The country is largely low-lying, except in the south, which includes the Carpathians, the Sudeten Mts., and the Małopolska Hills. The highest point is Rysy Mt. (c.8,200 ft/2,500 m), located in the High Tatra Mts. near the Slovakian border. Poland's main rivers (including the Vistula, the Oder, the Warta, and the Western Bug) are connected to the Baltic Sea and are important traffic lanes. The country has three important Baltic ports ( Gdańsk , Gdynia , and Szczecin ) and a dense rail network. There are many lakes, especially in the north. About 40% of Poland's land area is arable (with the best soil in the south), and about 30% is forested.

In addition to the capital and important ports, the country's major cities include Białystok , Bydgoszcz , Bytom , Częstochowa , Gdańsk , Gliwice , Katowice , Kraków , Łódź , Lublin , Poznań , Radom , Tarnowskie Góry , and Wrocław .

As a result of World War II, of the 1945 boundary treaty with the USSR, and of the emigration of most of the German-speaking population, the country has considerable ethnic homogeneity. Nearly the entire population is Polish-speaking and the vast majority of those affiliated with any creed are Roman Catholic.

Agriculture is mostly privately run and was so even during the Communist years. It accounts for 5% of the gross domestic product and occupies more than 15% of the workforce. Poland is generally self-sufficient in food; the main crops are potatoes, sugar beets, rye, wheat, and dairy products. Pigs and sheep are the main livestock. Poland is relatively rich in natural resources; the chief minerals produced are coal, sulfur, copper, silver, lead, and zinc. There is food and beverage processing, shipbuilding, and the manufacture of machinery, iron and steel products, chemicals, glass, and textiles.

Industry, which had been state controlled, began to be privatized in the early 1990s, although restructuring and privatization of the country's coal and other energy industries and the railroads has moved forward slowly, when it has progressed at all. Prices were freed, subsidies were reduced, and Poland's currency (the zloty) was made convertible as the country began the difficult transition to a free-market economy. Reforms initially resulted in high unemployment, hyperinflation, shortages of consumer goods, a large external debt, and a general drop in the standard of living. The situation later stabilized, however, and during the 1990s Poland's economy was the fastest growing in E Europe. Growth slowed significantly in 2001, and by 2006 Poland had the highest unemployment rate in the European Union. Poland exports machinery and transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, and live animals. Imports include machinery and transportation equipment, manufactured goods, chemicals, minerals, and fuels. Germany, Russia, Italy, France, and the Netherlands are important trading partners.

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