10 things I didn't know about Poland

Dear friend,

Today’s article is going to be the 1st edition of a topic that’s very close to my heart: “10 things I didn’t know about country X” that I had spoken about a few months ago here.

I’ve chosen Poland for today’s article. I caught up with Dariusz, a Polish classmate at Rotman & dear friend of mine, asking him to tell us about Poland. Let me give you a brief introduction to Dariusz. He has his Masters in Banking & Finance from Krakow University of Economics and has 7 years of experience in invoice finance and asset based lending in London & Warsaw. He’s extremely fond of the Latin American dances and can put to shame many Latinos with his sleek Salsa moves!!

So here I was, at a reading room in University of Toronto’s Graduate House, close to midnight on Sunday, urging a 30ish Polish guy to come up with interesting facts about his country for the rest of us to know about. Here’s the list he churned out:

1) In the UK, the Polish form the 2nd largest immigrant population. The 1st place is held by none other than us Indians!!

2) Currently Poland is the only growing economy in the EU, notwithstanding the economic crisis that has hit hard the whole of the EU. The main reason being large FDI from the richer EU neighbors who want to capture a slice of this developing economy. Technology outsourcing is also supposed to quite be hot. So any techies reading this point, keep a keen eye on Poland.

3) Pablo Picasso, one of the greatest painters of the modern era is supposed to have said “The three most astonishing things in the past half-century were the blues (Afro-American music), cubism (20th century art movement), and Polish vodka. “ As for the Polish food, sausages seem to be one of the most popular dishes they have. The last time I was in a Polish restaurant with my classmates, I saw a separate menu for savories based on sausages!!

Here's one such delicacy:

4)
Poland lost 6 million of its citizens in the 2nd world war and became an USSR satellite state, post WW Lech Walesa, who became later a President, spearheaded the Polish revolt against the USSR domination thereby making Poland the 1^st country to liberate from the Communist bloc. The movement he started was called Solidarity and he was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1983.

5) Religion is a critical component of the Polish people. 89% Poles follow the Roman Catholic Church. The previous Pope of The Church, John Paul II, was from Poland. His funeral was the largest funeral gathering of world leaders and public. An estimated 4 million mourners gathered in Rome and cost The Vatican 6 million euro for the entire event. John Paul II was the first non-Italian Pope since the 1520s and was widely acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century

6) In 2006-2007 Polish Prime Minister and President were identical twin brothers elected in democratic elections. One of the brothers is still the President as of 2009. They both starred in the 1962 Polish film “The Two Who Stole the Moon”

7) Polish history goes back to 966, however, there was a period of over 120 years when Poland did not formally exist after political and military partitions among Russia, Austria, and Prussia (1795 - 1918). Warsaw is the third capital in the Polish history after Gniezno and Krakow

8) Main Market Square in Krakow is the largest medieval town square in Europe (200 by 200 meter square)

9) Frédéric Chopin, a world-renown pianist and composer, was born in Poland where he lived until he was 20. He was one of the great masters of Romantic music.

10) Finally, for all the football (soccer??) fans out there, here's something trivia for you: Poland and the Ukraine will be hosting the European Soccer Championship in 2012

The discussion gave me a brief insight from a Polish into this emerging economy and its culture. Hope you'd find this article interesting & useful as I did !!