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It is bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania, and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) to the north. It also shares a maritime border with Denmark and Sweden. The first capital of Poland, Cracow (Polish: Kraków), and the present capital of Poland, Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa), are major tourist destinations. Other great cities include Gdańsk, Wrocław, Poznań, Szczecin, Toruń, and many more. The first Polish state was born in 966. Poland became a kingdom in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a long association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by uniting to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth collapsed in 1795, and the Poles were without a state for 123 years. Poland regained its independence in 1918 but lost it again in World War II, emerging several years later as a communist country within the Eastern Bloc under control of the former Soviet Union. In 1989 it threw off the communist yoke and became what is informally known as the "Third Polish Republic". Today, Poland is a liberal democracy made up of 16 voivodeships (Polish: województwo). Poland is also a member of NATO, the United Nations, and the World Trade Organization. HistoryPoland began to form into a recognizable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the 10th century under the Piast dynasty. Poland's first historically documented ruler, Mieszko I, was baptized in 966, adopting Catholic Christianity as the nation's new official religion, to which the bulk of the population converted in the course of the next century. In the 12th century Poland fragmented into several smaller states, which were later ravaged by the Mongol armies of the Golden Horde in 1241, 1259 and 1287. In 1320 Władysław I became the King of a reunified Poland. His son, Casimir III, repaired the Polish economy, constructed new castles, and won the war against the Ruthenian duchy (Lviv (Lwów) became a Polish City). Poland was also a center of migration of peoples and the Jewish community began to settle and flourish in Poland during this era. See History of the Jews in Poland. The Black Death which affected most parts of Europe from 1347 to 1351 did not reach Poland. Under the Jagiellon dynasty, Poland forged an alliance with its neighbour Lithuania. A golden age ensued during the 16th century after the Lublin Union, which gave birth to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The citizens of Poland took pride in their ancient freedoms and Sejm parliamentary system, with the szlachta nobility enjoying most benefits. Since that time Poles have regarded freedom as their most important value; Poles often call themselves the nation of the free people.
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