Poland Environment - 2024

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

decreased emphasis on heavy industry and increased environmental concern by post-communist governments has improved environment; air pollution remains serious because of emissions from burning low-quality coals in homes and from coal-fired power plants; the resulting acid rain causes forest damage; water pollution from industrial and municipal sources is a problem, as is disposal of hazardous wastes

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic- Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants

Climate

temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers

Land use

agricultural land: 48.2% (2018 est.)

arable land: 36.2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 10.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 30.6% (2018 est.)

other: 21.2% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 60.2% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: -0.16% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.17% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0.27% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 18.83 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 299.04 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 46.62 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 10.863 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 2,866,746 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 26.4% (2015 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

salt water lake(s): Zalew Szczecinski/Stettiner Haff (shared with Germany) - 900 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Wisla (Vistula) river source and mouth (shared with Belarus and Ukraine) - 1,213 km
note - longest river in Poland

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 1.96 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 5.87 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 1.39 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

60.5 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Geoparks

total global geoparks and regional networks: 2

global geoparks and regional networks: Muskauer Faltenbogen / Łuk Mużakowa (includes Germany); Holy Cross Mountains (2023)

NOTE: The information regarding Poland on this page is re-published from the 2024 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Poland 2024 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Poland 2024 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.