Geographically speaking Poland consists of mainly of flat farming country. This land is located between the Baltic Sea in the north, the Odra and Neisse Rivers in the west, the Carpathian Mountains in the south, and the city of Brest in the east.
Though excellent for farming the flat countryside has also made it easy for armies to invade Poland over the last two centuries. Poland was partitioned between the nations of Prussia, Austria, and Russia during the late 18th century. It reappeared after World War I, though much reduced in size. It recovered a lot of lost territory in what is today Byelorussia and Ukraine during the Russo-Polish War of 1920. Poland was again partitioned just 19 years later by agreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
The destruction of World War II was followed by 54 years of Soviet rule. This came to an end as a result of free election held in 1989 where the opposition, meaning new candidates that did not already have a seat, won 99 out of 100 seats in the Senate, and 160 out of 161 seats in the Sejm. Solidarity leader Lech Walesa negotiated for the free elections. | 
