Poland

The World Family Summit +3 will be held in Warsaw, Poland, from 26 to 29 November 2007.

Poland lies in the central part of the European continent, the geometrical centre of which is near Warsaw. This is where the lines from Nordkyn in Norway to Matapan in Greece, and from Cabo da Roca in Portugal to the central Urals intersect. The boundary between the East and West European continental masses also runs through Poland.

The country has a roughly circular shape with a characteristic narrow spit of land, the Hel Peninsula, jutting out 34 km into the Baltic Sea, with an average breadth of just 500 m. Poland's geometrical centre lies some 20 km north-east of Lódz. The maximum north-to-south and west-to-east distances are 649 km and 689 km respectively. The average annual temperature in Poland ranges from 5-7*C in the hilly Pomeranian and Masurian lake districts and in the uplands to 8-10*C in the belt of the sub-Carpathian basins, the Silesian Lowland and the Wielkopolska Lowland. Only in the upper parts of the Carpathians and Sudetes is it about 0*C (Kasprowy Wierch, -0.8*C; Mt Sniezka, -0.4*C).

Polish Cuisine
Polish cuisine has elements taken from the cooking traditions of the many national groups that lived in the country side by side for centuries, notably the Jews, Ukrainians, Belarussians and Lithuanians. There are also some Russian, German, Czech and Austrian influences as well as dishes from more distant regions: Italy, France and the Middle East.

One Polish speciality is a profusion of excellent smoked meats, especially sausage (kielbasa), very popular throughout the world, made after traditional recipes and smoked over juniper or fruit-tree twigs. Try kielbasa mysliwska with juniper berries and kielbasa lisiecka with a number of spices including garlic. You'll be delighted by the cured and smoked hams, poultry, pork and beef fillets, and bacons. Equally delectable are Polish pâtés made from a variety of meats including game.

Poland is renowned for its multifarious types of delicious bread: white, brown, wholemeal, with raisins, prunes, sesame seeds, poppyseed.

Lifestyle
You can see a country from the window of a coach or hotel, and be happy with what you learn from a guided tour. But if that's all you get, after some time you'll be feeling like a walking encyclopaedia - knowing just the facts, dates, numbers and individual images of a place. You can't get an emotional feel for the place unless you have direct contact with its people, because their customs, culture and traditions leave a mark in your memory of that special corner of the world.

Greetings
Polish people enjoy greeting each other. If you find the word "czesc" (Hi!) too difficult to pronounce, you can use "Hello" instead and you'll certainly be understood. When arriving at a meeting, Polish people shake hands. When the company is larger it's right to shake hands with all those present. As a rule the first few minutes of any gathering are taken up with everyone greeting everyone else. This breaks the ice and makes life easier for the shy. Don't be surprised if some people exchange embraces or even a kiss during a greeting. This indicates familiarity rather than love. In the fervour of greetings someone may even lean over to kiss visitors from abroad. If that happens, don't panic, just return the gesture. But with moderation, a kissed greeting is in fact a delicate touch of cheeks.

Visas
The period your visa is valid "according to Polish regulations" is the basic period for which you have the right to visit and stay in Poland. Foreigners can apply for visas in Polish diplomatic outposts abroad. They must be ready with their personal details, dates of arrival and departure to and from Poland as well as the purpose of their visit. The consulate will confirm acceptance of applications with the appropriate stamp in the passport.

You must also pay a fee when applying for your passport. Regardless of the type of visa and period of its validity visa payments range from 10-80 euros. In the case of visa applications being refused by a consulate no payments made will be returned. In connection with Poland?s EU accession, transit visas have been reintroduced for citizens of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Thanks to a beneficial bilateral agreement, citizens of Ukraine will not have to pay a visa fee.

SCHENGEN ZONE
From the point of view of a citizen of a EU member state, the essence of European integration is to ensure the right to free movement, work, study and living in any chosen country of the EU. Those rights are determined in the EU treaties signed in Schengen. By joining the EU in 2004 Poland has adopted the Schengen Act. Once the border controls within the EU, are lifted, there are also certain duties which will become obligatory. One of them is enforcing the outer borders of the EU, another is tightening international co-operation in fighting various forms of violation of law. We invite you to Poland!!!