Poland (the Republic of Poland, Rzeczpospolita Polska in Polish) is a country situated in Central Europe. It borders Germany to the West, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the South, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the East, and Russian Federation (Kaliningrad District exclave at the Baltic Sea) to the North. Poland covers the total area of 312,685 square km and has population of about 38,115,000 inhabitants. The official language is Polish, although Belarusian, Kashubian, Lithuanian and German languages are also spoken in some regions.

The capital and the largest city is Warsaw situated on the river Vistula. The population is about 1,700,536 people (about 3,350,000 including metropolitan area). Warsaw is rather old and very interesting city. It is not only economic and administrative center of the country but also its cultural capital. There are more than 30 major theaters there and also numerous museums and art galleries.

Poland covers several geographical regions – the Baltic Sea coast on the North, the North European Plain in the central and central-northern parts, the Northern European Lowlands on the South, and the Polish mountain region, consisting of the Sudetes, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, and the Carpathian Mountains (including the Beskids) further South. The climate in Poland is mostly temperate. Winters are generally rather cold and snowy.

Though Poland is not the world’s most popular skiing destination it provides excellent possibilities to winter sports amateurs. The whole Southern part of the country consists of different mountain ranges where there is a wide variety of ski resorts for any liking – from fashionable places like Zakopane to small picturesque villages. The prices in Poland are rather low if compared to other European Union resorts and the infrastructure keeps improving and developing.