Poland Online Business Education. Administration. Economy. Politics. Culture. Religion. Media

Poland
Online Business Education. Economy. Politics. Culture. Religion. Media

Flag of Poland
Poland

Capital City: Warszawa (Warsaw)

Border countries: Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine

Internet Links

Official Sites of the Republic of Poland
Poland Home Page

President of the Republic of Poland

Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Statistics
Polska Statystyka Publiczna

Weather
Instytut Meteorologii i Gospodarki Wodnej (IMGW)

Maps
Map of Poland

Political Map of Poland

Introduction

Poland

Background: Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived around
the middle of the 10th century. It's golden age occurred in the 16th
century. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry
and internal disorders weakened the nation, until an agreement in 1772
between Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland. Poland regained
its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet
Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite country following
the war, but one that was comparatively tolerant and progressive. Labor
turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union
"Solidarity" that over time became a political force and by 1990 had
swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A "shock therapy"
program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its
economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, boosting hopes
for acceptance to the EU. Poland joined the NATO alliance in 1999.

Geography Poland

Location: Central Europe, east of Germany

Geographic coordinates: 52 00 N, 20 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area: total: 312,685 sq km water: 8,220 sq km land: 304,465 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than New Mexico

Land boundaries: total: 2,788 km border countries: Belarus 407 km, Czech
Republic 658 km, Germany 456 km, Lithuania 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad
Oblast) 206 km, Slovakia 444 km, Ukraine 526 km

Coastline: 491 km

Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: defined by international
treaties territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters
with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and
thundershowers

Terrain: mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Raczki Elblaskie -2 m highest point:
Rysy 2,499 m

Natural resources: coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead,
salt, arable land

Land use: arable land: 46% permanent crops: 1% other: 53% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 1,000 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding

Environment - current issues: situation has improved since 1989 due
to decline in heavy industry and increased environmental concern by
postcommunist governments; air pollution nonetheless remains serious
because of sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, and
the resulting acid rain has caused forest damage; water pollution from
industrial and municipal sources is also a problem, as is disposal of
hazardous wastes

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources,
Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants,
Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: historically, an area of conflict because of flat
terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain

People Poland

Population: 38,625,478 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 17.9% (male 3,535,701; female 3,361,515) 15-64
years: 69.5% (male 13,358,128; female 13,500,443) 65 years and over: 12.6%
(male 1,860,274; female 3,009,417) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.02% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 10.29 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 9.97 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05
male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over:
0.62 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 9.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:   78.05 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility
rate: 1.37 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.07% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Pole(s) adjective: Polish

Ethnic groups: Polish 97.6%, German 1.3%, Ukrainian 0.6%, Belarusian 0.5%
(1990 est.)

Religions: Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox,
Protestant, and other 5%

Languages: Polish

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total
population: 99% male: 99% female: 98% (1978 est.)

Government Poland

Country name:   Republic of Poland conventional short form: Government
type: republic

Capital: Warsaw

Administrative divisions: 16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular -
wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lodzkie, Lubelskie,
Lubuskie, Malopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie,
Pomorskie, Slaskie, Swietokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie,
Zachodniopomorskie

Independence: 11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed)

National holiday: Constitution Day, 3 May (1791)

Constitution: 16 October 1997; adopted by the National Assembly 2 April
1997; passed by national referendum 23 May 1997

Legal system: mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and holdover
Communist legal theory; changes being gradually introduced as part of
broader democratization process; limited judicial review of legislative
acts although under the new constitution, the Constitutional Tribunal
ruling will become final as of October 1999; court decisions can be
appealed to the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI
(since 23 December 1995) elections: president elected by popular vote
for a five-year term; election last held 8 October 2000 (next to be held
NA October 2005); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed
by the president and confirmed by the Sejm head of government: Prime
Minister Leszek MILLER (SLD) (since 19 October 2001), Deputy Prime
Ministers Marek POL (since 19 October 2001), Jaroslaw KALINOWSKI (since
19 October 2001), Grzegorz KOLODKO (since 8 July 2002) cabinet: Council
of Ministers responsible to the prime minister and the Sejm; the prime
minister proposes, the president appoints, and the Sejm approves the
Council of Ministers election results: Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI reelected
president; percent of popular vote - Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI 53.9%,
Andrzj OLECHOWSKI 17.3%, Marian KRZAKLEWSKI 15.6%, Lech WALESA 1%

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly or Zgromadzenie
Narodowe consists of the Sejm (460 seats; members are elected under a
complex system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
and the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members are elected by a majority
vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms) elections: Sejm
elections last held 23 September 2001 (next to be held by September 2005);
Senate - last held 23 September 2001 (next to be held by September 2005)
election results: Sejm - percent of vote by party - SLD-UP 41%, PO 12.7%,
Samoobrona 10.2%, PiS 9.5%, PSL 9%, LPR 7.9%, AWSP 5.6% UW 3.1%, other
1%; seats by party - SLD-UP 216, PO 65, Samoobrona 53, PiS 44, PSL 42,
LPR 38, German minorities 2; note - SLD-UP has split: SLD has 200 deputies
and UP has 16; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
SLD-UP 75, AWSP (an electoral alliance of some 36 parties) 15, PSL 4,
Samoobrona 2, LPR 2, independents 2 note: two seats are assigned to
ethnic minority parties

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president
on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an
indefinite period); Constitutional Tribunal (judges are chosen by the
Sejm for nine-year terms)

Political parties and leaders: Citizens Platform or PO [Maciej
PLAZYNSKI]; Democratic Left Alliance or SLD (Social Democracy of
Poland) [Leszek MILLER]; Freedom Union or UW [Wladyslaw FRASYNIUK];
German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Henryk KROLL]; Law and
Justice or PiS [Lech KACZYNSKI]; League of Polish Families or LPR
[Marek KOTLINOWSKI]; Polish Accord or PP [Jan LOPUSZANSKI]; Polish
Peasant Party or PSL [Jaroslaw KALINOWSKI]; Samoobrona [Andrzej LEPPER];
Solidarity Electoral Action of the Right or AWSP [Marian KRZAKLEWSKI];
Social Movement-Solidarity Electoral Action or RS-AWS [Jerzy BUZEK];
Union of Labor or UP [Marek POL]

Political pressure groups and leaders: All Poland Trade Union Alliance
or OPZZ (trade union); Roman Catholic Church; Solidarity (trade union)

International organization participation: ACCT (observer), Australia
Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU
(applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer),
IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO,
MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA,
PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMEE,
UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WEU (associate), WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Przemyslaw GRUDZINSKI chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC
20009 FAX: [1] (202) 328-6271 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles,
and New York telephone: [1] (202) 234-3800 through 3802

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Christopher R. HILL embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540, Warsaw
P1 mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State,
Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch) telephone: [48] (22) 628-30-41 FAX:
[48] (22) 628-82-98 consulate(s) general: Krakow

Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red;
similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white

Economy Poland

Economy - overview: Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of
liberalizing the economy and today stands out as one of the most
successful and open transition economies. GDP growth had been strong
and steady in 1993-2000 but fell back in 2001 with slowdowns in domestic
investment and consumption and the weakening in the global economy. The
privatization of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal
law on establishing new firms have allowed for the rapid development of a
vibrant private sector. In contrast, Poland's large agricultural sector
remains handicapped by structural problems, surplus labor, inefficient
small farms, and lack of investment. Restructuring and privatization
of "sensitive sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railroads, and energy)
has begun. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension
system, and state administration have resulted in larger than expected
fiscal pressures. Further progress in public finance depends mainly
on privatization of Poland's remaining state sector. The government's
determination to enter the EU as soon as possible affects most aspects
of its economic policies. Improving Poland's outsized current account
deficit and reining in inflation are priorities. Warsaw leads the region
in foreign investment and needs a continued large inflow.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $339.6 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.5% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,800 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4% industry: 32% services: 64%
(2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: 18.4% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 24.7% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 32.7 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.3% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 17.6 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: industry 22.1%, agriculture 27.5%, services
50.4% (1999)

Unemployment rate: 16.7% (2001 est.)

Budget: revenues: $49.6 billion expenditures: $52.3 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (1999)

Industries: machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals,
shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles

Industrial production growth rate: 4.3% (1999)

Electricity - production: 135.161 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 98.1% hydro: 1.54%
other: 0.36% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 119.327 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 9.663 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 3.29 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry,
eggs, pork

Exports: $30.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Exports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment 30.2%,
intermediate manufactured goods 25.5%, miscellaneous manufactured goods
20.9%, food and live animals 8.5% (1999)

Exports - partners: Germany 34.9%, Italy 6.3%, France 5.2%, Netherlands
5.1%, UK 4.5%, Czech Republic 3.8% (2000)

Imports: $41.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment 38.2%,
intermediate manufactured goods 20.8%, chemicals 14.3%, miscellaneous
manufactured goods 9.5% (1999)

Imports - partners: Germany 23.9%, Russia 9.4%, Italy 8.3%, France 6.4%,
UK 4.5%, US 4.4% (2000)

Debt - external: $57 billion (2000)

Economic aid - recipient: $NA

Currency: zloty (PLN)

Currency code: PLN

Exchange rates: zlotych per US dollar - 4.0144 (December 2001), 4.0939
(2001), 4.3461 (2000), 3.9671 (1999), 3.4754 (1998), 3.2793 (1997) note:
zlotych is the plural form of zloty

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Poland

Telephones - main lines in use: 8.07 million (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 1.78 million (1998)

Telephone system: general assessment: underdeveloped and outmoded system;
government aimed to have 10 million telephones in service by 2000; the
process of partial privatization of the state-owned telephone monopoly
has begun; in 1998 there were over 2 million applicants on the waiting
list for telephone service domestic: cable, open wire, and microwave radio
relay; 3 cellular networks; local exchanges 56.6% digital international:
satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat, NA Eutelsat, 2 Inmarsat (Atlantic
and Indian Ocean regions), and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 14, FM 777, shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios: 20.2 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 179 (plus 256 repeaters) (September 1995)

Televisions: 13.05 million (1997)

Internet country code: .pl

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 19 (2000)

Internet users: 3.5 million (2001)

Transportation Poland

Railways:   646 km 1.524-m gauge standard gauge: narrow gauge: 1,135
km various gauges including 1.000-m, 0.785-m, 0.750-m, and 0.600-m (2001)

Highways: total: 381,046 km paved: 249,966 km (including 268 km of
expressways) unpaved: 131,080 km (1998)

Waterways: 3,812 km (navigable rivers and canals) (1996)

Pipelines: crude oil and petroleum products 2,280 km; natural gas 17,000
km (1996)

Ports and harbors: Gdansk, Gdynia, Gliwice, Kolobrzeg, Szczecin,
Swinoujscie, Ustka, Warsaw, Wroclaw

Merchant marine: total: 19 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 382,518
GRT/641,657 DWT ships by type: bulk 14, cargo 3, chemical tanker 1,
roll on/roll off 1 (2002 est.)

Airports: 122 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 83 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047
m: 29 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 3 (2001) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 42

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 39 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524
to 2,437 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2001) 914 to 1,523 m: 13

Heliports: 3 (2001)

Military Poland

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Force

Military manpower - military age: 19 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 10,415,598 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 8,120,098
(2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 344,781
(2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $3.5 billion (2002)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.71% (2002)

Transnational Issues Poland

Disputes - international: none

Illicit drugs: major illicit producer of amphetamine for the
international market; minor transshipment point for Asian and Latin
American illicit drugs to Western Europe

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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