Editing Pirates of the Baltic Sea (section)

===Poland===

With a population of nearly 38.5 million people, Poland is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union and ninth largest by land area. The country’s Baltic seacoast spans 770 kilometers (478 miles) from the Bay of Pomerania to the Gulf of Gdańsk, and is marked by several spits, coastal lakes, and dunes.

Poland is the 20th largest exporter of goods and services in the world and its most successful exports include machinery, furniture, food products, clothing, shoes, cosmetics and videogames. The country is the regional economic leader in Central Europe, with nearly 40 per cent of the 500 biggest companies in the region, as well as a high globalization rate. Warsaw leads Central Europe in foreign investment. And over 40 research and development centers and 4,500 researchers make Poland the biggest research and development hub in Central and Eastern Europe. Several multinational companies have set up research and development centres in Poland because of the availability of highly qualified labour force, presence of universities, support of authorities, and the largest market in East-Central Europe. All this means that megacorporations wield plenty of influence in Poland and possess several corporate enclaves with their own rules, where the corporate security acts as the police force.

Quite a few private security firms have headquarters in Poland, and these are often contracted by megacorporations operating in Poland to act as security on board corporate vessels, which has brought them into clashes with the Buccaneers. Some of the more unscrupulous ones have been contracted to perform sabotage and retaliatory strikes against the Buccaneers in Åland. This has caused a somewhat tense situations where Polish crews visiting Åland are regarded with suspicion and Buccaneers need to be careful when visiting Polish ports. While the Polish Border Guard will not go out of their way to detain Buccaneers that behave themselves, unless they are wanted for crimes in Poland, some private contractors with a grudge might decide to harass Buccaneer crews. And since they have license to operate in Poland, as long as they don’t go too far they can usually do so without interference from the law enforcement. Black Dog Security is a particularly tenacious opponent of the Buccaneers.

====Warsaw====

Poland's capital and largest metropolis, with over three million people living in the metropolitan area. Warsaw is a primary node in the global economic network and hosts Poland’s largest corporate enclaves. In Warsaw, the security forces of the most powerful corporations have police rights even outside the enclaves, which makes the city dangerous for Buccaneers to openly visit. Since Warsaw is located deep inland, few Buccaneers go there unless they have specific business in the city.

====Tricity====

A metropolitan area consisting of three cities: Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot, as well as minor towns in their vicinity. They are situated adjacent to one another, in a row on the coast of Gdańsk Bay. The Tricity metropolitan area has a population of over 1 million people.
The port of Gdynia is a regular stopover on the cruising itinerary of large, luxury passenger ships. The port also adjoins Gdynia Naval Base. The Port of Gdańsk has specialized cargo handling equipment and port infrastructure, enabling among others the handling of grain, fertilizers, lumber, ore, steel and containers, as well as vessel servicing. Together they make one of the largest seaports of the Baltic Sea.
A substantial number of taxpayers from Tricity are in the middle and high income groups. The Tricity is also an important center of education, entertainment and scientific research. It also hosts some of the largest corporate enclaves.

The large corporate presence makes Tricity a popular target for Buccaneers, although most of them avoid the port. The presence of a Naval Base makes scrutiny at the port tighter than usual, and the corporations have so much influence on the port authority that a Buccaneer vessel would not be welcome. Tricity is also where Black Dog Security has their headquarters, and their presence makes visits especially perilous. Usually when Buccaneers arrive in the Tricity, they are interested in one of the corporate enclaves, and dock at some other port and arrive by land. 

====Szczecin and Świnoujście====

The Ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście are managed by a single authority, creating one of the largest port complexes at the Baltic Sea. The Port of Świnoujście is located at the Świna strait, on Wolin and Usedom islands, and has passenger terminal. The Port of Szczecin is located at the Oder and Regalica rivers off the Szczecin Lagoon. The port includes a shipyard, a free trade zone within the port area, and a handful of corporate enclaves.

The ports and both towns have seen a number of engagements between the Buccaneers and corporate security teams. Plenty of private vessels dock in Świnoujście, and Buccaneers tend to slip in among them in order to spy for targets in corporate shipping out of Szczecin or pull off an operation against a corporate enclave there, usually targeting data in one of the R&D centers. Due to this, private security teams keep an eye out for arriving Buccaneers to deal with them before they cause trouble.

Since both the Buccaneers and the security teams consider the area important for them, they both try to avoid collateral damage when they clash. The locals have come to consider the engagements as a sort of entertainment, with people gathering to watch and the police concentrating on keeping the bystanders out of the line of fire rather than breaking up the clash. These engagements have even featured on TV series and video games made in Poland.

Of the cities, Szczecin, with over 400 000 inhabitants, is much larger than Świnoujście, with a bit over 40 000 inhabitants.

====Kołobrzeg====

A town of close to 50 000 people, Kołobrzeg is a regional cultural center and a popular tourist destination for both Poles, Germans and Danes. It provides a unique combination of a seaside resort, health resort, an old town full of historic monuments and tourist entertainment options - meaning numerous beer gardens. The Port of Kołobrzeg has a yacht harbour, fishing harbor and ferry harbour.

Megacorporations are largely absent from Kołobrzeg and very little of their traffic goes through the port. Kołobrzeg is still a popular destination for Buccaneers, who find it easy to blend in with tourist yachts. They come here to chill out and to meet Polish clients and contacts.

====Navy====

For the nation’s size, Poland does not have a huge navy compared to some other Baltic Sea nations. 48 ships, including: 3 submarines, 2 frigates, 2 corvettes, 3 fast-attack craft, 21 mine destroyers, 5 mine layers, 4 salvage ships, 6 auxiliary ships and 2 training vessels. But all the vessels are fully modern with skilled crews, the vessels and their gear being a mix of domestically made and purchased from other nations, mainly Germany and Sweden. 

The Polish Navy’s main role is the defense of Poland's territorial waters. They may sometimes provide escort for diplomatic vessels or those working for the branches of Polish Government, but do not escort corporate vessels. They will, however, respond to any distress calls on Polish waters, and when they do they are not inclined to go easy on Buccaneers.

Buccaneer wisdom on Polish Navy: “If you plan to hit a ship coming from or going to Poland, do yourself a favor and do it in international waters. You do not want these people after you.”