Integrated Land and Water Resources Management: Towards Sustainable Rural Development

Poland

1. Physiography

With a total surface area of 312 700 km2 Poland ranks among Europe's large countries, divided into 16 voivodships and 2 459 communes. It lies in Central Europe in the drainage basins of the Vistula and the Oder (Odra) river, in the Lowland zone, between the Baltic Sea and Carpathian Mountains. Poland is more or less square-shaped country stretching from Mt. Opotonek in the south (49º latitude north) to the Rozewie headland in the north (54º50' latitude north). Its westernmost and easternmost points lie at 14º07' and 24º08' east longitude. Poland's location in the middle latitudes determines its climate, vegetation, soils etc. Poland is bound in the north by the Baltic Sea and Russia, sharing borders with Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine in the east, Czech and Slovak Republics in the south and Germany in the ...Read more