  A statistical study of the environment around Polar Ring Galaxies is
presented. Two kinds of search are performed: 1) a study of the concentration
and diameters of all the objects surrounding the Polar Rings, within a search
field 5 times the ring diameter. New magnitudes for polar ring galaxies are
presented. 2) a search, in a wider field, for galaxies of similar size that may
have encountered the polar ring host galaxy in a time of the order of 1 Gyr.
Differently from the results of similar searches in the fields of active
galaxies, the environment of the Polar Ring Galaxies seems to be similar to
that of normal galaxies.This result may give support to the models suggesting
long times for formation and evolution of the rings. If the rings are old (and
stable or in equilibrium), no traces of the past interaction are expected in
their surroundings. In addition, the formation of massive polar rings, too big
to derive from the ingestion of a present-day dwarf galaxy, may be easily
placed in epochs with a higher number of gas-rich galaxies.
