One in three intimate relationships in Poland begin on the web, finds a new report.

The web is not just replacing more traditional ways of meeting a loved one, however. The report into the sexual and emotional lives of internet users, written by a renowned Polish sexologist Prof. Zbigniew Izdebski and commissioned by Polpharma, also finds that although most internet users (89 percent) claim that they prefer real sex, many (79.6 percent) admit that virtual sex  - in the form of pornography, sex chat rooms and the like - also gives them satisfaction.

The web is also replacing the playground as a way of finding out about the pleasures of the flesh. A lot of young internet users acquire knowledge about sex from the web (84.2 percent of males and 75.2 percent of females).

Poles who have sex-related problems - and almost two thirds admit to having them - usually discuss these with their friends, and rarely with a sexologists, gynecologist or urologist.  

Poles are not particularly faithful partners. Two out of five internet users admit having affairs and 10 percent of people who described themselves as heterosexuals claim they also have had homosexual flings.  

Regardless of the kind of relationship and sexual preference, Polish internet users usually have sex two to three times a week, lasting, on average, 18 minutes.  

The majority of the respondents were happy with their sexual life, they claimed.

The survey was conducted among 10,016 Polish internet users. (mg/pg)