Motorhome Swap Travel Destination - Poland - Geography
Poland - Motorhome / RV / Campervan Swap International Travel Destination.Mountains and topography
Poland has 21 mountains over in elevation, all in the High Tatras. The Polish Tatras, which consist of the High Tatras and the Western Tatras, is the highest mountain group of Poland and of the entire Carpathian range. In the High Tatras lies Poland’s highest point, the northwestern peak of Rysy, 2,499 meters in elevation. At its foot lies the mountain lake, the Morskie Oko. The second highest mountain group in Poland is the Beskids, whose highest peak is Babia Góra, at 1,725 meters. The next highest mountain group is the Karkonosze, whose highest point is Sněžka, at 1,602 meters. Among the most beautiful mountains of Poland are the Bieszczady Mountains in the far southeast of Poland, whose highest point in Poland is Tarnica, with an elevation of 1,346 meters. Tourists also frequent the Gorce Mountains in Gorce National Park, with elevations around 1,300 meters, and the Pieniny in Pieniny National Park, with elevations around 1,000 meters. The lowest point in Poland—at 2 meters below sea level—is at Raczki Elbląskie, near Elbląg in the Vistula Delta.
Lakes
With almost ten thousand closed bodies of water covering more than 1 hectare each, Poland has one of the highest numbers of lakes in the world. In Europe, only Finland has a greater density of lakes. The largest lakes, covering more than 100 square kilometers, are Lake Śniardwy and Lake Mamry in Masuria, as well as Lake Łebsko and Lake Drawsko in Pomerania. In addition to the lake districts in the north (in Masuria, Pomerania, Kashubia, Lubuskie, and Greater Poland), there is also a large number of mountain lakes in the Tatras, of which the Morskie Oko is the largest in area. The lake with the greatest depth—of more than 100 meters—is Lake Hańcza in the Wigry Lake District, east of Masuria in Podlaskie Voivodeship.
Among the first lakes whose shores were settled are those in the Greater Polish Lake District. The stilt house settlement of Biskupin, occupied by more than one thousand residents, was founded before the seventh century BC by people of the Lusatian culture. The ancestors of today’s Poles, the Polanie, built their first fortresses on islands in these lakes. The legendary Prince Popiel is supposed to have ruled from Kruszwica on Lake Gopło. The first historically documented ruler of Poland, Duke Mieszko I, had his palace on an island in the Warta River in Poznań.
The coast
The Polish Baltic coast is approximately 528 kilometers long and extends from Świnoujście on the islands of Usedom and Wolin in the west to Krynica Morska on the Vistula Spit in the east. For the most part, Poland has a smooth coastline, which has been shaped by the continual movement of sand by currents and winds from west to east. This continual erosion and deposition has formed cliffs, dunes, and spits, many of which have migrated landwards to close off former lagoons, such as Łebsko Lake in Słowiński National Park. The largest spits are Hel Peninsula and the Vistula Spit. The largest Polish Baltic island is Wolin. The largest port cities are Gdynia, Gdańsk, Szczecin, and Świnoujście. The main coastal resorts are Sopot, Międzyzdroje, Kołobrzeg, Łeba, Władysławowo, and the Hel Peninsula.
The desert
Błędów Desert is a desert located in Southern Poland in the Silesian Voivodeship and stretches over the Zagłębie Dąbrowskie region. It has a total area of 32 sq km. It is the only desert located in Poland. It is one of only five natural deserts in Europe. It is the warmest desert that appears at this latitude. It was created thousands of years ago by a melting glacier. The specific geological structure has been of big importance. The average thickness of the sand layer is about 40 meters, with a maximum of 70 meters, which made the fast and deep drainage very easy. In recent years the desert has begun to shrink. The phenomenon of mirages have been known to exist there.
The sea’s activity in Słowiński National Park created sand dunes which in the course of time separated the bay from the Baltic Sea. As waves and wind carry sand inland the dunes slowly move, at a speed of 3 to 10 meters meters per year. Some dunes are quite high - up to 30 meters. The highest peak of the Park – Rowokol (115 meters above sea level) – is also an excellent observation point. The "moving dunes" are regarded as a curiosity of nature on a European scale.
Land use
Forests cover 28.8% of Poland’s land area. More than half of the land is devoted to agriculture. While the total area under cultivation is declining, the remaining farmland is more intensively cultivated.
More than 1% of Poland’s territory, 3,145 sq km, is protected within 23 national parks. In this respect, Poland ranks first in Europe. Three more national parks are projected for Masuria, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, and the eastern Beskids. Most Polish national parks are located in the southern part of the country. In addition, wetlands along lakes and rivers in central Poland are legally protected, as are coastal areas in the north. There are also over 120 areas designated as landscape parks, and numerous nature reserves and other protected areas.
Poland - Motorhome / RV / Campervan exchange international travel destination.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
