Culture

The population in Poland is roughly around 38 million people. About 98% of the people are Poles, while there is little of Ukrainians, Belorussians, Germans, Slovaks and Lithuanians.

The Poles speak a Slavic language and have a special fondness for English. In fact, English is the most popular foreign language in Poland. The Polish population is largely urban centric with 60% of the population living in cities. There are a number of large cities, including five with populations of more than 500,000. The capital, Warsaw, is the largest with a head count of 1.7 million inhabitants. Krakow (Cracow), Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk, Szczecin and Lodz are some other large metropolises.

ART:
One of Poland's famous artistry throughout the world are paper cut-outs. Folk cut-outs is one of the indigenous art style and practiced widely in non-urban centers. The cut outs are specifically used during the Christmas and Easter celebrations, as home decorations. An interesting way of this kind of art is the wafer cut outs. Flour and water are the basic raw material out of which Polish women, of any fine art training, shape designs of astonishing beauty.

An example of a cut-out would be this chicken. This can be used to decorate homes to show that the polish family is having some sort of celebration.

 

FOOD:

The polish cuisine and dining table etiquette shows how heat-warming the Polish people can be. When a person is consuming food with one's family, it is seen as a celebration. Breakfasts are generally heavy with vegetables and cold cuts of meat. Dinners, even more so. Only suppers are a bit lighter, perhaps, keeping in toe with the universal proverb: After dinner rest a while, after supper walk a mile. The Poles are the original potato eaters and potatoes have been the darling of the Polish kitchens through centuries. Meat is also a mainstay (cold cuts and sausages mainly) and is grilled more or less ceremoniously at the country home, in the garden, or on the front lawn.



Bigos
"Pie" in the English Language, is a traditional Polish meat stew with a sauerkraut base, also known as Hunter's Stew. The meat content comes from the idea of the Hunter's daily kill. Bigos usually includes ham, bacon and sausage, but is also found to contain beef, veal, venison and other game.

Reference:
http://www.polandforvisitors.com/travel_poland/culture
http://lingolunch.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/big-things-from-bigos/#more-550