city: Cracow), south of the central lowlands, extend from east to west, but they are folded transversely. In the west is the Silesian-Crakow upthrust, with rich deposits of coal. A second upthrust is formed by the ancient rocks of the Swietokrzyskie ("Holy Cross") Mountains, which reach a maximum elevation of 612 m. East of the Swietokrzyskie Mountains, and the valley of the Vistula, beyond which lie the Lublin (Lubelska) Uplands. In the south occur patches of loess on which fertile brown- and black-earth soils have developed. The older geologic regions contain valuable minerals: in the Silesian-Kraków uplands there are coal, iron, zinc, and lead deposits. These mineral resources have made possible the rise of Poland`s most important industrial region, and the landscape of Upper Silesia is highly urbanized. Katowice is the largest centre. To the north the Staropolski ("Old Polish") Basin, situated in the foothills of the Shwietokrzyskie Mountains, has a long history of industrial production.

The Sudeten

The Sudeten and its foreland are part of the larger Bohemian Massif. Their highest portion, the Karkonosze, reaches 1602 m (Sniezka) above sea level. The region has many small towns. Resorts and spas are found in more secluded areas. The foreland of the Sudeten, separated by a large fault from the larger mass, contains many granite quarries.

The Carpathians

The southernmost portion of Poland embraces the Carpathian Mountains and their associated chains and basins. Within the Polish frontiers lie the Oswiecim and Sandomierz basins, a portion of the Beskid Mountains, the Orawka-Podhale Basin, and the Tatra Mountains. The sub-Carpathian basins contain deposits of salt, sulfur, and natural gas and some petroleum. There are both a large rural population and many towns of medium size. The highest peak of the Tatras - with peak Rysy of 2,499 metres, are the highest portion of the Polish Carpathians. Zakopane, the largest tourist and resort centre in Poland, lies at their feet.

The Bieszczady Mountains, carpeted in beech woods, lie in the extreme southeast.

CLIMATE

The overall climate of Poland has a transitional - and highly variable - character between maritime and continental types. The major elements involved are oceanic air masses from the west, cold polar air from Scandinavia or Russia, and warmer, subtropical air from the south.

Six seasons may be clearly distinguished: a snowy winter of one to three months; an early spring of one or two months, with alternating wintry and springlike conditions; a predominantly sunny spring; a warm summer with plenty of rain and sunshine; a sunny, warm autumn; and a foggy, humid period signifying the approach of winter.

The annual average precipitation is about 600 millimetres, but in the mountains the figure approaches 775 to 1180 millimetres, dropping to about 450 millimetres in the central lowlands. In winter, snow makes up about half the total in the plains and almost all of it in the mountains.