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Kraków leży na południu.

Kraków leży na południu.
Krakow lies in the south.
From Lesson 171:Compass and directions (na północy)·Polish

Questions & Answers about Kraków leży na południu.

Why do we use na instead of w for "in the south"?
When talking about compass directions like north, south, east, and west, Polish always uses the preposition na for location. Even though we say "in the south" in English, the Polish phrasing literally translates to "on the south".
Why does the word południe change to południu here?
The preposition na requires the Locative case when describing where something is. The base word for "south" is południe, which is a neuter noun. In the Locative case, neuter nouns that end in -e change their ending to -u, giving us południu.
I remember południe meaning "noon". Is it the same word?
Exactly! The word południe means both "south" and "noon" (midday). You will also see it in the word popołudnie, which means "afternoon". You have to rely on the context of the sentence to know which meaning is being used.
The word leży means "lies". Can I use it to say a person is lying about something?
No, leżeć only means "to lie" in the physical sense, like resting on a bed or being located on a map. If you want to talk about someone telling an untruth, you need to use the verb kłamać.

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