Sandwiched between giants Germany and Russia, the last 200 years have been brutal for Poland, marked by foreign occupation and even being wiped off from the world map for over a century.

But this central European nation of 38 million people is resilient, and they are making their mark on the world stage in a big way.

Since becoming a free nation only two decades ago, Poland has made incredible strides that are difficult to rival.  Consider that:

In 1989, Poland broke free of Soviet communist occupation and embraced democracy and a free market economy.

In 1999, Poland became a member of NATO.

In 2003, Poland proved their loyalty to the west and the USA in particular (again) when it was only one of four nations to send ground troops to invade Iraq, along with United States, Britain, and Australia.  This despite overwhelmingly unpopular world opinion surrounding the invasion.

In 2004, Poland became a member of the economic powerhouse European Union in what was the Union’s largest single expansion, when nine other countries along with Poland joined the bloc bringing its membership total to 25 nations at the time.

In 2007, border controls between Poland and Germany were eliminated allowing for the free movement of goods and people between Poland and western Europe.

There is also talk of Polish participation in the Eurozone and adopting of the Euro currency, with recent debate centering around a target date of 2015.

In the summer of 2012, Poland will co-host the prestigious European Football Championships along with the Ukraine.

It was a rather risky move in many ways by UEFA – Europe’s football governing body – to award such an honor to these two relatively recent ex-communist countries, as the infrastructure of both nations to host such an event is dubious.

But the good news is that Poland is undergoing a massive and much needed facelift as a result in preparation for the event.

Hotels, airports, stadiums – and perhaps most importantly, the notoriously poor roads – are all slated to undergo major improvements before opening match kickoff in June 2012.

Poland has a long way to go before its infrastructure standards approach those of western Europe, but the Euro championships will certainly provide an incredible boost to this emerging central European tiger.