Which element’s name honors the country Poland?

Polonium is the chemical element whose name honors Poland.

Marie Curie and Pierre Curie discovered polonium in 1898 while studying the radioactivity of pitchblende. Marie Curie named the new element after her homeland, Poland, which at that time was partitioned among neighboring empires and did not exist as an independent state.

Polonium has the atomic number 84 and is a highly radioactive metal. The Curies detected it because pitchblende was more radioactive than could be explained by its known uranium content, indicating the presence of an unknown element. They later announced the discovery of radium from the same research.

Polonium has several isotopes, but polonium-210 is especially important in science and industry because it emits alpha particles. It is extremely hazardous if taken into the body. The name is sometimes confused with francium or germanium, which honor France and Germany respectively.