Did You Know

Interesting Facts about Poland

Trivia, oddities, and curious tidbits about Poland.

Speed

Did You Know?

12 curious facts about Poland.

The word pole means “field” in Polish. Thus Poland, some believe, means “the land of fields.” Others contend that the Poland stems from Polanie, an ancient local tribe.
A particular feature of Polish forests is wild mushrooms, which are exported worldwide. The tasty mushrooms add unique flavour to Polish dishes. Families and school groups often go mushroom picking, and many Polish children learn while still young how to distinguish good mushrooms from poisonous ones.
In 1983, Lech Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership of Solidarity.
Hanna Suckocka was elected Poland's first female Prime Minister in 1992. She was the only woman in her entire coalition government.

Work hours in Poland begin between six and eight in the morning, and go until between two and four in the afternoon.
The most famous athlete in Poland is Adam Malysz, who won the world championship in ski jumping in 2001. Another well-known athlete is Irena Kirszenstein Szewinska : from 1964 to 1980 she participated in five Olympic games and won seven medals. She also set multiple world records for running.
The Polish scientist Marie Sklodowska-Curie won the Nobel Prize in 1903 for discovering radioactive polonium and radium. She won a second Nobel in 1910 for her work in chemistry.
The Polish astronomer Copernicus (1473-1543) laid the foundations for modern astronomy with his revolutionary discovery that the planets in our solar system revolve around the sun.
Polish has some lovely names for months. April is kwiecien, which means “flowers.” July is lipiec (linden tree), September is wrzesien (heather) and November is listopad (falling leaves).
In 1978, Karol Wojtyla, Cardinal of Krakow, became Pope John Paul II, the only Polish pontiff in history.