Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) and Lithuania to the north. The total area of Poland is , In 1944, the Polish People's Republic was proclaimed and after a brief period of conflict, falsified referendum and elections Poland became a satellite state of the Soviet Union in 1947, and was accordingly renamed the People's Republic of Poland in 1952. During the Revolutions of 1989, Poland's communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy and renaming itself the "Third Polish Republic".
Despite the vast destruction the country experienced during World War II, Poland managed to preserve much of its cultural wealth. There are 14 heritage sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in Poland and 54 Historical Monuments. Since the end of the communist period, Poland has achieved a "very high" ranking in terms of human development.