10 interesting facts about Poland

Poland is a very interesting country. It's not perfect nor most beautiful but for sure it's worth visiting. Below are listed more or less known facts about Poland which you might find interesting.

Couple of years ago I heard from some Dutch teenager that there are wild polar bears in Poland ;) That's not true - you can find them only in the ZOO.

Since year 1600 till 1945 Poland has been invaded or fought for freedom in insurrections 43 times.

In Poland 50% of kids achive academic degree, 90% complete at least secondary education.

Deadly amount of alcohol in blood is 0,4% (vol) (4 permilles). This limit doesn't apply to Poles and Russians. The record of Poland belongs to 33 y.o. man who had 15,9 permilles of alcohol in his blood - he died. The other record belongs to a man who also died but not because of amount of alcohol but because of injuries from car accident he caused - he had 14,8 permilles.

World media often place Poland in Eastern Europe although in fact it's placed in almost exact center of the Europe.

Military and LE salutes with only two fingers. When abroad they often have troubles because western soldiers think they are making fun of them. This problem was present even during WWII - in UK group of Polish soldiers was arrested and accused of public disrespect toward British officer for saluting with two fingers. Since then when abroad Polish soldiers often salute with a full hand.

Polish food is great. Once you try it you most probably will love it. Most famous dish - bigos - is cooked for 3 days. Each family has it's own recipe for it and in each family it tastes different.

Population of Poland is 39 mln. Another 15 mln live abroad.

In Poland live wild animal similar to american bison. It's called "żubr". This species was almost extict - whole world population of 3000 żubr's comes from 12 specimens.

When you enter the elevator and you want to go to 2nd floor you have to press button with number 1. In Poland 1st floor is treated as floor 0 and is called "parter".