The park was created in 1959, covering a total area of 407 square kilometres (157 sq mi).

It is estimated to host around 16,500 different species of animals, though only around 4,200 of those have been documented by biologists so far, suggesting that the park's biodiversity has been very much underexplored.

[9] Three mammal species have been reintroduced into the park in modern times: the moose in 1951, the Eurasian beaver in 1980, and the lynx in 1992.

At the Palmiry cemetery lay many inhabitants of Warsaw who were secretly killed by Nazi German forces in the years 1939–1945.

At Żelazowa Wola on the outskirts of the park, there is a manor house where famous composer Frédéric Chopin was born.