Geography

Poland

Location and population
Poland is located in Central Europe. It is bordered in the east by Russia, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine; by Slovakia and the Czech Republic in the south and by Germany in the west. On May 1, 2004 Poland became a member state of the European Union, thus becoming its eastern external border. The area of 312,685 km² is inhabited by almost 38.635 million people. It is the biggest of the new entrants to the EU. The capital Warsaw (1.6 million inhabitants) is the country's economic and political center. Krakow - the country's third largest city has been its cultural center since the Middle Ages. In 2000 Krakow was appointed the Cultural City of Europe. Other Polish cities like Gdansk and Poznan are of also of great importance in the life of the country.

Climate
Poland has a moderate climate with both maritime and continental elements. As a result, the weather tends to be capricious and the seasons may look quite different in consecutive years. Generally, in north and west Poland the climate is predominantly maritime, with gentle, humid winters and cool, rainy summers, while the eastern part of the country has distinctly continental climate with harsh winters and hotter, drier summers. Poland has as many as six distinct seasons. Apart from spring, summer, autumn and winter, Poland “betters” other European counties   having two extra periods described as early spring (przedwiosnie) and early winter (przedzimie). Summer is the warmest season with temperatures exceeding 20°C. The coldest month in Poland is January.

Source: Poland-Ukraine bid to host UEFA EURO 2012 (Phase I)
Source: http://www.poland.gov.pl

Ukraine

Location and population
Ukraine is the second largest country of Europe, slightly larger than France (544 000 km²). The total area of the country is 603,700 square kilometers inhabited by the population of 47.425 million people. It has a strategic position between Western Europe and Asia and is bordered in the north by Belarus, in the east by Russia, in the west by Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova and in the south the Black Sea. The capital Kiev has almost 3 million inhabitants and 5 more cities have a population of around, or more than, 1 million people (Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovs’k, Odessa and Lvov).

Climate
Ukraine’s climate is temperate continental, except for the South coast of the Crimean peninsula, which is Mediterranean. Winters vary from cool along the Black Sea coast to cold further inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country, and hot in the south.

Source: Poland-Ukraine bid to host UEFA EURO 2012 (Phase I)