Made In Canarias Postcrossing Blog

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Bydgoszcz is a city located in northern Poland. With a city population of 363,926 (March 2011), and an urban agglomeration with more than 470,000 inhabitants, Bydgoszcz is the 8th-largest city in Poland. Like Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Bydgoszcz was a candidate for the title of European Capital of Culture in 2016. ( source ) Thank you Emilia!

Krynica Morska is a town and coextensive municipality on the Vistula Spit in northern Poland with 1,364 inhabitants (2006). It received town rights in 1991. Krynica Morska is the main tourist destination on the Vistula Spit. It has the smallest population of any urban commune in Poland. Because of the inclusion of mainly rural areas of the spit within its boundaries, it has the lowest population density of any town in Poland, with 11.74 persons/km². ( source ) Thank you Mirek!

The Baltic Sea is a brackish Mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. The Baltic Sea is connected by man-made waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea Canal, and to the North Sea via the Kiel Canal. The Baltic Sea might be considered to be bordered on its northern edge by the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northeastern edge by the Gulf of Finland, and on its eastern edge by the Gulf of Riga. These various gulfs can also be considered part of the Baltic Sea. ( source ) Thank you Dominika!

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Kraków is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second most important city. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic centre. In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul II – the first Slavic pope ever, and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. Also that year, UNESCO approved the first sites for its World Heritage List, including the entire old town in inscribing Kraków's Historic Centre. ( source ) Thank you Alicja!

Poland is a country in Central Europe. The total area of Poland is 312,679 sq km, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. ( source ) Poland is currently divided into 16 provinces known as voivodeships. Administrative authority at voivodeship level is shared between a government-appointed governor, called the voivode (usually a political appointee), an elected assembly called the sejmik, and an executive chosen by that assembly. The leader of that executive is called the marszałek . ( source ) Thank you Bodek!

The flag of Poland consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red. The two colors are defined in the Polish constitution as the national colors. A variant of the flag with the national coat of arms in the middle of the white stripe is legally reserved for official use abroad and at sea. White and red were officially adopted as national colors in 1831. The flag is flown continuously on the buildings of the highest national authorities, such as the parliament and the presidential palace. Other institutions and many Polish people fly the national flag on national holidays and other special occasions of national significance. ( source ) Thank you Sylwia!

The Kraków-Częstochowa Upland , also known as the Polish Jurassic Highland or Polish Jura is part of the Jurassic System of south–central Poland. The Polish Jura consists of a hilly landscape with Jurassic limestone rocks, cliffs, valleys and vast limestone formations, featuring some 220 caves. The relief of the upland developed since the Paleogene, under climatic conditions changing considerably. The Polish Jura is visited by roughly 400,000 visitors a year. Part of it belongs to the Ojców National Park, the smallest of Poland's twenty national parks, ranking among the most attractive recreational areas of the country. ( source ) Thank you Eleonora!

Rewal is a village in Gryfice County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Rewal. It lies approximately 23 km (14 mi) north-west of Gryfice and 80 km (50 mi) north of the regional capital Szczecin. Before 1945 the area was part of Germany. For the history of the region, see History of Pomerania. The village has a population of 893. ( source ) Thank you Wiesiek!

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The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship is a province in north-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn. The voivodeship has an area of 24,192 km 2 (9,341 sq mi) and a population of 1,427,091 (as of 2006). The region closely corresponds to the southern part of the former East Prussia (part of Germany), which was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union in 1945. The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship has the largest number of ethnic Ukrainians living in Poland due to forced relocations (such as Operation Vistula) carried out by the Soviet and Polish Communist authorities. ( source ) Thank you Sylwia!

Kashuby is a region of Poland located in the North, to the West of the city of Gdansk - the capital of Pomerania. The first part of Kashubia, called Norda, is located in the north. This area possesses a varied and scenically impressive section of the coastline. Its golden beaches, dunes, and fresh sea breeze easily capture tourist attention. The picturesque towns on the coastline - Jurata, Chalupy, Jastarnia and Hel seated in Hel Peninsula were originally the centre of the fishing industry. The Kashubians live in a territory that includes the ex province of Gdansk, the ex province of Slupsk and the northern part of the ex province of Bydgoszcz. Today Kashubia is populated by approximately half a million native Kashubians. The beauty of the region, however, has attracted many people from other parts of Poland to settle there. Many Kashubians also live abroad. For various reasons-economic or political-many Kashubians now live in Western Europe, Canada, and the United States. ( source...

Augustów is a town in north-eastern Poland with 29,600 inhabitants. It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. The town was first mentioned in 1496 and was granted city rights by king Sigismund II in 1557. World War II brought destruction of about 70% of the town and death or departure of most of its residents, amongst them a community of several thousand Jews who were imprisoned in the ghetto situated between the canal and the river. The Germans executed practically all of them before they left. In 1945 the Soviets conducted the nearby Augustów chase 1945 - a special operation against former Armia Krajowa anticommunist fighters. In 1970 Augustów officially became a health-cure resort, and in 1973 adjoining local villages were made a part of it. ( source ) Thank you Joanna!

Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa. Its area is almost 165,000 km², with an estimated population of just over 10.3 million. Its name is derived from the capital Tunis located in the north-east. Tunisia is the smallest of the nations situated along the Atlas mountain range. The south of the country is composed of the Sahara desert, with much of the remainder consisting of particularly fertile soil and 1,300 km of coastline. It is an export-oriented country, in the process of liberalizing its economy while politically it is a dictatorship in all but name. Tunisia has an authoritarian regime in the guise of a procedural democracy led by Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who has governed as President since 1987 and has systematically diminished freedom of press and political pluralism while keeping appearances of democracy. ( source ) Thank you Bodex!

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