In Poland, soil cover has been identified in detail in terms of spatial variability which resulted in soil records that comprise data on soil properties put in order according to the criteria of administrative and physiographic division. These data were not available in the numerical format till quite recently which meant that their application did not fully meet present requirements of agriculture, environment and landscape conservation, modification of functions, etc. The newly created numerical soil map at the scale of 1:500 000 corrects this difficulty. The main information content of the map at the scale of 1:500 000 covers complexes of soil usefulness and soil types and subtypes. Basic characteristics such as granulometric composition, origin of the parent rock and land use attributes, i.e.: forest, grassland, arable land, waters or barren land, are also included. Apart from the soil coverage, the map contains 13 topographic coverages.